A California, Maryland man was shot and killed by a deputy following a violent struggle with police.
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Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, deputies from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office were called to the 23000 block of Sugar Maple Court in California, Maryland for a report of a disturbance.?
Cpl. Cindy Allen, with the sheriff's office, says deputies were confronted by 39-year-old Stephen Robert Wycoff at the scene. Corporal Michael George, a nine year veteran on the force, fired at Allen, striking him.
Wycoff died at the scene while George was taken to the hospital, treated and released. George has been placed on administrative leave, which is routine.
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From all the years I?ve done Pink Ribbon Week ? our annual breast cancer awareness effort ? ?I?ve learned two things about the disease: (1.) It does not discriminate. Breast cancer takes from everyone, and (2.) Everyone has a story to tell.
I would like to invite you to share yours. Reach out and share your story of how breast cancer changed your life, for better, for worse, and what you have done to help, heal, or survive.
It?s my hope that your experience and the struggles that you went or are going through?can help at least one other person. Email your story to me at mike@ksii.com and if possible, please attach a few photos.
Next: Mike and Tricia?s Annual Pink Ribbon Week Locations
If you're from a country where there are not enough teaching opportunities or being a teacher does not earn you the salary you need to support a comfortable lifestyle, then you probably have your sights on teaching abroad. Your teaching experience in your own country may serve as a good foundation for you, but you have to consider the other variables that make overseas teaching jobs really different from what you have in mind.
For example, in other countries, corporal punishment is acceptable in many of the schools. You may be pretty set in your own brand of discipline for your students but you have to understand that this form of disciplinary action practiced by the teachers in the country because culture always comes into play. Here are other things that you would need to know regarding overseas teaching jobs.
*If you're considering other well known nations, there's a difference in the spelling of words, pronunciation, idiomatic expressions and even grammar if you're trained in American English.
*Teaching English as a subject? You would still have to learn the vernacular of the area because English as a subject is completely different from English as a mode of instruction. Even high school students in nations that don't speak English are not taught English using the English as the language of instruction; all instructions are delivered in the native language and even at that level of schooling, students still have limited English vocabulary so you would really have to go with the vernacular to make sure that the students understand you.
*Some cultures are very sensitive and you should be careful not to offend anybody in your "creative" presentation of the lessons. Religion is highly important in some countries, and there are common practices in other culture that are not acceptable in such countries. Also, consider the conservative background of the school; an encouraging pat on the back may be deemed inappropriate. In Thailand, a pat on the head is great discouraged because the head is a very sacred part of the body. It's best to read up and do your research so you do not present lesson materials and carry out motivational practices that will become too controversial and earn the ire of parents and school officials.
*Certain institutions are very strict with the manner of delivery for the lessons and dynamic presentations may be frowned upon. Be sure to get a clear instruction from your department head regarding how lessons are preferred to be carried out for the classes.
You may find all of these very restricting but these are facts of life that you need to be prepared for establishing your teaching career in a different country.
Amazing teachers who were given the chance to be qualified for overseas teaching jobs are fortunate not just to enjoy the employment but the another country as well.
Bo Xilai, who had been a candidate for top office in China until caught up in a scandal that included a murder, will face charges for abuse of power, bribe taking and improper relations with a number of women.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
BEIJING -?China's ruling Communist Party accused disgraced politician Bo Xilai of abusing power, taking huge bribes and other crimes on Friday, sealing the fate of a controversial figure whose fall shook the country's looming leadership succession.
The once high-flying Bo faces a criminal investigation and will almost certainly end up in jail.
"Bo Xilai's actions created grave repercussions and did massive harm to the reputation of the party and state, producing an extremely malign effect at home and abroad," the official statement from a party leaders' meeting said, according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency.?
The Politburo statement also said that Bo took huge amounts of bribes directly or through his family and that he "maintained illicit relationships with numerous females."?
The criticisms and allegations against Bo amount to throwing the book at him: The wide-ranging charges go back more than a decade to when he was mayor of Dalian and continue through his removal as Chongqing party secretary in March.?
The Politburo panel said that the 18th Party Congress would begin on Nov. 8, paving the way for a once-a-decade leadership change at the highest levels of the Communist party.?
The 204-member Central Committee, a cross-section of the national party elite, usually convenes about a week before the congress to approve decisions already made by the Politburo. Privately, the committee will also approve the incoming leaders and a policy blueprint for the next five years.?
China closes in on Bo Xilai after jailing ex-police chief
The congress had been expected to take place in mid-October, though the preparations were overshadowed by the Bo scandal, China's biggest in a decade.?
The late start -- relative to past party congresses -- could allow for Bo to be dealt with before the congress starts and give the next generation of leaders a relatively clean political slate to work from.
China's most politically explosive trial wrapped in a matter of hours when Gu Kailai, the wife of Chinese politician Bo Xilai, did not object to murder charges against her. ITV's Angus Walker reports.
The scandal was set off when a trusted Bo aide disclosed that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai,?had murdered a British businessman.
Bo was sacked as party chief of the city of Chongqing; Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence after confessing to the murder; and the aide, Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, received a 15-year prison term for initially covering up the murder and other misdeeds.?
The official statement also said that Bo had been expelled from the party as well as the elite, decision-making Politburo and Central Committee "in view of his errors and culpability in the Wang Lijun incident and the intentional homicide case involving Bogu Kailai."?Bogu is his wife Gu Kailai's?official but rarely used surname.
Wang Lijun, the Chinese police chief who exposed the murder of a British business man, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail after being found guilty of abuse of power, bribery and defection
It was not immediately clear what was meant by the reference to Bo's responsibility in the murder, although the abuse of power charges against Bo could be related to obstruction of justice in the case.
It was the first direct mention of Bo in state media in months. His name was not mentioned for both Gu's and Wang's trials.?
The end of those trials cleared the way for the party to decide whether to charge Bo with criminal wrongdoing.
The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician has been given a suspended death sentence for her role in the death of British businessman, Neil Heywood.? ITV's Angus Walker reports.
Bo's ouster from the leadership early this year opened a window into the divisive jostling for power that took place as president and party leader Hu Jintao prepared to retire to make way for younger leaders.?
After wife's conviction, what next for Bo Xilai?
The government is grappling with a rapidly slowing economy and a bitter territorial dispute with Japan that has sparked violent street protests and is having an impact on trade ties.
Labor unrest, a growing urban middle class, and anger over corruption and illegal land seizures are fueling demands for reform.
NBC News' Ed Flanagan, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday as investors locked in gains at the end of a strong quarter and amid uncertainty ahead of the result of stress tests on Spanish banks.
Equities added to their losses following a weaker-than-expected read on the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago's index of Midwest business activity, which fell to 49.7 in September from 53.0 in August.
The final read on the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey on consumer sentiment was also less than expected, though it advanced to its highest in four months.
"We had been seeing good data recently, but now we seem to be following the slowdown in China and Europe and we're seeing weakness," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners in Chicago.
A plan for economic reform in Spain had sparked a rally Thursday, though the bank stress-test results and a review of Spain's credit rating by Moody's, both due later in the day, could compound the nation's challenges in dealing with its debt.
Investors are also worried about anti-austerity protests across Europe, which could make political maneuvering more difficult.
Trading was light following Thursday's gains and on the last day of the quarter, when money managers reposition their portfolios. The S&P has advanced 5.5 percent over the past three months.
All ten S&P sectors fell, though losses were limited in technology as U.S. shares of Research in Motion rocketed 13 percent to $8.04 on the back of a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.
Nike Inc warned of slowing orders in China, the latest company to caution on how economic weakness in the Asian giant was impacting its business. Shares fell 2.4 percent to $93.63 and pressured consumer discretionary stocks down 0.9 percent as weakest on the day.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 111.61 points, or 0.83 percent, at 13,374.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 10.17 points, or 0.70 percent, at 1,436.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 20.60 points, or 0.66 percent, at 3,116.00.
The S&P is down 1.6 percent this week so far, for a second straight week in the red, though Thursday's rally narrowed the losses from five straight days of declines. The Dow is down 1.5 percent for the week and the Nasdaq is down 2 percent.
Wall Street's gains in the quarter were largely linked to expectations for measures by central banks around the world to boost their economies.
After those expectations were met, stocks have struggled for direction and trading has been thin, as investors looked to new catalysts amid lackluster data and lowered corporate earnings outlooks. Advance Micro Devices , which cut its outlook in July, has slumped 41 percent to be the S&P's worst performer this quarter.
U.S. consumer spending rose in August by the most in six months as households stretched to pay for higher gasoline prices, according to a Commerce Department report.
There may be volatility on Friday as investors "window dress," or undergo a last-minute push to reposition portfolios ahead of the quarter's end. MetroPCS and Sprint Nextel are the S&P's two biggest gainers in the quarter, with the former almost doubling in value.
BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets rose Friday after Spain announced severe budget cuts meant to show international lenders and investors that the country is taking steps toward getting its debt under control.
The Spanish government on Thursday unveiled a draft budget for 2013 that cuts overall spending by ?40 billion ($51 billion). Wall Street spurted higher on the news. Many economists see the cost-cutting as a signal Spain is preparing to request financial aid from other governments and the European Central Bank.
Spain, whose banks have been hobbled by toxic assets, has so far been reluctant to ask for help because of the requirements that will likely be imposed in exchange for any aid.
Stocks were also helped by speculation that China's central bank will act soon to help the world's No. 2 economy.
Lorraine Tan, director at Standard & Poor's equity research in Singapore, said she believes the Chinese government is likely to introduce incentives to encourage domestic spending rather than making more money available for loans, as the U.S. Federal Reserve has done under its quantitative easing programs.
"Banks are indicating that they are not finding takers for loans," Tan said.
"The Chinese have a lot of flexibility ... the question is, they will only act on it if they think it will achieve something."
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent to 20,836.06. South Korea's Kospi added nearly 0.2 percent to 1,992.12 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 percent to 4,394.10. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand and the Philippines also rose.
But Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8 percent to 8,876.77, sinking on a government report that showed industrial production fell a further 1.3 percent in August. Weak global and domestic demand is weighing on manufacturers, particularly electronics makers, who are facing intense competition from South Korean, Taiwanese and other Asian manufacturers.
The strong yen, which erodes overseas earnings and makes Japanese-made products relatively more expensive, is also eating into profits.
Major Japanese exporters got slammed. Toyota Motor Corp. fell 2.3 percent and Honda Motor Co. shed 2.7 percent. Ricoh Co. slid 3 percent.
Rising gold prices helped related shares. Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Co., China's largest gold miner, gained 2 percent. Australia's Newcrest Mining Ltd. jumped 3.8 percent.
Spain's budget announcement propelled Wall Street stocks to their first gain of the week, despite mixed data on the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent to 13,485.97. The S&P 500 index rose 1 percent to 1,447.15. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.4 percent to 3,136.60.
The U.S. government said the overall economy grew at a slower annual rate in the April-through-June quarter than it previously estimated. Companies cut orders for durable goods last month. But the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell.
Benchmark oil for November delivery was up 49 cents to $92.34 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.87 to finish at $91.85 on the Nymex on Thursday.
In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2932 from $1.2917 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.50 yen from 77.62 yen.
Netbooks continue to survive in the cozy niche of education, being just the right size and in the right price range for schools and families that want an inexpensive way to augment learning with technology. The 2go PC NL3 Classmate PC ($631.49 list), like the recently reviewed DirAction NL3 Classmate PC , is built to Intel's Classmate PC criteria and is outfitted with a swiveling touch screen and educational software. Compared with the DirAction NL3, the 2go PC NL3 cuts a few corners with fewer software offerings and less storage space, but makes up for it elsewhere with faster performance, a speedy solid-state drive (SSD), and a better display.
Design
The 2go NL3 looks nearly identical to the DirAction NL3 because they use the same chassis so as to fit into Intel's Classmate PC specifications. Externally, the only differences are the badges that indicate the brand. The 2go NL3 thus features the same kid friendly (and kid-proof) design with a ruggedized molded plastic chassis, spill-resistant keyboard with antimicrobial coating and scratch resistant touchscreen, and a swiveling screen that allows the small PC to be used as a netbook, tablet, and ereader. An integrated handle makes it easy to carry, and the removable battery can be swapped out by the user.
The 10.1-inch screen boasts 1,366-by-768 resolution, a step up from the lower resolution seen on the DirAction NL3 and similar to the display on the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 (Intel Atom Z690) . The resistive touch screen isn't as responsive as the capacitive touch displays seen on the Kupa X11 Pro Tablet , but it's usable, especially when using the included stylus. And for those worried about students losing the stylus, the 2go NL3 includes both onboard storage and a stylus tether. The icons may need to be scaled up a bit for a more touch-friendly experience, but otherwise, the touch support and handwriting recognition are implemented fairly well.
Features
The differences between the two reside a bit deeper than the chassis, laying instead in the components and software. The 2go NL3 comes with two USB 2.0 ports, VGA and HDMI output, a 10/100 Fast Ethernet port, and mic and headphone jacks. A covered SIM card port also opens up the possibility of 3G connectivity. Even without a SIM card, the 2go NL3 still offers 802.11n Wi-Fi, as well as Bluetooth 2.1. A swiveling webcam sits atop the screen, ready to be used in either laptop or tablet modes, but it's a 1.3-megapixel camera instead of the 2-megapixel offered by DirAction NL3.
The 2go NL3 is outfitted with a 64GB solid-state drive, which adds some speed to an otherwise sluggish system. On the software side, the system is at a disadvantage, coming with ArtRage 2, Foxit eReader, and NoteTaker preinstalled, along with Microsoft Security Essentials. The 2go PC does not include LabCam or Microsoft Mathematics, two of the more useful educational tools offered on the DirAction.
Performance
The 2go NL3 is available with up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, which is a tad confusing, since the 1.66GHz Intel Atom N2600 dual-core processor will support no more than 2GB. Despite this head-scratcher, the 2go NL3 performed reasonably well for an Atom-powered netbook, scoring 1,138 points in PCMark 7, ahead of the DirAction NL3's 696 points. In Cinebench, the dual-core processor scored 0.51 points, identical to the DirAction NL3, and ahead of the Kupa X11 Pro Tablet as well as the Fujitsu Q550 (Intel Atom Z690), and just ahead of comparable netbooks like the Dell Latitude 2120 and the Acer Aspire One D260-1270 .
Using the Intel Atom's integrated graphics processing, the 2go NL3 supported DirectX 9 (DX9), but was couldn't run Lost Planet 2 or Crysis. In 3DMark 06, the 2go NL3 scored 369 points with medium details and 1,024-by-768 resolution. Despite the higher resolution display, the integrated graphics were still unable to run the test at higher settings.
Battery life on the 2go NL3 is actually improved over that of the DirAction NL3, lasting 9 hours 42 minutes, nearly an hour-and-a-half longer than the DirAction NL3's 8:18 using identical 56Wh 6-cell batteries. This difference in battery life can be attributed to the improved energy efficiency of the 64GB SSD. The 2go NL3's battery life also pulls ahead of the 9:04 of the Acer Aspire One D260-1270 with its 49Wh battery, and other comparable Windows tablets and netbooks, all of which fall in the 7- to 8-hour range.
When stacked against the DirAction NL3, there are differences and trade-offs with the 2go PC NL3 Classmate PC, such as a less robust software selection and lower-resolution camera, but the speedier performance and improved battery life balance it out. While the 2go NL3 Classmate PC may be a bit pricier than your average Atom-based netbook, the touch-screen functionality and convertible form-factor mare than make up for it, and it remains significantly less expensive than comparable Windows tablets. Like the DirAction NL3, the 2go NL3 is a solid teaching tool, both for teaching students about technology and then using that technology to educate them in other areas. The performance may not be impressive, but as an affordable standardized resource for educators, it should be a welcome addition to the classroom. Outside of the classroom, however, the Editors' Choice for budget systems remains the Acer Aspire 5349-2635, which is far more affordable at nearly half the price.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
COMPARISON TABLE Compare the 2go Convertible NL3 Classmate PC with several other laptops side by side.
More laptop reviews: ??? 2go Convertible NL3 Classmate PC ??? Dell Inspiron 15R-5520 ??? Vizio 14-inch Thin + Light (CT14-A2) ??? MSI GT70 0NE-276US ??? HP Envy 23-1050t ?? more
As one of the unfortunate non-Americans who are more exposed than most to election news from the United States, I'd like to offer an outside point of view.
Why "unfortunate"?
Because American politics stinks. It has stunk since the 1950s, and we all (but apparently, less than half of you) know it.
It's blindingly obvious to us out here, that a nation which forces itself to contemplate an unfeeling parasite like Mitt Romney for its leader is in serious trouble. Romney is nothing more than a biz-bot, and a ruthless one, not above lying point-blank about his taxes on 60 Minutes while on the campaign trail - no less.
A successful nation is not, and has never been, a business venture. A successful nation runs on humanistic principles - even the ancient Romans understood this. A successful nation's capital is its people; and everyone knows by now what Romney thinks of those.
It's difficult for the average outsider to understand why America is struggling to absorb this fundamental reality of politics. Some very good books have been written on the topic, most of them by Americans; which only makes the various American political obscenities of the last half century even more puzzling.
Why, to take the simplest example, is the United States still so confused about universal health care?
It's not rocket science.
This 2003 report showed that the U.S. expenditure on health care was a whopping 13% of GDP. That translates to over US$4,600 per person, compared to an average of less than US$2,000 in countries with universal health care. And 7.2 of those percentage points is claimed either by private insurance or out-of-pocket expenses; so the average American (and/or their employer) in 2003 was paying around $2,500 per year in medical costs. Which is considerably more than the total cost per head under the average universal health care system.
This doesn't make a blind bit of sense, unless you regard profit to private companies as a higher priority than both citizens' welfare and government expenditure. (If you do, you need to catch up.) And it has nothing to do with quality of care - life expectancy in the U.S. was the lowest of the ten nations in that report.
No wonder so many of us, and some of you too, regard Americans on the whole as irretrievably stupid. Why would a democracy behave like this? Why would you vote for someone who would abandon YOU - you personally, not just Romney's "victims", whoever they are - to the terrifying destitution and helplessness that traps so many of you when you get sick? It's bizarre. It humiliates all Americans, in front of the whole world; and the attacks on the Obama Administration's efforts to change it look very queer. Elected representatives in other nations would not only actively support such changes; they would insist on them.
Those of us (and those of you) who have thought about it, know that America's current domestic problems are ideological in origin. As evidence of that, I don't mind predicting that any G.O.P. supporters who read the above comments will respond with strident bleatings about "user pays" and the oh-so-tiresome anti-"socialism" tirades.
Two whole generations of Americans now have been slaves to "socialism" - the word, not the idea. You can practically hear the chains clink around people's necks when it's mentioned. It might be amusing, if the depth of the exploitation enabled by it were not so grotesque.
America as a whole really does seem peculiarly prone to being duped by stubborn, and often crude ideologies, which benefit a small and blatantly self-motivated fraction of the population - or even only incidental stakeholders, if you think about the Cold War anti-communism fantasies that fed the travesty in Vietnam and the histrionics of McCarthyism.
Suicide rates are the plainest indicator there is of social insecurity; and the rest of the world, as well as a lot of you - see this 2006 study conducted by the Harvard Medical School, which found "strong correlations of state-based suicide rates in the United States with proposed indicators of access to healthcare" - know that healthcare is fundamental to preventing such problems.
Why do you do this to yourselves? And why on earth subject any of us to the prospect of a dangerous incompetent like Romney in the White House?
TIP! If you find yourself in a bad financial situation, think back and analyze your mistakes. Some people?s personal bankruptcy is caused by sudden emergency medical bills.
Bankruptcy effects a myriad of people each with different financial situations. In some situations, this is the only choice, and learning about the process is crucial. If you have questions about what you should do in this situation, continue reading to learn some great advice.
TIP! When you document your financial records, it is vital that you are 100% truthful in order to have a successful resolution to your bankruptcy process. Do not hide any income or assets or go on a spending spree before filing for bankruptcy: the court will find out and will not have a positive opinion of you.
Don?t wait till it?s too late to file for bankruptcy. Some people will just ignore their outstanding debts, hoping that someone or something will come and save them, but this never ends well. If debts are not dealt with quickly, things can quickly get out of control. Not only will you be faced with late fees and interest, but you may also be faced with a wage garnishment or foreclosure if you ignore your financial woes. As soon as you know that you are too far over your head, make the move to call an attorney skilled in bankruptcy court, to weigh your options.
TIP! Make sure your bills are always paid by their due date and don?t simply pay the minimum amount if you want to keep bankruptcy at bay. A lot of people only make the smallest payments possible, thinking that it?s the most comfortable way, but it can put them in danger of getting into debt quickly.
Know that bankruptcy can be much better for your finances than missing payments or making late payments on debts. Of course, bankruptcy hurts your credit for up to ten years, but you can begin to re-build your credit immediately. This is why people call bankruptcy a fresh start.
TIP! It is simple math; when you owe more than you are able to pay off, a bankruptcy is the likely solution. If you find yourself going through this, you should know all about the laws that are in your state.
Make sure to include all of the debts that you want eliminated on your bankruptcy filing papers. If you have debts that are not listed on the paperwork, they will not be included in the discharge. Be certain to list all of your debts so that none that could have been discharged will be overlooked.
TIP! Look for new credit options when you begin to rebuild from your bankruptcy. Although establishing this is hard when you have bad credit, a good option is to get a secured credit card.
Don?t feel embarrassed because you are seeking bankruptcy. A lot of people think about the situation too much and wind up becoming depressed because of it. If you have researched bankruptcy thoroughly and have decided that it is the right choice for you, take control of your situation and make the most of it.
TIP! Take a list of questions with you to the lawyer?s office. It can be expensive to see a lawyer.
Find out more about Chapter 13. You are eligible for filing bankruptcy under Chapter 13 if you work and owe less than $250,000. Filing a Chapter 13 will let you keep personal items and real estate while you pay down your debt in a consolidation plan. The window for Chapter 13 repayments is typically 3-5 years. At the end of this time, any unsecured debt is discharged. Missing a payment under these plans can result in total dismissal by the courts.
TIP! If you are forced to file for bankruptcy, you should avoid being ashamed of yourself. Going through bankruptcy can cause you to lose a lot of self-esteem.
Check the accuracy of all information before it is filed. You cannot expect your lawyer to remember every important detail without some reminder from you. This is your bankruptcy and your future, so never be nervous about speaking your mind.
TIP! Understand the rules and laws before submitting your petition for bankruptcy. There are several pitfalls with personal bankruptcy that can make your case harder to handle.
Before you file for bankruptcy, make sure you understand your rights. Some debtors will try to tell you your debt with them can not be bankrupted. Only a few debts are immune to bankruptcy. Taxes, student loans and child support would be the major ones. If you are told differently by a collector, research the information yourself. If you find they are in error, get the name of their company, phone number and any identifying info so you can report it to the attorney general in your area.
TIP! Do not forget to make quality time for friends and family members. The whole process of filing for bankruptcy is hard.
You should understand that you need to speak with a bankruptcy attorney about what you should and should not do when it comes to bankruptcy. The more you know, the easier this complicated process will be. The information in this article is designed to put your mind at ease, which means you can deal with your bankruptcy in the most efficient way possible
The shotgun went off a little earlier than usual this year, with golfers starting out at 8 am for the Apex Park and Recreation District Foundation?s 32nd Annual Golf Tournament, held at Indian Tree Golf Club on Friday, September 21, 2012.
Players enjoyed delightful fall weather, with lunch and awards following the event. All proceeds went to support community recreation through Apex Park and Recreation District. Many thanks to all the sponsors and donors, including major sponsors FirstBank, The Goddard School, Hoffbrau Colorado, Saunders Construction and Stifel Nicolaus. Watch for complete tournament results soon at foundation.apexprd.org.
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy addresses reporters' questions about a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football during a press conference in Green Bay, Wis., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lukas Keapproth) NO SALES
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy addresses reporters' questions about a controversial touchdown call on Monday Night Football during a press conference in Green Bay, Wis., on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lukas Keapproth) NO SALES
Green Bay Packers fan Mike LePak holds a sign in front of Lambeau Field along Lombardi Avenue, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis., in protest of a controversial call in the Packers 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Monday night in Seattle. Just when it seemed that NFL coaches, players and fans couldn't get any angrier, along came a fiasco that trumped any of the complaints from the weekend. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
With Commissioner Roger Goodell at the table, the NFL and referees' union pressed toward a settlement Wednesday to end a three-month lockout that triggered a wave of frustration and anger over replacement officials and threatened to disrupt the rest of the season.
Two days after a controversial call cost the Green Bay Packers a win, both sides were said to be nearing a deal and several reports put regular officials back at work perhaps as early as Sunday.
ESPN reported that "an agreement in principle is at hand." The New York Times said the sides "were closing in" on a new agreement.
The NFL declined to confirm that a tentative contract was imminent.
The union wants improved salaries, retirement benefits and other logistical issues for the mostly part-time referees. The NFL has proposed a pension freeze and a higher 401(k) match.
"Until somebody tells me differently, it's not really changed," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said.
Talks resumed Wednesday morning and continued at league headquarters in New York past 9 p.m., EDT. The sides held a marathon session Tuesday ? also attended by Goodell, who was present at four meetings last week as well.
"We want to go back to work but it has to be the right deal for 121 guys," NFL field judge Boris Cheek said. "We have to be patient and let this work itself out."
Some coaches, including Miami's Joe Philbin and Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis, instructed players not to speak publicly on the issue, especially after a barrage of comments that accompanied Monday night's Green Bay-Seattle game, which the Packers lost 14-12 on a missed call.
Fines against two coaches for incidents involving the replacements were handed out Wednesday.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was docked $50,000 for trying to grab an official's arm Sunday to ask for an explanation of a call after his team lost at Baltimore Sunday. And Washington assistant Kyle Shanahan was tagged for $25,000 for what the league called "abuse of officials" in the Redskins' loss to Cincinnati on Sunday. Two other coaches, Denver's John Fox and assistant Jack Del Rio, were fined Monday for incidents involving the replacements.
"I accept the discipline and I apologize for the incident," Belichick said.
But many players indicated the replacement-ref issues were too significant to ignore.
"Would you let a Toyota dealership work on your brand new Rolls-Royce? That doesn't work right, does it," Dallas safety Gerald Sensabaugh said. "Our brand is so big, it's so important to a lot of people. There's no way you can have guys that don't have experience at that level."
The replacement officials previously worked mostly in lower-division college ranks, such as Division III, and in minor professional organizations like the Arena League.
"I hate to say it," Carolina's Steve Smith said, "but if you are going to have these refs in a Super Bowl it's going to cost somebody a game.
"I'll probably get in trouble for this, but you have to have competent people," he said. "And if you're incompetent, get them out of there."
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford didn't mince words about the regular refs ? "We need them back."
"I hope it happens soon," he said. "I just don't think it's fair to the fans, I don't think it's fair to us as players to go out there and have to deal with that week in and week out. I really hope that they're as close as they say they are."
Despite several field fiascos ? like Dallas' Kevin Ogletree getting tripped in the end zone by an official's thrown cap ? not everyone is necessarily pointing fingers at the replacements.
"Maybe we shouldn't be blaming the refs, but blaming the league, the owners, I don't know who it is," Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "Maybe it's not just the officials. We're putting them in tough situations and it can't be easy."
Even Cheek, the NFL field judge, said the replacement refs are in a difficult position ? though noted the end-of-game call in Seattle, at least in his in eyes, should have been easy to get right.
"It's like expecting a high schooler to keep pace with Ray Lewis," Vikings punter Chris Kluwe said. "It's not fair to expect them to do that. I think you saw that through no real fault or lack of effort, they were just put in a position where they couldn't really succeed."
Even if a deal is at hand, it was still uncertain how it would affect the weekend's games. Week 4 opens Thursday night with the Cleveland Browns at the Ravens.
Titans coach Mike Munchak said he thought it might take a while before things return to normal, even with the regular refs.
"It's going to be hard for officials to come back since not doing a game since last December, a lot of them, and all of a sudden they're doing a game. I think it's going to be a tough transition either way. You want things to get settled. You want the best people to be out there, the guys who've been doing it a lot of years."
Bills coach Chan Gailey had a simple solution for all the recent angst.
"The biggest thing, if you get a big enough lead, it won't come down to a call," he said. "Go get big leads and it won't be an issue."
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AP Sports Writers Steve Reed in Charlotte, N.C., Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis, Stephen Hawkins in Dallas, Will Graves in Pittsburgh, Larry Lage in Detroit, Joe Kay in Cincinnati, Dennis Waszak Jr. in Florham Park, N.J., Michael Marot in Indianapolis, Andrew Seligman in Chicago, Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia and John Wawrow in Buffalo, N.Y., and R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis contributed to this report.
___
Follow Tim Reynolds on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds
Communicating person-to-person via the Internet has similarities to learning a new language and getting used to a strange culture. It doesn't come naturally to everyone, especially in the context of business relationships. There's a certain amount of fear in taking the social step, so it makes sense that prior to engaging clients and customers, employees of a company should practice internally, where the benefits of social can open doors to new forms of collaboration.?
While at Dreamforce 2012 I had the opportunity to talk with Natasha Oxenburgh of Bluewolf, a consultancy based in San Francisco. Natasha is Bluewolf's Social Programs Manager.
Last year Bluewolf recognized that social media and interaction were evolving into an essential business practice and skill set, with respect to their client offerings. It was important to the company that all of its employees learn and understand how to use social tools effectively. Some employees were already fluent in social practice while others had managed to avoid much involvement with the technologies and skills that, until recently, had been regarded as optional.
The challenge - as it is in many businesses of all sizes - was to bring everyone in Bluewolf up to speed in a way that was non-threatening and engaging. It's always been the case that some people smoothly adopt social media and some hold back out of professional anxiety - their possible embarrassment or loss of status within the organization.
Natasha, who came on board at Bluewolf 18 months ago, manages Bluewolf's website content and has been driving this internal change management campaign around social collaboration. She proposed a learning and gamification program that offered incentives for taking steps into the internal social environment of the company.
As Natasha said, "Our Going Social program was started at the beginning of this year with two goals. One was to increase internal collaboration. More importantly it was about getting our employee base engaged. Engaged employees increase customer engagement."
The goal for each employee was to build a rich professional profile, accessible by all employees and managers, that would answer the question, "Who is this person and what should I know about her or him?"
"If we turn our employees into external thought leaders it raises the value of our brand as well as their personal brands," Natasha said, "We achieved buy-in from employees by helping them develop their own personal brands."
What did employees have to gain by participating? Natasha called it the WIIFM - What's In It For Me - question. The answer was, "Getting known internally, improving your reputation, gaining visibility."
The Going Social team asked employees-in-training, "What do you want to be known for?" The personal branding would serve the purpose of fulfilling that wish.
Going Social began with a 30-day case study using two of Bluewolf's senior consultants. In order to become better known in the company, each consultant set up a personal blog, engaged with communities outside of the company, shared their knowledge within the company and kept video diaries. Their profiles became models for the rest of the employees.
As SMBs and enterprise level companies confront the stark realities of social competency as a competitive factor, they will need to develop their own versions of Going Social - moving their activities into the increasingly social marketplace. Though the challenges to corporate cultures are many, the vast majority of businesses have no choice but to adapt.
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Authored by:
Cliff Figallo
Editor/Moderator of Social Media Today and Smart Data Collective. Online communities and social media veteran, founding director of The WELL, author of Hosting Web Communities ('98) and Building the Knowledge Management Network ('02)
GETS Tender Watch Notification for Friday, 10 August 2012 10 August, 2012
GETS Tender Watch Notification for Thursday, 9 August 2012 9 August, 2012
GETS Tender Watch Notification for Monday, 6 August 2012 6 August, 2012
GETS Tender Watch Notification for Tuesday, 24 July 2012 24 July, 2012
GETS Tender Watch Notification for Friday, 20 July 2012 20 July, 2012
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Residents of Estonia have the most freedom to do what they want on the Internet, with the U.S. ranking second among 47 countries examined by a group that pushes for democratic freedoms worldwide.
However, residents of several countries have experienced attacks on bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, government manipulation of Web content and regulations focused on online speech, said Freedom House, which issued a report on Internet freedoms Monday.
Twenty of the 47 countries have less Internet freedom now than they did in January 2011, with Bahrain, Pakistan, and Ethiopia seeing the greatest declines, according to the report.
[ Get the latest IT news on the Australian government and businesses in Computerworld's Business & Government newsletter ]
?We are seeing an increasing number of governments trying to limit free speech online,? Sanja Kelly, project director of the study, said during a forum in Washington, D.C.
A number of governments in the Middle East have restricted Internet freedom since the Arab Spring movement that began in late 2010, she said. ?They saw what kind of consequences can happen when people organize with social media,? Kelly said.
In 14 countries, the governments are hiring people to comment online and drown out unpopular posts. This is one of the more ?worrying trends? the study found, Kelly said.
The study found new laws or directives passed since January 2011 in 19 of the 47 countries to restrict online speech, violate user privacy, or punish people who post content deemed objectionable or undesirable.
In 26 countries, at least one blogger or Internet user has been arrested for content posted online or sent by text messages. In 19 countries, a blogger or Internet user was tortured, beaten or has disappeared apparently in response to their online posts, the study said. In five countries, an activist or citizen journalist was killed in retribution for posting information that exposed human rights abuses.
But the study reports what Kelly called a positive development in Internet freedom. In several countries, Internet activists and technology companies have fought against restrictive laws, she said.
Advocacy campaigns, mass demonstrations, website blackouts and constitutional court decisions have resulted in censorship plans being shelved, harmful legislation being overturned and jailed activists being released, the study said. In 23 countries, at least one change happened because of activism, the study said.
In the U.S., many activists and tech companies opposed the controversial copyright enforcement bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), and they were killed as a result, the study noted.
The study called the Internet generally free in 14 countries, including the U.K., Brazil, Ukraine, Italy and Germany, although it found some problems in each of those countries. It rated the Internet in Nigeria, Jordan, Russia, Mexico and Egypt as partly free.
The study found the Internet not free in 13 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Pakistan and Iran.
Freedom House used 50 researchers, many of them in the field, to test Internet freedoms in their countries.
Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant?s e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.
Residents of Estonia have the most freedom to do what they want on the Internet, with the U.S. ranking second among 47 countries examined by a group that pushes for democratic freedoms worldwide.
However, residents of several countries have experienced attacks on bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, government manipulation of Web content and regulations focused on online speech, said Freedom House, which issued a report on Internet freedoms Monday.
Twenty of the 47 countries have less Internet freedom now than they did in January 2011, with Bahrain, Pakistan, and Ethiopia seeing the greatest declines, according to the report.
[ Get the latest IT news on the Australian government and businesses in Computerworld's Business & Government newsletter ]
?We are seeing an increasing number of governments trying to limit free speech online,? Sanja Kelly, project director of the study, said during a forum in Washington, D.C.
A number of governments in the Middle East have restricted Internet freedom since the Arab Spring movement that began in late 2010, she said. ?They saw what kind of consequences can happen when people organize with social media,? Kelly said.
In 14 countries, the governments are hiring people to comment online and drown out unpopular posts. This is one of the more ?worrying trends? the study found, Kelly said.
The study found new laws or directives passed since January 2011 in 19 of the 47 countries to restrict online speech, violate user privacy, or punish people who post content deemed objectionable or undesirable.
In 26 countries, at least one blogger or Internet user has been arrested for content posted online or sent by text messages. In 19 countries, a blogger or Internet user was tortured, beaten or has disappeared apparently in response to their online posts, the study said. In five countries, an activist or citizen journalist was killed in retribution for posting information that exposed human rights abuses.
But the study reports what Kelly called a positive development in Internet freedom. In several countries, Internet activists and technology companies have fought against restrictive laws, she said.
Advocacy campaigns, mass demonstrations, website blackouts and constitutional court decisions have resulted in censorship plans being shelved, harmful legislation being overturned and jailed activists being released, the study said. In 23 countries, at least one change happened because of activism, the study said.
In the U.S., many activists and tech companies opposed the controversial copyright enforcement bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), and they were killed as a result, the study noted.
The study called the Internet generally free in 14 countries, including the U.K., Brazil, Ukraine, Italy and Germany, although it found some problems in each of those countries. It rated the Internet in Nigeria, Jordan, Russia, Mexico and Egypt as partly free.
The study found the Internet not free in 13 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Pakistan and Iran.
Freedom House used 50 researchers, many of them in the field, to test Internet freedoms in their countries.
Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant?s e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? A deadly shootout last week along Israel's border with Egypt has shined a spotlight on Israel's only mixed female and male combat unit, granting some recognition to a group that has faced much skepticism and often been the butt of jokes since its inception.
The Caracal battalion's response to the militant attack on Friday ? which left three gunmen dead, including one whom Israeli officials said was killed by a female soldier ? marked a major test for the unit that typically handles tame operations. One Israeli soldier also was killed.
On Sunday, Israeli newspapers and radio broadcasts glowed over the news that the co-ed battalion played a decisive role in thwarting the assailants' attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted about the work of the unit ? named after a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East and Africa ? in his weekly Cabinet meeting. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz traveled to the scene of the attack and congratulated the soldiers.
"If the Caracal force wasn't there in those critical moments, it's clear to everyone that we could have faced a difficult attack," Col. Guy Biton, the commander of the Sagi Brigade that oversees the battalion, told the Maariv daily newspaper.
Most Jewish Israeli citizens are drafted into their nation's defense forces when they turn 18. Women, however, typically serve less time than men and usually away from the battlefield, in administrative or technical positions. A minority serve in combat roles.
By contrast, 60 percent of Caracal's soldiers are women.
Women were barred from combat until 2000, the year Caracal was introduced as a way to ease females into combat duty. The unit was positioned in areas along Israel's borders with Jordan and Egypt. For years, the territory was calm, largely because Israel has peace deals with both neighbors. Soldiers who were there mostly worked to prevent drug and weapons' smuggling and while they were trained to neutralize an armed threat, they rarely faced one.
But in the last year and a half, since the fall of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Caracal's usual patrolling area near Egypt has become a hotbed of militant activity. Egypt's vast Sinai peninsula is home to Islamic extremists who have staged attacks against Egyptian and Israeli targets. The Jordanian border has remained quiet.
In the most recent attack, a shootout on the Israel-Egypt border left one Israeli soldier and three assailants dead. The military said the militants were heavily armed and wearing explosive belts when they crossed into Israeli territory and opened fire on soldiers guarding a team of workers who were building a border fence meant to protect against just such attacks.
An Israeli forces spokeswoman said the troops quickly returned fire, killing the militants and preventing a major attack ? a coup for the women and men of Caracal. The battalion fought on Friday alongside soldiers from Israel's Artillery Corps. In line with its policy not to discuss troop deployment, the military declined to provide the battalion's size.
"I feel proud to know that finally people are coming to recognize and know what we are worth and what we are able to do," Amit Epstein, a former Caracal company commander, told Israel Radio.
The recognition comes to Caracal after years of challenges. Resolving logistical issues like building separate sleeping quarters and bathrooms were a first hurdle. But the unit has continued to grapple with widespread skepticism from a male-dominated military.
The female soldiers' ability to fight alongside men has been questioned. But the battalion's men also have been stigmatized, written off as too weak to be accepted into a regular unit or distracted by criticism that they would be unable to focus on their jobs while working so closely with women. Skeptics have also wondered how focused young men and women can be when working so closely with the opposite sex.
Doron Almog, who served as the head of Israel's southern command when the battalion was formed, was not surprised by the successful effort. He said the group is prepared for such attacks and expects it to continue to be called on for such dangerous operations.
And as the border with Egypt becomes increasingly volatile, Caracal will be able to continue to prove itself, he said.
"The best public relations strategy is to have a successful operation and to come and show results," said Almog.
The Galaxy is back in the Major Soccer League playoffs, though you wouldn't have known it from the way the team marked the win that sent it there.
Because while Saturday's 4-2 win over Toronto FC before a sellout crowd of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center guaranteed the Galaxy its fourth postseason invitation in as many seasons, there was little celebrating afterward. Instead, the team focused on the work that remains to be done before next month's playoffs begin.
There's the matter of seeding, for example. With Saturday's win the Galaxy jumped over Seattle and is tied with Real Salt Lake for second in the Western Conference standings, a point ahead of the Sounders, with four matches left. Only the top two teams get home-field advantage in the conference semifinals ? and should the Galaxy fall to fourth, it would have to win a one-match play-in game just to get to the semifinals.
"We don't have the luxury of admiring anything we're doing or thinking we're great. Because we're still far away from where we want to be," captain Landon Donovan said. "There's a lot going on with seeding. There's a lot going on with our conference that could matter in the end. So we've got to keep winning games.
"Right now our mentality is good, our attitude is good. We're confident. And we've just got to go on the field and perform. It's really as simple as that."
Simple also sums up Saturday's win, the Galaxy's season-best fourth in a row and one that extended its unbeaten streak to six games, also a season high.
Playing without David Beckham, who missed his second consecutive game with what's being called a left ankle sprain, the Galaxy jumped to a 3-0 lead after 36 minutes on two goals from Brazilian midfielder Juninho and another from Irish striker Robbie Keane.
Juninho's first came on a free kick from the edge of the penalty area while the second, a right-footed blast into the top left corner from more than 30 yards out, was his sixth goal in as many games. Keane's first-half score ? the first of two goals ? came three minutes later on a close-range chip over Toronto keeper Freddy Hall.
That proved to be more than enough offense even after Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders' shutout streak was snapped at 351 minutes when Toronto's Terry Dunfield scored on a header late in the first half.
Toronto briefly made it close at 3-2 when Luis Silva knocked home an Eric Avila cross at the far post in the 86th minute. But Keane added another goal, his team-high 14th of the season, in stoppage time.
"We're moving forward as a team," said Coach Bruce Arena who, like Donovan, was focused on the future and not the past. "The team's getting better. Having said that, I think we all understand there's a lot of soccer left to be played this season."
ScienceDaily (Sep. 22, 2012) ? Screening air-dried fine needle aspirations (FNA) for a panel of genetic mutations linked to follicular or papillary thyroid cancer could reduce the need for diagnostic thyroid surgery, according to data presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) in Qu?bec City, Qu?bec, Canada.
"The ability to detect known mutations linked to thyroid cancer through fine needle aspiration samples is an important advance that may greatly reduce the need for surgery," said Douglas Forrest, PhD, of at National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
FNA is currently the most sensitive method to select suspicious thyroid nodules for surgery but is often limited by indeterminate samples. Genetic sequencing for rearrangements (PAX8/PPARG, RET/PTC) and point mutations (BRAF, NRAS, HRAS, KRAS) has arisen as non-surgical method for the thyroid cancer diagnoses. However, until now, these aberrations have only been detected in fresh FNA samples.
A team of researchers led by Markus Eszlinger, PhD, of the University of Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany, has now shown that the detection of these mutations is feasible using FNA smears. Researchers extracted RNA and DNA from 310 routine air-dried FNA smears (164 indeterminate, 57 malignant, 89 non-neoplastic) and corresponding formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE) samples (156 follicular adenomas, 32 follicular thyroid carcinomas, 9 follicular variant papillary thyroid carcinomas, 44 papillary thyroid carcinomas, and 69 goiters). They identified PAX8/PPARG and RET/PTC1 rearrangements using qPCR and BRAF and NRAS and HRAS point mutations using high resolution melting (HRM)-PCR and pyrosequencing. No KRAS mutations were detected in the FNA samples.
On average, 8% of routine FNA samples did not allow analysis of a point mutation and 3.9% did not allow analysis of a rearrangement. For the 164 indeterminate samples, BRAF mutations were detected in 1 FNA/1 FFPE sample, NRAS mutations in 12 FNA/21 FFPE samples, HRAS mutations in 3 FNA/7 FFPE samples. PAX8/PPARG was detected in 6 FNA/6 FFPE samples, while RET/PTC was not detected in any indeterminate sample.
Molecular FNA screening increased the sensitivity from 67% (cytology alone) to 75% (cytology and molecular FNA screening) in the total set. In the indeterminate set with 19 FTCs the sensitivity of detecting carcinomas and mutation positive adenomas was 48% and specificity was 99%.
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The 2go NL3 is available with up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, which is a tad confusing, since the 1.66GHz Intel Atom N2600 dual-core processor will support no more than 2GB. Despite this head-scratcher, the 2go NL3 performed reasonably well for an Atom-powered netbook, scoring 1,138 points in PCMark 7, ahead of the DirAction NL3's 696 points. In Cinebench, the dual-core processor scored 0.51 points, identical to the DirAction NL3, and ahead of the Kupa X11 Pro Tablet as well as the Fujitsu Q550 (Intel Atom Z690), and just ahead of comparable netbooks like the Dell Latitude 2120 and the Acer Aspire One D260-1270 .
The shotgun went off a little earlier than usual this year, with golfers starting out at 8 am for the Apex Park and Recreation District Foundation?s 32nd Annual Golf Tournament, held at Indian Tree Golf Club on Friday, September 21, 2012.
Natasha, who came on board at Bluewolf 18 months ago, manages Bluewolf's website content and has been driving this internal change management campaign around social collaboration. She proposed a learning and gamification program that offered incentives for taking steps into the internal social environment of the company.
