George Washington University Misrepresented Its Admission Policy

Every once in a while, a student newspaper scores a great scoop: That's the case with the story dropped today by The GW Hatchet, the independent student newspaper of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The paper reports that for years the university has been misrepresenting its admissions policy. As the paper points out, the university went from claiming to run a "need-blind" admissions policy in which they said financial aid requests do not affect admissions decisions, to clarifying that they have had a "need-aware" admissions policy. The university, reported the Hatchet, was still telling prospective students it was a "need-blind" university during an informational session on Saturday.

The issue here is that while they said they were "need-blind," the university was wait-listing some students based on their inability to pay full tuition. On the hand, it was admitting some more wealthy students who could afford full tuition but would have ended up on the wait list.

The Hatchet reports:

"Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, called GW's past claims 'dishonest.'

"'It's misleading,' said Vedder, who is also an economics professor at the Ohio University. 'Need-blind would mean, "We don't pay a bit of attention to financial considerations in making admissions decisions," and GW clearly does.'

"University spokeswoman Candace Smith argued that GW's characterization of the University's admission policy as need-blind or need-aware was not 'intentionally misleading.'

"'It's still the same process, but it's a matter of one person defining it one way and one person defining it another way,'" Smith said.

The university issued a statement about the story, earlier today. It read in part:

"It is important to note that consideration of need occurs at the very end of the admissions process. The first review of applications is need blind and admissions committees recommend candidates for admission with no knowledge of need. Some admissions professionals use the phrase "read need blind" to describe a process like ours where the admissions committees do not have access to the amount of need of an applicant.

"The Hatchet story suggests that the university's practice of need aware admissions automatically disadvantages students with need. Quite the contrary, our need aware admissions policy enables the university to provide more attractive aid packages for students with financial need while staying within our aid budget. More than 60 percent of our students receive grants from the university."

Gawker counters:

"The really ugly part of 'need-aware' admissions is the concurrent rise of merit aid, or scholarships tied to an applicant's academic profile, which overwhelming accrue to the wealthiest applicants. In September Washington Monthlytraced this phenomenon back to a collection of Ohio colleges attempting to poach the others' most desirable applicants. The resulting dynamic—if a college refuses to grant merit aid, the 'best' applicants will flock to a school that does—presently affects all but the oldest and most moneyed universities. (Which already overwhelming educatethe world's most elite tier.)

"GWU's deception is uniquely terrible, however, because the school traded on a hope that it had literally zero intention of fulfilling. 6.5 percent of its students qualify for Pell grants! This is a school largely dedicated to attracting and educating students who are already wealthy. Which is fine, if not especially admirable. But you can't advertise yourself as open to educating disadvantaged kids when you discriminate against them for not having as much money as the next applicant."

The university said that it decided to change the way it described its process, following the departure of Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Kathryn Napper.

Napper retired in December, a month after U.S. News & World Report removed G.W. from its rankings, after the university admitted it had inflated the credentials of its incoming freshmen.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/21/239277520/george-washington-university-misrepresented-its-admission-policy?ft=1&f=1001
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Netflix's outlook, user gains reinforce growth hopes

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Netflix Inc gained more subscribers than expected at home and abroad, helped by original series like "Orange is the New Black," and predicted additional growth this quarter, sending its shares surging 9.4 percent to a record high on Monday.

Netflix, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 in 2013, quadrupled profit in the third quarter as it added a higher-than-expected 1.3 million subscribers to its subscription video streaming service.

The company, which has invested heavily in original content such as political satire "House of Cards" to draw in subscribers, said it had 31.1 million U.S. streaming users in the third quarter. It expects to end the year with 32.7 million to 33.5 million users, accelerating that momentum.

"That keeps the view alive that this company has a larger subscriber base and has pricing leverage in its corner to extract more value," said Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible, who rates Netflix a "buy".

Netflix's shares rose to $388.50 in after-hours trading, compared with their close of $354.99 on the Nasdaq. The stock has racked up successive life highs since September, as investors bet on its growth prospects.

During the quarter, Netflix released critically acclaimed prison drama "Orange is the New Black," part of its investment in exclusive original programming to keep and attract customers to its $8-a-month movie and TV streaming service.

Its original series slate attracted buzz during the quarter, with 14 Emmy nominations and three wins for shows including "House of Cards."

The company said it will double investments in original programming in 2014, when it will air second seasons of both "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black."

MOMENTUM

Wall Street also singled out the company's strong growth abroad. It added 1.4 million customers in international markets, bringing its reach in foreign territories to 9.2 million.

Netflix reported earnings-per-share of 52 cents, beating the average of 49 cents projected by Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income for the quarter reached $32 million, up from $8 million a year earlier, Netflix said in its quarterly letter to shareholders.

Standard & Poor's equity analyst Tuna Amobi said Netflix appeared to be gaining traction in some of its newest markets, and noted that "Orange is the New Black" will end the year as the company's most-watched original series.

"There is not a whole lot not to like. There is a whole lot of momentum behind the story," said Amobi, who has a "hold" rating on the stock. "They appear to have turned an important corner for potentially sustained subscriber growth."

(Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York; editing by Matthew Lewis)

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/netflix-adds-1-3-million-u-streaming-customers-202315085--finance.html
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Obamacare: It's Worse Than We Know

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Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2013/10/21/obamacare_it039s_worse_than_we_know_318312.html
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Life after the shutdown: Don't expect a lot progress

Americans wishing for a Grand Bargain this Christmas are likely to be disappointed.

The bipartisan conference committee established by last week’s 11^th-hour agreement to re-open the government and raise the debt ceiling probably won’t produce a truly groundbreaking bipartisan deal that would end the nation's debt problem once and for all, nor are the members aiming that high.

At best, the budget resolution that comes out of the committee may serve as a "down payment" on that debt and provide Congress an opportunity to fulfill its most basic function of setting spending levels so the appropriations committees can fund the government.

In other words, it is literally likely to be the least lawmakers could do — which for this unpopular, Do-Nothing Congress, would be quite an achievement.

As part of the agreement to temporarily keep the government open, the House and Senate have appointed 29 lawmakers to a conference committee tasked with reconciling the House and Senate budget proposals that passed earlier this year. The panel's leaders, Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, who each chair the Budget Committees in their respective chamber, must report back to Congress by Dec. 13 with the final version of the budget.

When the new conference committee members held their first meeting last Thursday, both sides kept expectations low.

“Chairman Ryan knows I’m not going to vote for his budget. I know that he’s not going to vote for mine,” Murray said at the Thursday meeting. “We’re going to find the common ground between our two budgets that we both can vote on. That’s our goal.”

“Our job,” she added, “is to make sure that we have put forward a spending cap and a budget path for this Congress in the next year or two or further if we can.”

That common ground, as one aide close to Ryan described it to Yahoo News, would amount to little more than “small things.”

At the end of these formal negotiations, Republicans want modest changes made to the nation’s entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare — the primary drivers of U.S. debt — which they say are necessary to keep those programs sustainable for future generations. Democrats want sequestration eliminated, or at least reformed to give federal agencies more flexibility to find savings.

And yes, there is some common ground on this.

Unlike in years past, this time Ryan won’t insist that Democrats hand over the Holy Grail of Republican entitlement reform, a controversial plan to transform Medicare into a system that provides vouchers for seniors to buy health care on a private market. (Sound familiar?) Instead, as Yahoo News reported earlier this month, Ryan intends to seek more realistic tweaks to entitlement programs that Democrats, including Obama, already have proposed.

Ryan outlined some of his ideas in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. Although he wrote the piece in the context of the ongoing debt limit debate at the time, aides close to Ryan say it revealed how he plans to approach the budget conference.

“We could ask the better off to pay higher premiums for Medicare. We could reform Medigap plans to encourage efficiency and reduce costs. And we could ask federal employees to contribute more to their own retirement,” Ryan wrote. “Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) have been working for more than a year now on a bipartisan plan to reform the tax code. They agree on the fundamental principles: Broaden the base, lower the rates and simplify the code. The president himself has argued for just such an approach to corporate taxes. So we should discuss how Congress can take up the Camp–Baucus plan when it's ready.”

As part of the deal, Republicans appear willing to loosen up the tight reins of sequestration, which is their strongest piece of leverage.

“The sequester offers that nice opportunity,” to make structural changes to entitlement spending, a Ryan aide told Yahoo News. “In [Ryan's] mind, it's how he can do everything in his power to forge a good down payment on this debt. If you're just cutting government agency spending you can't get much, but if you go into entitlement programs, that’s where the bigger structural problems are.” 

The opportunity is indeed a long time coming. This year marks the first time both the House and Senate have passed budget resolutions since 2009.

Since the passage of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, both chambers are supposed to pass their own resolution that sets spending levels, then each side appoints members of a conference committee to negotiate their differences. The resolutions are not technically law — the president, who submits his own budget annually, never “signs” a “budget” — but they serve to reveal priorities, force Congress to regularly re-examine its spending and set spending levels for appropriators. For most of President Barack Obama’s time in office — and during three years under former President George W. Bush — Congress has instead funded the government through a series of stopgap bills that set the spending levels for short periods of time

The government currently operates based on spending levels set by the Budget Control Act of 2011, the law that ushered in sequestration, which indiscriminately cut billions across most of the federal government. Democrats outright hate sequestration, and despite many Republicans who give sequestration lip service because it reigned in spending, plenty of them can’t stand the defense cuts.

In March, the Republican-majority House passed its version of a budget resolution, which cut enough spending to balance the federal budget in a decade. The Senate responded two days later with its own resolution (after Republicans threatened to withhold lawmakers’ pay if they didn’t.)

But then seven months passed and nothing happened. Senate Democrats called repeatedly for a budget conference, but Republicans resisted, saying that there was too much disagreement between the parties for formal negotiations to begin. Democrats, who had spent the past four years getting hammered by Republicans because they hadn’t passed a budget resolution of their own, were furious. Finally last week, as the nation neared its borrowing limit, Republicans agreed to talk.

Striking a deal this year would help the government avoid yet another bout of brinkmanship over a shutdown when the latest round of short-term government funding runs out in January.

But here’s where the hope for a final resolution could fall apart: Traditionally, Congress only really acts when it must. Like schoolchildren and journalists, politicians need deadlines and severe consequences for not meeting them. (Think back to the ominous-sounding “Fiscal Cliff,” “Government Shutdown,” and “Taxmageddon.”)

In this case, there are no hard deadlines for the budget committee.

Yes, the agreement hashed out last week asks the panel to report back to Congress in December, and if they fail, perhaps they’ll find coal in their stockings from Santa Claus at Christmas. Hopefully the potential for an agreement is more than just a figment of our imagination.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/grand-bargain-budget-2013-032011344.html
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Matias Laptop Pro Keyboard

Wireless keyboards are great. Mechanical keyboards are great. Wireless mechanical keyboards are almost nonexistent. Maybe it's because gamers (who often prefer mechanical keyboards) are concerned about wireless lag, or because mechanical key switches are more expensive and bulkier than the membrane switches used in most wireless keyboards, but there are nearly no wireless mechanical keyboards out there. Matias, a Canadian peripherals company, offers one of the few in the Matias Laptop Pro keyboard. It's a Bluetooth keyboard with mechanical switches, which sounds great on paper but suffers from two major flaws. First, it's more expensive than most wireless and mechanical keyboards at $169.95 direct. Second, it has a Mac layout.

Design
The keyboard is a silver-colored, gently curved plastic slab just large enough to hold all keys (including function buttons, arrow keys, and page-up, page-down, and delete keys) in a compact configuration. It's 13.3 inches wide, just thin enough to comfortably fit in a bag large enough for a laptop, and weighs a fairly light 2.1 pounds. The rechargeable battery is completely internal, charged through a full-size USB port on the back with the included male-to-male USB cable. Two USB ports on the sides let you charge your phone or tablet from the keyboard, but that will drain the 1,600 mAh battery much faster than the six months Matias says the keyboard can last. Two clear feet flip up on the bottom of the keyboard to lift the back.

The keys use mechanical keyswitches, but they're not Cherry MX switches, the brand found on most high-profile mechanical keyboards like the Das Keyboard. They're much quieter than the usual Cherry MX Brown and Cherry MX Blue switches often used, and they aren't as satisfyingly "clacky" as Cherry MX Brown or Cherry MX Red switches. We can't be as sure of the lifespand or long-term build quality of the switches, but they offer soft, fairly deep keypress and feel comfortable to type on despite the lack of clacking.

Unfortunately, the keys aren't just mysterious. They're Mac. Instead of Alt and Windows keys on most keyboards, the Matias Laptop Pro has Option and Command keys. More importantly, the Command, Control, and Option keys register differently for PCs, so you'll need to memorize option key placement again if you want to use it with your computer. Matias notes that it's for the Mac, iPad, Apple TV, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android devices, and doesn't support it for the PC. It's still functional when paired with a PC, but the command keys are mixed up. I had no problem pairing the keyboard with my iPad and Google Nexus 7.

Performance
The keyboard feels comfortable to type on, with a keystroke similar to a quiet Cherry MX Red switch. It's almost disconcertingly quiet, but it picked up my words without dropping anything. I found some major lag and some dropped keystrokes when when I used other Bluetooth devices (a wireless mouse in the same room and a UE Boom speaker streaming music on the same table), but that's a factor with any Bluetooth keyboard when you have several devices clustered together.

The Matias Laptop Pro keyboard is a unique and welcome addition to the world of keyboards, as one of the very few (the only one currently available in retail channels, I've found) wireless mechanical keyboards. Unfortunately, it's too expensive at $170, and its Mac key layout holds it back from being a functional non-Apple laptop supplement keyboard. If you really want a wireless keyboard for your laptop or tablet, the Logitech K810 is a more flexible, functional, and affordable model, and the Logitech TK820 adds a touchpad at the expense of illuminated keys. If you want a keyboard just for gaming or heavy typing, the CM Storm Quick Fire Stealth provides mechanical keyswitches and Das Keyboard-like style in a slightly more compact, though wired, package.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/VANspnQUwiU/0,2817,2425362,00.asp
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Kenyan morgue: 2 'boxes' of body parts from mall

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Officials in Kenya say two boxes of charred body parts have been delivered to the city morgue from Westgate Mall and that four AK-47 assault rifles were found alongside the remains. Gunmen stormed the mall on Sept. 21, killing more than 60 people.

A city morgue official told The Associated Press that the two boxes arrived Thursday, and that a team of foreigners padlocked the boxes Friday.

A security official said one of the four gunmen seen in security footage is a Norwegian-Somali whose last name is Dhuhulow and the first or middle name is Abdi. The official said four AK-47 rifles, 11 AK-47 magazines and one RPG were recovered at the mall Thursday.

Both officials insisted on anonymity because they couldn't speak publicly.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyan-morgue-2-boxes-body-parts-mall-094010417.html
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Early George Lucas Contract Reveals $2,500 Payday (Photo)

George Lucas' path to movie billions began rather humbly and can be seen in the hidden vaults of Warner Bros. Corporate Archive, a facility kept away from most prying eyes deep in the Valley.

Lucas first joined Warners' payroll when Francis Ford Coppola brought his friend on board as an assistant on 1968's Finian's Rainbow. Studio payroll memos highlight how Lucas was getting paid $110 a week and was even bumped up to $125 per week.

Warners' internal memos between executives highlight the young Lucas' interest in sci-fi. A year later, Warners came aboard to distribute Lucas' THX 1138, paying him $2,500 in installments.

PHOTOS: Inside Warner Bros.' Chamber of Secrets

The financial memo was among the movie treasures The Hollywood Reporter saw as it was allowed an extremely rare peek into the workings of the little-known but hugely important division, whose facility houses decades' worth of costumes, props, scripts, correspondence, memos and animation art -- almost anything to do with a Warners movie and, more recently, a Warners-made television show -- is saved and stored.

Among the other treasures: a slew of batmobiles, replicas of agent Smith from The Matrix, puppets from Gremlins and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, and George Clooney's batsuit from Batman & Robin (seriously!)

See a behind-the-scenes video here and photos from the archives here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/news/~3/ZaT-rihyS1Y/early-george-lucas-contract-reveals-649370
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Rey Mysterio's last stand: The luchador on his injury, his return and the possibility of retirement

Rey Mysterio hasn’t competed in a WWE ring since Feb. 4, 2013. After a hard-fought battle against Daniel Bryan, The Master of the 619 was on the receiving end of a vicious attack from Mark Henry that aggravated a lingering knee injury, leaving the masked marvel with no choice but to take time away from the squared circle to recuperate. Mysterio surprised the WWE Universe on Sept. 22, when he made a special appearance at a Live Event in Hidalgo, Texas, to give an update on his recovery. WWE fans were shocked as Mysterio, supporting himself with a crutch, said he was aiming to come back to the ring on Oct. 16, when WWE hits Querétaro, Mexico. With rumors of his return swirling around, WWE.com spoke with The Ultimate Underdog to talk about his injuries, his journey back to the ring and whether this will be Mysterio’s last stand.

WWE.COM: Can you describe the injury that’s kept you out of the ring?

REY MYSTERIO: What’s slowed me down in my career are [anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)] tears in my left knee. After the first one in 1997, they started happening one after another. We’ve used everything we could in terms of re-attaching my ACL [with ligaments from] my body. Now, we’ve gone into cadavers to reattach them. That’s what’s slowed me down, my left knee. My right one, knock on wood, is all good. The rest of my body, thank God, is all good.

Rey Mysterio's Superstar profile | Watch Rey challenge for championships

WWE.COM: Did you have surgery this time?

MYSTERIO: No, 2011 was my last surgery. What they did was they repaired the ACL and the [posterior cruciate ligament]. That’s when they realized that the inner part of my knee had no more cartilage. So, the inner part of my left knee is bone on bone, arthritic.

WWE.COM: So what led you to Dr. James Andrews?

MYSTERIO: I came back a little too soon. I came back at SummerSlam 2012 and wrestled through January 2013. The knee just gave out on me again. That’s when I went to go see him. We tried a new approach, which was stem cell treatment. 

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/rey-mysterio-exclusive-interview
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Optimal Nutrition for Children and Teens � Achieving Your Best in ...

November 20, 2013, 10 to 11:30am, Northern Westchester Hospital, North Building conference rooms.  You are most definitely what you eat!  This lecture will focus on the role of good nutrition in physical and mental well-being. Elisa will discuss the components of a healthy diet, and the links between food and optimal performance in both athletic and scholastic endeavors. She will provide practical tips that will help kids to manage stress, boost energy and enhance brain power. The roles of hydration and vitamins will be covered, as well as the facts and current recommendations regarding sports drinks, energy drinks, caffeine and protein powders.  Elisa Bremner is a Registered Dietitian with a BS in Communications from Cornell University and a Masters in Nutrition Education from Teachers College, Columbia.  She holds a Certificate of Training in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management as well as a Certificate of Training in Prevention Strategies for Childhood Obesity.  Elisa’s specialty is practical nutrition – through NWH, she provides nutrition education and cooking classes to children and teens throughout Westchester county.  She also writes for Westchester Family magazine and spends her summers at Camp Wayne for Boys, attending to special dietary needs of active campers and running a popular cooking class.  For more information, contact Gaby Greenwald, ggreenwald@nwhc.net.

Source: http://www.essentialmomwestchester.com/optimal-nutrition-for-children-and-teens-achieving-your-best-in-sports-and-life/
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Chris Pratt Shares Photo of Baby Jack "Flying" On His Shoulders: Picture

Daddy's home! Proud papa Chris Pratt couldn't wait to get home to his baby boy Jack, 13 months, on Thursday, Oct. 17, and shared the photo to prove it!

PHOTOS: Sexy celebrity dads

"Home. At last," the Parks and Recreation star wrote via Twitter. Alongside the tweet, the 34-year-old actor shared a photo of himself holding up a smiling Jack on his shoulder as if he were flying. The look-alike, father-son duo couldn't look happier to see each other.

PHOTOS: Stars who became parents in 2012

"He's at a really adorable phase," Pratt's wife Anna Faris gushed back in May of their son. "He's not crawling, but he sort of wiggles. He coos and he giggles and he makes funny, funny noises."

As for her hubby of four years, Faris finds Pratt irresistible when he spends time with their little boy. "He feeds the baby almost every morning so I can sleep in...It's very sexy to watch him be a dad," she gushed. 

PHOTOS: Hollywood's hottest celebrity couples

Just last month, the Mom actress also shared a photo of Jack trying to feed himself. The result? It got a bit messy! "So awesome my child can feed himself -- now I can go back to bed," she joked via Twitter, posting a photo of Jack with food all over his face.

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/chris-pratt-shares-photo-of-baby-jack-flying-on-his-shoulders-picture-20132010
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Former Washington Football Coach Don James Dies

SEATTLE (AP) — Don James arrived in Seattle in the mid-1970s as an unknown. He built a Hall of Fame coaching career, turning the University of Washington into a powerhouse program that won a share of a national championship.

No wonder he'll forever be referred to around the school as "The Dawgfather."

James, the longtime Washington coach who led the Huskies to a share of the 1991 national title, died at his home Sunday from the effects of pancreatic cancer. He was 80.

James had been undergoing treatment for the disease since late September.

James was 176-78-3 as a head coach at Kent State and Washington. He went 153-58-2 with the Huskies from 1975-92 and led the school to a six-pack of Rose Bowl appearances. His crowning moment came in 1991 when Washington had the most dominant defense in the country, and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl to finish 12-0. The Associated Press media poll gave Miami — James' alma mater — the national championship, while the coaches' voted in favor of Washington in their poll.

"His accomplishments as a football coach stand alone, but what made him truly special is the quality of man he was away from the game," current Washington coach Steve Sarkisian said. "The guidance and leadership he instilled into this program and community are still felt today, and will continue to be felt here for a long, long time."

James' image was displayed on the video board outside the entrance to Husky Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Thoughts poured over social media from former players, fellow coaches and fans who watched the Huskies program rise under James' leadership.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Carol, their three children and 10 grandchildren. The school said details on a public memorial service would be released at a later date.

James played quarterback at the Miami, graduating in 1954 with a degree in education. He went on to serve as a commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was as an assistant coach at Florida State, Michigan and Colorado.

He was an unknown when he arrived in Seattle in 1975, taking over for Jim Owens. He came from Kent State, where he led the Golden Flashes to the Mid-American Conference title in 1972. While at Kent State, James coached future Hall of Famer Jack Lambert and future college coaches Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel.

"He was a special man and meant the world to me," Saban said Sunday night. "There aren't enough words to describe not only the great coach he was, but how much he cared for people and the positive impact he made in the lives of everyone he came in contact with. Coach James was my mentor and probably did more than anybody to influence me in this profession."

It didn't take long for Washington to become a contender under James. The Huskies went 6-5 in his first year after winning six games combined in the final two years Owens was coach. By 1977, led by quarterback Warren Moon, they beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

It was the first of James' six Rose Bowl trips, topped by the 34-14 win over Michigan in 1991. Only once — his second season — did the Huskies have a losing record, winning at least six games every other year. Washington won 10 games seven times and went to a bowl game in 14 seasons under James. Washington nearly won the national title in 1984 after beating Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, only to be edged out in the voting by BYU. The Huskies were also in line for the title in 1990 before losing at home to UCLA.

Between the end of the 1990 season and November 1992, the Huskies won 22 straight games before losing 16-3 at Arizona on Nov. 7. The Huskies lost two weeks later to Washington State in a snowy Apple Cup in Pullman, but still served as the Pac-10 representative in the Rose Bowl. That New Year's Day, Michigan got payback for the loss a year earlier with a 38-31 win in what turned out to be James' final game.

James knew penalties were coming from the conference after an investigation of reports during the 1992 season that quarterback Billy Joe Hobert received $50,000 in loans from an Idaho businessman. Among the violations found by the Pac-10 were improper loans to athletes, free meals provided to recruits and improper employment of athletes by boosters. The conference also cited a lack of institutional control over funds provided to students hosting recruits.

But James protested when the conference added an additional year to the Huskies bowl ban, making it a two-year penalty. The Pac-10 also limited Washington's football scholarships and recruiting visits, and prohibited the university from sharing in television rights fees for one year.

James was 60 years old when he resigned less than two weeks before the 1993 season began. He was replaced by longtime assistant Jim Lambright.

"I have decided I can no longer coach in a conference that treats its players and coaches so unfairly," James said in his letter of resignation.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

James remained connected to the Huskies' program. He was a regular visitor at practices after his resignation and served on the committee that helped in the redesign of Husky Stadium. James gave his annual preseason speech to the current Washington squad in August and attending the first game at the renovated stadium on Aug. 31 against Boise State. It was shortly after that his health took a significant turn.

James had two surgical procedures in September at Virginia Mason Medical Center for what was called a gastro-intestinal issue. James' family issued a statement after the surgeries announcing that he was resting comfortable following the hospital stay but would be beginning chemotherapy treatment for a malignant tumor on his pancreas and asked for privacy.

"Coach James set the standard for this program and for all of us. It's the reason you all are sitting here. It's the reason I'm here," Sarkisian said recently. "Husky football and what it all stands for is what he created and I was so happy he was able to come to the first game against Boise and the opening of Husky Stadium because if anybody deserved to be in that building that night it was him."

___

AP Sports Writer John Zenor contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=238574274&ft=1&f=
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Secretary Of Defense Apologizes To Medal Of Honor Recipient

President Obama gives former U.S. Army Capt. William Swenson the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

President Obama gives former U.S. Army Capt. William Swenson the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel apologized today to William Swenson, the Army officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama on Tuesday.

Swenson was awarded the medal for the bravery he showed in the 2009 Battle of Ganjgal, one of the costliest battles of the Afghan War. Another soldier involved in the battle received his Medal of Honor two years ago. Swenson's honor was delayed because the Army lost his paperwork.

Swenson had previously complained that during the seven-hour battle, his men lacked air and artillery support, which a military investigation agreed with.

The Washington Post reports Hagel apologized today, when Swenson was inducted into the Hall of Heroes.

"It was wrong; they corrected it; they fixed it," Hagel said. "We're sorry you and your family had to endure through that."

The paper adds:

"On Wednesday, officials praised Swenson's character and Army Secretary John McHugh said he had issued a new directive aimed at ensuring such mishandling of awards does not happen again. Among the changes, McHugh said, are requirements that all medal nominations be forwarded immediately to the human resources command, which will be charged with following up every 30 days.

McHugh compared Swenson to Leslie Sabo, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor last year for valor during the Vietnam War. Sabo's nomination was lost by the Army until a reporter discovered his case while doing research and brought it to public attention, McHugh said."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/16/235610067/secretary-of-defense-apologizes-to-medal-of-honor-recipient?ft=1&f=1001
Related Topics: Red Sox Schedule   Cleveland Indians   Apple.com   jimmy fallon   Lee Westwood  

First Photos of the Erik Buell Racing 1190RX

This might be the most intense video we have ever seen, which says a lot considering the recent events in NYC. Riding through traffic in São Paulo on his Honda CB600F Hornet, this Brazilian motorcyclist gets a surprise as he merger into a new lane, as pair of hijackers pull-up next to him on another bike, grab for his handlebars, and demand to have his motorcycle at gunpoint. Offering no contest to the bikejackers and their desire for his motorcycle, the rest is all a bit shocking as it unfolds in the middle of the busy intersection. Catching everything with a helmet-mounted camera, we imagine this footage will end up as evidence in a Brazilian court, as an off-duty police officer jumps out of his car and fires two shots at one of the robbers.

Yesterday we brought you the first detail photos of the Ducati 1199 Superleggera, Bologna’s ultra-exclusive superbike, and before that we showed you the magnesium, titanium, and carbon fiber parts that would comprise the Superleggera, and help the machine drop a rumored 40 lbs from its already anorexic body. Now, we have the first clear photo of the 2014 Ducati 1199 Superleggera, taken apparently at Ducati’s dealer meeting in New Orleans. Only 500 of these beasts will be built worldwide, and first dibs are going to Borgo Panigale’s best customers. Cost is said to be in the $65,000 range for US buyers, €60,000 for Europeans. Though the photos that leaked out yesterday teased a Corse-inspired paint scheme, this is our first look at the finished livery for the Superleggera.

The leaks from Ducati keep coming in, and now we have our first photos of the Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera, or “Project 1201″ as Ducati is calling it for now, and its tasty details. Stripped of its carbon fiber fairings, we can see where all those magnesium, titanium, and carbon pieces reside on the Superleggera’s rolling chassis. Continuing our extensive coverage of this machine’s debut, Asphalt & Rubber has gotten its hands on 16 detail photos of the new Ducati Superleggera, and they are waiting for you after the jump.

Earlier today, I was thinking of writing a story that would be titled “The Four Obvious Bikes that BMW is about to Debut” or something like that. While that list would include the spied water-cooled BMW R1200RT, BMW S1000R, and BMW NineT machines, at the top of that list would be the BMW R1200GS Adventure, which is predictable extension of the new GS, which debuted last year. BMW, it would seem, has beaten me to the punch. Officially official, the 2014 BMW R1200GS Adventure has broken cover now, and is ready for you to ADV on until your heart is content.

A&R broke the news last week about the upcoming Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera, and we have already seen spy photos of the Ducati Scrambler (said to be a 2015 model, if it gets the production nod), and a liquid-cooled Ducati Monster 1200. Turning our attention to the latter in that list, what you see above is a photo of what greeted Ducati dealers when Ducati North America debuted its 2014 line to them last week in New Orleans, and from the look of things, the machine in question appears to be a street-ready roadster. What we for now will call the 2014 Ducati Monster 1200, this new motorcycle features a water-cooled Testastretta 11° engine, and is supposed to be along the same vein as the Monster S4 and its progeny.

Ducati has gone to great lengths so that you won’t know this, but our sources have confirmed to us that in about a month’s time, the Bologna Brand will debut perhaps the most ostentatious machine ever to come from the Borgo Panigale factory, the Ducati 1199 Panigale R Superleggera. An ultra-exclusive version of the Ducati 1199 Panigale R, the Superleggera edition is exactly what its Italian name suggests, a super-light version of the Panigale R. It’s ok if you need to take a minute to readjust yourself in your chair before reading further — we’ll wait.

With the advent of cheap wearable cameras, the internet has become awash with road rage videos, which unsurprisingly sometimes feature motorcyclists. That brings us to our latest edition, where a large group of motorcyclists in New York are caught on film having an altercation with a Range Rover Sport. We come into the incident after it begins, with a pack of motorcycles enveloped around the SUV on the West Side Highway, and a couple riders already gesticulating with the driver, Alexian Lien. One motorcyclist pulls in front of the Range Rover, brake-checks the four-wheeler, and is subsequently rear-ended…things then spiral out of control from there.

At the EICMA show last year, BMW Motorrad announced that it would make another air-cooled model, in order to commemorate the 90 years that the German OEM has been producing two-wheelers. Expected to be the production version of the company’s LoRider concept, we got our first taste of what BMW had in store for us with the BMW Concept Ninety — which had its retro goodness co-developed with America’s own Roland Sands. Now seemingly ready for a true production model, BMW Motorrad has been caught testing the BMW NineT street bike inside the Lake Garda region in Italy. Obviously fitted with the 1,200cc air-cooled boxer twin that has made the GS and RT such steady steeds, the NineT uses classic motorcycle aesthetics, mated to classic BMW design pieces.

Rider aids like traction control and ABS continue to prove the notion that electronics are the new horsepower, and with the US debut of the KTM 1190 Adventure R just a couple months away, we learn that the hot new adventure-touring machine will debut the new Bosch Motorcycle Stability Control (MSC) system. An extension of the venerable Bosch 9+ME ABS package, whose dual-channel setup has become the benchmark for OEM-equipped ABS units, the Bosch MSC is the next iteration of that standard. Integrating the ability for riders to brake into corners with a reduced risk of low-sliding, the Bosch MSC system is the next evolution in braking with its anti-lowside technology.

Valentino Rossi is to back a Moto3 team showcasing Italian talent from next season. The Italian will work with Sky Italia, the broadcaster who will be taking over the broadcast rights for MotoGP from next season, to field a pair of riders including current FMI Italia rider Romano Fenati on KTM machines. Sky Italia will be the main sponsor, while Rossi’s VR46 clothing and merchandise brand will provide support and backing for the project.The confirmation that Rossi will back the Sky Moto3 team comes after weeks of intense speculation that the nine-times World Champion was preparing to get involved in Moto3. Rossi had denied reports that he would manage a team, a denial which is strictly true. Rossi’s involvement will be at a greater remove.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AsphaltandRubber/~3/mZDJidAMsEo/
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At Apple, gold iPhone 5S is known as 'the Kardashian phone'

No, it didn't merely have some secret code name with numbers and letters. Apparently, the (relatively) blingiest of the iPhones was associated from the beginning with, well, a lack of taste.

Here's the "gold iPhone" Kardashian was so proud of last December.

(Credit: Kim Kardashian/Twitter )

Apple employees are often accused of excessive reverence for the brand and even for themselves.

They are said to distort reality, as if it is one more element to be merely designed and presented.

But news reaches me that there might be an inner core of magical, revolutionary realism that permeates the walls of Cupertino.

For, as The New York Times' Nick Bilton tweeted on Friday, the gold iPhone 5S, from its very inception, had an extremely down-to-earth nickname at home.

No, it's wasn't known as "The Fifth Wonder of the Telephonic World." Nor was it referred to as "The Glittering Prize," "The Golden Child," or "Goldfingerprint ID."

Instead, all through the design process it was apparently referred to as "the Kardashian Phone."

I feel sure that America's great icon of discernment will rush out a press release, a YouTube video, and perhaps a whole episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" to celebrate Apple's elevation of its gadget to her level of stardom.

Some, though, will wonder whether Apple employees felt a certain snootiness with respect to this step toward the nightclub VIP section.

It's been theorized that the gold iPhone 5S was primarily targeted at parts of the world where expressions of bling are seen as quite the thing. Indeed, Conan was moved to suggest that this phone was designed not in California, but in Miami.

More Technically Incorrect

But one can't avoid the notion that some at Apple feared that, with this marginally garish device, Apple was stooping to pander, rather than to conquer.

The ultimate product is a little more muted than your average Miami bauble. But the impression associated with the word "gold" cannot be ignored.

La Kardashian has this week been deeply involved in creating brand new selfies, in order to show that her body has returned to its core voluptuousness.

In the most moving of them, she is holding a phone, but I cannot be sure it's a gold iPhone 5S.

However, a little research shows that Kardashian does already have a gold iPhone 5. For last December she tweeted: "I love my gold iPhone 5 by http://anostyle.com -- thanks @boygenius http://twitpic.com/bjwynt."

A true style icon is always ahead of her time.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57608302-71/at-apple-gold-iphone-5s-is-known-as-the-kardashian-phone/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple
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Olsen Twins' Fashion Obsession Began While Wearing Chanel on 'Full House'

Getty Images

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

The Olsen twins can trace their interest in fashion back to their days starring as Michelle Tanner on Full House.

The actresses-turned-designers revealed that their time on the hit ABC sitcom, and the hours of fittings that went along with it, sparked their clothing curiosity.

PHOTOS: Where Are The Stars of ABC's 'TGIF' Comedy Block Now?

“[On Full House] we'd be in six-hour fittings three times a week, because we had to wear 12 different outfits,” Ashley Olsen told Net-a-Porter's magazine The Edit. “We were designing clothes for ourselves as we were so petite,” Mary-Kate Olsen added. “So I think that is when we became obsessed with fit, and now the obsession has become a profession.”

The magazine also reveals that the majority of Michelle Tanner's wardrobe consisted of adult pieces, including clothes by Chanel and Marc Jacobs, that were tailored to fit a child.

The Olsen twins currently run the luxury fashion label The Row.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/television/~3/Rm22kjisLqc/story01.htm
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Nexus 5 Rumor Roundup: Everything We Think We Know (Updated)

The Nexus 5 has been leaked so many times, it seems highly likely that it'll be official soon. But why wait? Here's what we think we know about Google's next superphone:

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/nexus-5-rumor-roundup-everything-we-think-we-know-1429423506
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Teams Take A Step Closer To World Series

The Cardinals beat the Dodgers Friday night, and Detroit and Boston are back at Fenway on Saturday. Host Scott Simon talks with Howard Bryant of ESPN about the games and what's ahead for the World Series.

Copyright © 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

You know, this week there's been no shutdown of sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: The pennants are falling into place. The St. Louis Cardinals going back to the World Series after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers last night by a score of, I don't know, I had to go to sleep. It looked like about 50 to nothing. And tonight, in the American League, the Detroit Tigers roar back into Fenway Park. But would you bet against the Red Sox to win a game there? They lead the series three games to two. A bunch of reds could be in the World Series. For more we go to Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. He's at the studios of New England Public Radio. Howard, thanks for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. It wasn't that bad. It wasn't 50 to nothing. It was 9 to nothing, but it felt like 50 to nothing.

SIMON: This is the fourth World Series the Cardinals will be going to in ten years. Now of course, as you realize, for a Cub fan, this is hard to say, b-b-b-b-b-but year in and year out the Cardinals are one of the great franchises, not only of all time, but of all now. How do they do it?

BRYANT: It's a fantastic thing. When you start looking at the Cardinals, I always refer to Major League Baseball as there are four legs to the table in terms of the four franchises that have been historically and successfully the most popular teams, is the Cardinals, the Red Sox, the Dodgers and the Yankees. And those teams stand above the rest every year for some reason, whether it's the Red Sox - even when the Red Sox underachieve, they were somehow the team that people wrote about and talked about and they were always, they had so much influence in Major League Baseball.

The Cardinals are the Midwest team. In a year where Stan Musial, the greatest Cardinal, passed away, they win the pennant. They've won 19 pennants, 22 pennants overall since 1883; they've won nine since 1996. And they do it the old-fashioned way, in a lot of different ways. They still go out and they get free agent players, but they have a lot of homegrown players.

They don't overspend, and gee, the kid, Michael Wacha - this kid has played - he's pitched nine starts in his career and he is the difference-maker right now. And how did they get Michael Wacha? By not giving Albert Pujols the $250 million and letting him go, and now this young homegrown talent pitched them into the World Series last night, giving up only two hits.

SIMON: Yeah. Let's go to the American League. As we mentioned, Boston is ahead three to two. So Detroit's not down by much, but did that second game put the series into a kind of groove?

BRYANT: Second game changed everything. You've got back-to-back guys throwing no-hitters. You've got a 1-nothing lead on the road, you're up 5 to nothing, and then 5 to one with two outs in the eighth inning, so you're about to go home for three games, up two games to none, with your best pitcher on the mound.

David Ortiz hits a grand slam, you lose the game in the next inning. And all of a sudden everything turns around. Then they beat Verlander at home, you know, in Detroit, and so now instead of having a chance to go up three games to none, the Tigers are facing elimination. And the good news for the Tigers is that they've got their two best pitchers.

You've got Max Scherzer going tonight, who's probably going to win the Cy Young Award next month, and you've got Verlander if they win tonight, going to a game 7 and you don't want to face Verlander in a game 7. So on the one hand, the Red Sox are a game away from going to the World Series, but if you're the Tigers, you are the defending American League Champions. You went to the World Series last year, and you've got your two best pitchers going the next two games if it gets that far.

SIMON: Got to ask you quickly about Prince Fielder. I saw him slide into second base this week. It was like dredging the Panama Canal. He hasn't had a successful playoff series in a long time.

BRYANT: No, and it's tough. You look at all the stat guys and the Bill James people that I completely disagree with so many times when they talk about how there's no such thing as clutch hitting and there's a small sample size in the postseason. And I disagree with that. I think that what you do in the postseason, it's pressure. It's not comparing you to the regular season. It's what you do in this moment when everybody's watching.

If you look at Carlos Beltran last night...

SIMON: Oh, what a catch. Yeah.

BRYANT: What a catch. He got them going and he wins game 1 for them. He's an amazing, amazing offensive player and defensive player, and then you look at Prince Fielder who's had a terrible postseason. He needs to break out or people are going to wonder if he's a pressure player - at $214 million over nine years.

SIMON: Yeah. We actually have 20 seconds left. We're building into the clock. I got a tweet last night as you and I were watching the game I want to run by you. Thomas Alma writes: Sorry I don't share your love of the game. Professional sports are corrupt, child-like and pathetic. Howard, he's talking about us.

BRYANT: He really is. And he's not wrong, but we love them anyway.

SIMON: Thanks very much, Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. And you're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=237545159&ft=1&f=7
Category: Wally Bell   Romain Dauriac   Sloane Stephens   von miller   Six Flags  

Most Beautiful Items: October 12 - 18, 2013

How can a thousand photos turn into a single timelapse? And what's it like inside an artificial cave 200 feet below Manhattan? The answer to both of these questions and more lie in the most beautiful items of the week.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BQedfiXVqhU/most-beautiful-items-october-12-18-2013-1447997251
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Review: Salt keeps server automation simple

October 17, 2013

Like Puppet, Chef, and Ansible, Salt is an open source server management and automation solution with commercial, officially supported options. Based on command-line-driven server and client services and utilities, Salt is primarily focused on Linux and Unix server management, though it offers significant Windows management capabilities as well. While Salt may look simple on its face, it's surprisingly powerful and extensible, and it has been designed to handle extremely large numbers of clients.

Salt uses a push method of communication with clients by default, though there's also a means to use SSH rather than locally installed clients. Using the default push method, the clients don't actively check in with a master server; rather, the master server reaches out to control or modify each client based on commands issued manually or through scheduling. But again, Salt can also operate in the other direction, with clients querying the master for updates. Salt functions asynchronously, and as such, it's very fast. It also incorporates an asynchronous file server for file deployments.

[ Review: Ansible orchestration is a veteran Unix admin's dream | Review: Chef cooks up configuration management | Review: Puppet Enterprise 3.0 pulls more strings | Puppet or Chef: The configuration management dilemma | Subscribe to InfoWorld's Data Center newsletter to stay on top of the latest developments. ]

To continue reading, register here to become an Insider

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Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-center/review-salt-keeps-server-automation-simple-228936?source=rss_infoworld_test_center_articles
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The Greatest Living Figure Of Chasidic Music

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Modzitzer sect of Chasidic Judaism, which originated in the Polish town of Modzitz, is known for its beautiful melodies. Among the most emblematic and prolific composers in this tradition is Brooklynite Ben Zion Shenker — who, at 88, continues to create new works.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprProgramsATC/~3/RKia58oJhQA/the-greatest-living-figure-of-chasidic-music
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Barack Obama’s Era of Hopelessness (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Libyan al Qaeda suspect appears in court in New York

By Bernard Vaughan and Chris Francescani

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An alleged senior al Qaeda figure pleaded not guilty in federal court on Tuesday to involvement in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, which killed more than 200 people.

Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Nazih al-Ragye, better known as Abu Anas al-Liby, detained without bail as a flight risk, saying, "There are no conditions under which he could be released and ensure the safety of the community."

Al-Liby's court appearance comes 10 days after a U.S. Army Delta Force squad captured him in Tripoli and sent him to a U.S. Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea for interrogation. He was brought to the United States during the weekend when his health began deteriorating.

Al-Liby, bearing a stern face and a long gray beard, walked slowly into the federal courtroom in New York. His hands were cuffed behind his back and he wore loose gray sweat pants, a black sweatshirt and beige socks with black flip-flop sandals.

Al-Liby faces several charges, including conspiring to kill U.S. nationals. The Nairobi bombing came the same day as an attack on a U.S. Embassy in Tanzania.

The courtroom was packed with reporters and law enforcement officials, including U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who declined to comment after the hearing.

Al-Liby, 49, spoke briefly during the hearing, saying through an interpreter that he understood the proceedings and could not afford a lawyer. A green Koran was on the table in front of him.

After his capture, Al-Liby was taken to a U.S. Navy ship for interrogation. Agents abandoned his interrogation after his health deteriorated and he stopped eating and drinking, a U.S. official said. His wife has said in media interviews that he suffers from hepatitis C.

Kaplan said during the hearing that he signed a medical order for al-Liby but he did not elaborate. David Patton, a federal defender representing al-Liby for the hearing, declined to comment to reporters on al-Liby's health after the hearing.

Patton said he had translated three paragraphs of the indictment against al-Liby and had "given him a general sense" of the indictment.

Al-Liby was observed around 1993 taking pictures of buildings near the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. He later brought the pictures to a militant who eventually became a U.S. government informant and witness, according to testimony given at the trial of embassy bombing conspirators in 2001.

He also discussed a possible attack on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi with other al-Qaeda members, according to an indictment.

COMPUTER EXPERT

An early recruit to what became al Qaeda's core organization, court records show al-Liby attended al Qaeda training in the early 1990s in camps and safe houses along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and was alleged to have become one of the top computer experts and trainers for the group.

In 1993, after Osama bin Laden and much of his entourage had moved to East Africa, al-Liby was one of a group of security and communications operatives who worked under the command of Ali Mohammed. Mohammed was a former Egyptian Army soldier who later became a trainer for U.S. Special Forces and, later still, played a similar role for al Qaeda, at one point allegedly acting as a double agent for both the Americans and the militants.

Patton said in a prepared statement after the hearing that "the presumption of innocence is not a small technicality here."

Al-Liby, Patton said, is mentioned "in a mere three paragraphs" of a 150-page indictment "relating to conduct in 1993 and 1994 and nothing since."

"There is no allegation that he had any connection to al Qaeda after 1994, and he is eager to move forward with the legal process in this case," Patton said.

Kaplan set a date of October 22 to appoint a permanent defense lawyer to represent al-Liby.

Bharara, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, declined to comment after the hearing.

The case is United States of America v. Hage et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 98-cr-01023.

(Reporting by Bernard Vaughan and Chris Francescani; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Joseph Ax; Editing by Eddie Evans and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-al-qaeda-suspect-appears-court-york-173511885.html
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Roleplay Partner Needed for 'Time's Relapsing'

---

Hello! I'm LoveBird and I'm needing a Roleplay Partner for the RP I'm making. It's in an AU universe, just a few months before G.U.N. had attacked the ARK. Dr. Gerald Robtnik has accidentally infected himself with a bio-hazardous chemical. It didn't take long for the transformation to begin, turning him into an unrecognizable monster. Though it's only been a few hours since the occurrence, already half the ship has been infected or eaten. Distress signals have been sent out towards Earth, but there's no response.

Maria Robotnik is one of the last humans left alive on the ship. Knowing of her grandfather's project, she has decided that the only way she can save her home is if she releases it. But sadly, her time is running short. Already has she attracted the attention of a monster lurking in the halls, and the emergency systems will only run for so many days.

Will the two cheat death and save the ARK, or will they have to attempt a dangerous escape?

Please come and join me to find out! I can't do this on my own! though I'd rather play Shadow's part in this, but if you really wanted to play him i'd give it up. In time, we might come across more places where more people could fit into the survival. However, right now, all I need is just that certain someone to come and help me get this RP started..

So, any takers?

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."- Murphy's law.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/bHt3Xj5eCx0/viewtopic.php
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Why Scientists Are Trying Viruses To Beat Back Bacteria

Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes severe diarrhea, can be difficult to treat with antibiotics.

Stefan Hyman/University of Leicester

Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes severe diarrhea, can be difficult to treat with antibiotics.

Stefan Hyman/University of Leicester

Not all viruses are bad for us. Some of them might even help up us fight off bacterial infections someday.

Naturally occurring viruses called bacteriophages attack specific types of bacteria. So researchers at the University of Leicester decided to try and take advantage of phages' bacteria-destroying powers to treat infections with Clostridium difficile, a germ that that can cause severe diarrhea and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.

Over the last six years, microbiologist Martha Clokie has isolated hundreds of phages that can kill various strains of C. difficile. Now her lab has teamed up with the pharmaceutical company AmpliPhi to try and turn phages into a product, perhaps a pill, that could be used in humans.

There's no guarantee the approach will work, and so far it hasn't been put to a rigorous test in humans infected with C. difficile. Still, there are some good reasons to check it out.

C. difficile is difficult to treat with antibiotics and is resistant to many of them. Another problem is that the germ often strikes when people take antibiotics to treat other infections. The antibiotics kill good bacteria along with the bad, weakening the gut's defenses against C. diff.

Doctors are using fecal transplants and synthetic poop as possible solutions. But Clokie says that phages could be a useful alternative. "We're simply harnessing the natural enemy of the bacteria," she tells Shots.

Unlike bacteria, Clokie says, phages are very specific about what they attack—right down to the sub-species. In fact, a single phage wouldn't be able to take on all the strains of C. difficle. So Clokie is working to develop a cocktail of viruses that would be able to kill the most common strains.

While the bacteria can evolve and try to outsmart the viruses, the viruses can do the same, Clokie says. They've been involved in this arms race for thousands of years.

As long as they can come up with the right cocktail, there's a very good chance that this phage therapy could work, according to Tim Lu, an associate professor of bioengineering at MIT. "If you know what you want to kill, it's kind of like a silver bullet targeting that bacteria," he tells Shots.

And delivering the phages to a person's gut shouldn't be a challenge, Lu says.

Phages are already approved for use in meat and poultry production. Manufacturers sometimes spray food with phages that target listeria, a common food-borne bacterium.

But using phage therapy in humans is a bit more complicated. "Phages were discovered before antibiotics came around," Lu says. And they've been used in humans, he says. But the problem is, they have yet to be tested in well-controlled clinical trials.

There's also the question of intellectual property. Phages are naturally occurring, and therefore they're difficult to patent, which could discourage pharmaceutical companies.

Ultimately, Lu says, "The science is real." The stuff does work. But, he says, "It's a change in the way we think about treating infections, I think that's the biggest hurdle in a way."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/10/18/237080008/why-scientists-are-trying-viruses-to-beat-back-bacteria?ft=1&f=1003
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