Appeals order on gay marriages may be reversed in California

Texas Guardian Sunday 30th June, 2013

California gay marriage opponents have acted to re-impose a ban on gay marriage.

Gay weddings, which resumed across California on the weekend, may once again have to be called off.

On Friday, in a historic ruling for gay marriage, a federal appeals court in San Francisco lifted a ban that had been in place since 2008.

On Saturday, opponents of same-sex marriage in California filed an emergency petition to the US Supreme Court to try to halt any further gay weddings in the state.

Opponents have said the appeals court should have, by law, allowed them more time to appeal before the lifting of the ban.

A group called Alliance Defending Freedom has said the Supreme Court should now overrule the order by the appeals court because, by law, it had 25 days to challenge the original Supreme Court ruling.

The gay marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, was approved by voters in 2008, months after California's Supreme court decided such unions were legal.

Last Wednesday the Supreme Court ruled that a private party, such as Alliance Defending Freedom, would have to demonstrate it would suffer injury if same-sex marriages were allowed.

Source: http://www.texasguardian.com/index.php/sid/215533427/scat/b8de8e630faf3631

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Disruptions: Social Media Images Form a New Language Online ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Disruptions: Social Media Images Form a New Language Online ... Not surprisingly, the largest social networking companies are spending billions of dollars to be the place where consumers latch onto these visual nods. ... According to Instagram, more than 50 percent of people who use the service are outside North America, and global use of social sites continues to rise each year, with more than 63 percent of people online logging into a social media Web site at ...

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/disruptions-social-media-images-form-a-new-language-online/

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Translation App Linqapp's Developers Are Running Around Taiwan To Promote Its Startup Industry

Though Taiwan is known for its technological prowess, startup founders still face many obstacles, including the lack of early-stage funding. As a result, the developers of social translation app Lingapp had to get creative--and their solution brings new meaning to the term "bootstrapping."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1kTQcqbD8sI/

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Gay marriage ruling will help many veteran spouses

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For Stewart Bornhoft, who completed two tours of duty in Vietnam, the Supreme Court's decision granting federal benefits to married, same-sex couples means that he and his spouse, Stephen McNabb, can one day be buried together at Arlington National Cemetery.

For Joan Darrah, who served nearly 30 years in the Navy and lived through the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, the decision means her spouse, Lynne Kennedy, can join her more generous, less expensive health plan.

Just two years ago, gays and lesbians were prevented from serving openly in the military. Now, with the Supreme Court ruling this week, same-sex spouses of gay veterans and service members will be able to share in their benefits.

The Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law, reports that 650,000 same-sex couples live in the United States and about 13 percent of those relationships include a veteran. The institute said it's unknown how many of those estimated 85,000 relationships involve marriages. A dozen states and the District of Columbia allow for gay marriage.

Same-sex spouses of military veterans now will be able to get help with college tuition and can be buried in a national cemetery. They also can get a monthly indemnity payment that compensates them for the death of the veteran. Meanwhile, veterans receive enhanced disability compensation for their injuries if they're married, generally amounting to several thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime.

But under the Defense of Marriage Act and the law covering Veterans Administration benefits, such extra assistance was unavailable to veterans who were part of a same-sex marriage. That all changed with the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday.

President Barack Obama said he's directed Attorney General Eric Holder to work with all members of the Cabinet to ensure that changes to benefits are implemented swiftly and smoothly.

David McKean, legal director at Outserve-SLDN, which provides legal counsel to gay and lesbian service members and veterans, said Congress may need to update the statute governing VA benefits because it stipulates that marriages are valid only if they are viewed as such by the state where the veteran lives. That means the current VA statute doesn't recognize as valid a marriage that takes place between two residents of, say, Texas or Florida, even if the veteran has a marriage certificate from Massachusetts or Vermont.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., has introduced legislation that would liberalize the definition of spouse to include anyone whose marriage is considered valid in the state where it occurred.

After the court's decision, Shaheen wrote letters to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki saying she hoped policies that "discriminate against loving, same-sex couples will no longer be enforced."

"The sooner people can access benefits that should be available to them, the better for them and their families," she said.

Testifying last month at a Senate hearing, the VA said it supported exempting the department from the Defense of Marriage Act, and that it supported the Shaheen bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said the panel would take up Shaheen's bill next month if the VA cannot act on the Supreme Court's decision without congressional legislation. "The ruling means that all men and women who served our country and their families must be treated fairly and equally," Sanders said.

But Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said he's waiting for an analysis from the VA to determine how it will comply with the court's ruling.

"Until VA's review is complete, any talk of legislative actions in response to the Supreme Court's ruling is premature," he said.

Josh Taylor, a VA spokesman, said the department was reviewing relevant statutes and would try to implement any changes to benefits for veterans "swiftly and smoothly."

In the days leading up to the Supreme Court's decision, Bornhoft said he felt the nation he had served for 26 years was discriminating against him.

"There is not equal treatment. There is not equal protection. There is not equal support," said Bornhoft, a resident of Bonita, Calif., who served in the Army and graduated from West Point in 1969.

After the ruling, Bornhoft said he wanted to read the ruling's fine print before celebrating.

"I'm obviously in no hurry to get planted at Arlington Cemetery, but it's very comforting to know that eventually Stephen could be there by my side, as he has been in life," Bornhoft said.

Darrah, a resident of Alexandria, Va., said it's been stunning to watch the country move from the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians serving in the military to having her marriage recognized, all in less than two years. She, too, hopes one day to be buried at Arlington with her spouse.

"Change is never fast enough, but I'm dumbfounded with how quickly the country has moved," Darrah said. "I wanted it to happen. I never thought it could happen."

Major veterans groups have been largely silent on the issue of extending benefits to married, same-sex veterans. One exception was Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which applauded the Supreme Court's decision.

Earlier this year, Shinseki approved the first burial of a same-sex spouse of a veteran in a national cemetery, but officials emphasized at the time the decision didn't establish a precedent or policy. Rather, Shinseki used his discretion as secretary to approve a specific veteran's request based on a showing of a committed relationship.

One of Leon Panetta's final acts as defense secretary was extending certain benefits not covered through DOMA, such as access to on-base commissaries.

The financial gain from the Supreme Court's decision could be significant for some veterans. For example, a veteran considered 100 percent disabled gets VA compensation amounting to $2,816 a month. A similarly disabled veteran with a spouse gets $2,973 ? a difference of nearly $1,900 annually. In another example, a spouse of a veteran who died as a result of injuries or illness incurred while on active duty is eligible to receive at least $1,195 a month in indemnity compensation.

Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, veterans can transfer to their spouse or children their unused educational benefits. The VA will pay the in-state tuition rates and fees for veterans attending public schools and up to $17,500 for veterans attending private schools.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-ruling-help-many-152820586.html

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UK government backs IVF technique that uses DNA from three people

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128847/UK_government_backs_IVF_technique_that_uses_DNA_from_three_people

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Microscopy technique could help computer industry develop 3-D components

June 28, 2013 ? A technique developed several years ago at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for improving optical microscopes now has been applied to monitoring the next generation of computer chip circuit components, potentially providing the semiconductor industry with a crucial tool for improving chips for the next decade or more.

The technique, called Through-Focus Scanning Optical Microscopy (TSOM), has now been shown able to detect tiny differences in the three-dimensional shapes of circuit components, which until very recently have been essentially two-dimensional objects. TSOM is sensitive to features that are as small as 10 nanometers (nm) across, perhaps smaller -- addressing some important industry measurement challenges for the near future for manufacturing process control and helping maintain the viability of optical microscopy in electronics manufacturing.

For decades, computer chips have resembled city maps in which components are essentially flat. But as designers strive to pack more components onto chips, they have reached the same conclusion as city planners: The only direction left to build is upwards. New generations of chips feature 3-D structures that stack components atop one another, but ensuring these components are all made to the right shapes and sizes requires a whole new dimension -- literally -- of measurement capability.

"Previously, all we needed to do was show we could accurately measure the width of a line a certain number of nanometers across," explains NIST's Ravikiran Attota. "Now, we will need to measure all sides of a three-dimensional structure that has more nooks and crannies than many modern buildings. And the nature of light makes that difficult."

Part of the trouble is that components now are growing so small that a light beam can't quite get at them. Optical microscopes are normally limited to features larger than about half the wavelength of the light used -- about 250 nanometers for green light. So microscopists have worked around the issue by lining up a bunch of identical components at regular distances apart and observing how light scatters off the group and fitting the data with optical models to determine the dimensions. But these optical measurements, as currently used in manufacturing, have great difficulty measuring newer 3-D structures.

Other non-optical methods of imaging such as scanning probe microscopy are expensive and slow, so the NIST team decided to test the abilities of TSOM, a technique that Attota played a major role in developing. The method uses a conventional optical microscope, but rather than taking a single image, it collects 2-D images at different focal positions forming a 3-D data space. A computer then extracts brightness profiles from these multiple out-of-focus images and uses the differences between them to construct the TSOM image. The TSOM images it provides are somewhat abstract, but the differences between them are still clear enough to infer minute shape differences in the measured structures -- bypassing the use of optical models, which introduce complexities that industry must face.

"Our simulation studies show that TSOM might measure features as small as 10 nm or smaller, which would be enough for the semiconductor industry for another decade," Attota says. "And we can look at anything with TSOM, not just circuits. It could become useful to any field where 3-D shape analysis of tiny objects is needed."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/l3YXanJMEUE/130628131025.htm

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NSA leaker's father says Snowden may return to U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The father of former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden said in an interview he is reasonably confident his son will return to the United States as long as certain conditions are met.

Those conditions could include not detaining Snowden before trial, NBC News said on Friday. The NBC report added that he plans to make that point in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to be sent through his lawyer later on Friday.

Snowden's father, in part of the NBC interview that aired on the "Today Show," also said he is concerned his son was being manipulated by others, including people from WikiLeaks.

Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong in May, a few weeks before publication in the Guardian and the Washington Post of details he provided about secret U.S. government surveillance of Internet and phone traffic.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowdens-father-former-contractor-may-return-conditions-met-114430641.html

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Tenn. man charged in alleged Mitt Romney tax scheme

By Sophia Rosenbaum, NBC News

A Tennessee man has been charged after allegedly claiming that he had former GOP nominee Mitt Romney?s income tax returns during the 2012 presidential campaign, according to court documents.

Michael Mancil Brown, 34, was charged with six counts of wire fraud and six counts of extortion, according to a federal grand jury indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Nashville on Wednesday.

Brown allegedly sent an anonymous letter to the offices of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Franklin, Tenn., at the height of last year?s presidential race, according to the indictment. The letter demanded $1 million in the form of the digital currency Bitcoin in exchange for the supposed tax returns.

The letter, which was delivered at about the same time as the Republican and Democratic national conventions were held, also said that parties could get the alleged tax forms released in exchange for $1 million in Bitcoins.

Brown claimed he got a copy of the tax documents after accessing PwC?s internal systems. Those claims were false, the indictment found.

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Flowers, vegetables could affect Snowden's fate

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- With Edward Snowden stuck in Moscow and Washington pushing hard for his return, many Ecuadoreans began realizing Tuesday that this small country's deep economic ties with the U.S. could make it the one with the most to lose in the high-stakes international showdown over the National Security Agency leaker.

While President Rafael Correa's leftist government was virtually silent on Snowden's request for asylum, Ecuadorean analysts said his fate, or at least his safe harbor in Ecuador, could depend as much on frozen vegetables and flowers as on questions over freedom of expression and international counterterrorism.

Unlike with China, Russia or Cuba, countries where the U.S. has relatively few tools to force Snowden's handover, the Obama administration could swiftly hit Ecuador in the pocketbook by denying reduced tariffs on cut flowers, artichokes and broccoli. Those represent hundreds of millions of dollars in annual exports for this country where nearly half of foreign trade depends on the U.S.

A denial wouldn't mean financial devastation for Ecuador, which has been growing healthily in recent years thanks in large part to its oil resources. Growing ties with China also could give the Ecuadorean government a sense of diminished vulnerability. But analysts and political figures said the prospect of any economic damage could nonetheless alter the political calculus for Correa, a pragmatic leftist who's long delighted in tweaking the United States but hasn't yet suffered any major consequences.

"Much of our foreign trade is at stake," said flower grower Benito Jaramillo, president of the country's largest association of flower farmers, who shipped more than $300 million in flowers, mostly roses, to the U.S. last year. "They've been inserting themselves in a problem that isn't Ecuador's, so we're in a dilemma that we shouldn't be in."

For years, Ecuador's oil, vegetables and roses have kept flowing northward even as Correa has expelled U.S. diplomats and an American military base, publicly hectored the U.S. ambassador and harbored WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in London.

Correa's strongest backers have delighted in his attacks on Washington. And even his detractors have tolerated his foreign policy as the indulgence of a man who has maintained general economic and political stability, funneling billions of U.S. dollars, which are also Ecuador's currency, to social spending and infrastructure projects.

The president's office and other government agencies declined comment on Snowden, referring questions to Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who said only that he doesn't know where Snowden is or what travel documents he might be using.

Analysts and politicians said any potential loss to Ecuador could make hosting Snowden a tougher decision than previous ones for Correa, a member of Latin America's leftist bloc who's maintained cordial relations with countries like Cuba and Venezuela without marching in lockstep with them.

"The president's ideology toward the United States is one thing. It's another thing to be president of a country whose dependence on the U.S. is unavoidable, irreplaceable and extremely valuable, because we sell the U.S. a lot more than we could ever could to any other country," said former vice president Blasco Penaherrera, member of the center-left Liberal Party.

Many Ecuadoreans see the NSA surveillance revealed by Snowden's leaks as part of a longstanding and broad pattern of excessive U.S. interference abroad, including in Latin America. So, some people said, asylum for Snowden would be humane and wise despite any economic consequences.

"On a commercial basis, the U.S. and Ecuador are guided by pragmatism, independent of economic agendas. Businessmen set priorities based on cost-benefit and because of that I don't think there are going to be major consequences, because the commercial line is separate from the geopolitical one," said Pablo Davalos, an economics professor and analyst at the Catholic University in Quito.

But on the streets of the capital, people appeared to be increasingly feeling that their country should keep out of the affair.

"We shouldn't give him asylum," said Fredy Prado, a retired shoe company manager. "Every country needs to take care of itself, its own security."

The U.S. administration is supposed to decide by Monday whether to grant Ecuador export privileges under the Generalized System of Preferences, a system meant to spur development and growth in poorer countries. The deadline was deadline set long before the Snowden affair but conveniently timed for the U.S.

More broadly, a larger trade pact allowing reduced tariffs on more than $5 billion in annual exports to the U.S. is up for congressional renewal before July 21. While approval of the Andean Trade Preference Act has long been seen as doubtful in Washington, Ecuador has been lobbying strongly for its renewal in recent months.

"I hope the government doesn't decide to give Snowden asylum, because obviously this isn't in Ecuador's interests," said Roberto Aspiazu, chairman of a coalition of Ecuador's largest industries. "Hopefully the issue will be looked at from the perspective of Ecuador's interests, and I don't think it's in our country's interest to unnecessarily confront the U.S."

___

Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mweissenstein

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flowers-vegetables-could-affect-snowdens-010200174.html

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Activists say death toll in Syria now tops 100,000

BEIRUT (AP) ? The civil war in Syria has now killed more than 100,000 people, a grim new estimate Wednesday that comes at a time when the conflict is spreading beyond its borders and hopes are fading for a settlement to end the bloodshed.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been tracking the death toll through a network of activists in the country, said most of the 100,191 killed in the last 27 months were combatants.

The regime losses were estimated at nearly 43,000, including pro-government militias and 169 fighters from the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group ? a recent entrant in the conflict.

The Observatory said 36,661 of the dead are civilians. Recorded deaths among the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad reached more than 18,000, including 2,518 foreign fighters.

Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said he suspected that the toll actually was higher, since neither side has been totally forthcoming about its losses.

The United Nations recently estimated that 93,000 people were killed between March 2011, when the crisis started, and the end of April 2013, concurring with Abdul-Rahman that the actual toll is likely much higher.

The Syrian government has not given a death toll. State media published the names of the government's dead in the first months of the crisis, but then stopped publishing its losses after the opposition became an armed insurgency.

Abdul-Rahman said that the group's tally of military deaths is based on information from medical sources, records obtained by the group from state agencies and activists' own count of funerals in government-held areas of the country. Other sources are the activist videos showing soldiers who were killed in rebel areas and later identified.

The new estimate comes at a time when hopes for peace talks are fading. The U.N.'s special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said Tuesday an international conference proposed by Russia and the U.S. will not take place until later in the summer, partly because of opposition disarray.

Regime forces are pushing into rebel-held areas in an attempt to secure the seat of Assad's power in the capital of Damascus and along the Mediterranean coast in the heartland of the Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Assad belongs.

The offensive, along with new reports that Assad has used chemical weapons in 10 different incidents in the conflict, also prompted Washington and its allies to declare they have decided to arm the rebels.

On Wednesday, the Observatory said the regime drove rebels out of the town of Talkalakh, along the border with Lebanon. The town, which had a predominantly Sunni population of about 70,000 before the conflict, is surrounded by 12 Alawite villages located within walking distance of the Lebanon border.

The government takeover will likely affect the rebels' ability to bring supplies, fighters and weapons from Lebanon.

The town also lies on the highway that links the city of Homs to Tartus, in the coastal Alawite enclave that is home to one of Syria's two main seaports.

Syrian state TV showed soldiers patrolling the streets of Talkalakh, inspecting underground tunnels and displaying weapons seized from the opposition.

The governor of Homs, Ahmed Munir, told the private Lebanese broadcaster al-Mayadeen that some rebels in Talkalakh handed their weapons over to authorities. He said the town was a major area for infiltrators from Lebanon.

"Talkalakh is clear of weapons," Munir said.

Southeast of Talkalakh, government forces also took control of the village of Quarayaten on a highway that links the rebels to another supply route from Iraq, according to an activist who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

The regime victories are likely to help it advance on rebel-held areas of the city of Homs, he said. The activist, who is connected to rebels in Homs, spoke by Skype.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, urged the U.N. to help civilians in Talkalakh open routes to facilitate the rescue of women, children, the elderly and the wounded.

The fighting has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones. Sunni Muslims dominate the rebel ranks while Assad's regime is dominated by Alawites, and has been backed by Hezbollah fighters, particularly in towns near the Lebanese borders.

The conflict has also polarized the region. Several Gulf states, including Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, back the rebels. Shiite powerhouse Iran is a major Assad supporter.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi lashed out at Saudi Arabia after that country condemned Damascus for enlisting fighters from its Lebanese ally in its struggle with rebels.

The remarks by al-Zoubi were carried late Tuesday by the state agency SANA after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jiddah and condemned Assad for bolstering his army with fighters from Hezbollah. Prince Saud charged that Syria faces a "foreign invasion."

Al-Zoubi fired back, saying Saudi diplomats have blood on their hands and are "trembling in fear of the victories of the Syrian army."

___

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Barbara Surk in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-death-toll-syria-now-tops-100-000-201432503.html

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Ouya looks to make a dent in game console market

NEW YORK (AP) ? Ouya, maker of a bite-sized game console that runs Google's Android operating system, wants to take a bite out the video game triumvirate of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

The console, which went on sale Tuesday for $100, lets players try games for free before buying them, a selling point Ouya (pronounced oo-yah) CEO Julie Uhrman often makes to underscore that gamers who use consoles made by "the big three" can't test games before they spend as much as $60 to purchase them.

"We are definitely disrupting the console market," Uhrman says. "I mean, there's been no startup that has had a meaningful impact on the market in decades, and we're the first. We offer something different."

So far, Ouya's pitch seems to be working. The underdog console had sold out on Amazon.com and on Target's website by Tuesday afternoon. It is available at other outlets, including Best Buy and GameStop.

The Ouya game cube measures about 3 inches on each side and hooks up to a TV set. The console comes with a single controller. Additional controllers cost $50.

There are nearly 180 games available for Ouya, ranging from the likes of "Crazy Cat Lady" to the more established "Final Fantasy III" from Square Enix. The company says more games are on the way. There are also some non-gaming apps, such as online music service TuneIn Radio.

The games are sold through Ouya's storefront, not Google Play, the app store where people buy games for Android tablets and mobile devices. Pricing is left up to individual game developers; many games are in the single digits. "Final Fantasy" is an exception at $16. Ouya takes a 30 percent cut from the game developers.

While you won't find "Grand Theft Auto IV" or the latest "Call of Duty" among the available titles, there are plenty of others from independent developers whose games may never make it onto the dominant consoles, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Wii.

"I don't think it's ever really going to challenge the big three, but it offers a lot to the more casual gamer," says Anthony Yacullo, a self-described "gadget geek" from Lawrenceville, N.J. Like thousands of other gamers and game developers, Yacullo already has an Ouya. He contributed at least $95 to the company through crowdfunding website, Kickstarter.

"When I'm out on the road for work and come home, I don't want to play 'Call of Duty," he says. Rather, Yacullo says he looks for games more like the ones on his phone ? except he doesn't want to be staring at his phone.

That's where Ouya comes in. Still, the new console is unlikely to present a serious challenge to high-end consoles coming out from Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. later this year. Ouya lacks recent blockbuster games with high-end graphics. But at a fraction of the price (the Xbox One will cost $500 and the PlayStation 4, $400), it appeals to budget-conscious gamers, gadget geeks and those looking for an alternative to gaming power-trio.

Gartner analyst Brian Blau says the measure of Ouya's success will not be the number of consoles it sells but the amount of money game developers make ?and whether there is a steady stream of new games for the device. What's missing now, he adds, is the big-name video game brands such as Activision and Electronic Arts supporting Ouya.

That could come later.

The project to build the Ouya console launched on Kickstarter last July. On Aug. 9, 2012, Ouya's funding period ended with $8.6 million pledged, more than nine times the original $950,000 goal its creators had set. More than 63,000 people donated, with 12 pledging $10,000 or more.

"We brought it to Kickstarter because we wanted to know if anybody really wanted this," Uhrman says. "We had talked with developers and industry veterans like (video game designer) Brian Fargo and Ed Fries, who is one of the founders, basically, of Xbox, and there was a general feeling that there was a void in the market place for soemthing. But we wanted to validate it."

This May, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Ouya received another $15 million in venture capital funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, other VC firms, and chip maker Nvidia.

Ouya is not the first independent game console to attempt a challenge to the big three console makers. Four years ago, a startup called OnLive launched, offering games streamed over an Internet connection, similar to the way Netflix offers streamed movies and TV shows. OnLive's small game consoles went on sale for $99 in 2010, but they never gained broad appeal or even made a dent in the traditional console market.

Another early backer, Pedro Amador-Gates, thinks Ouya should "not even go after the consoles," but rather appeal to hobbyists and do-it-yourself folks.

"This is like a baby system compared to an about-to-be upgraded gaming system," he says, referring to the Xbox one and the PS4. But, much like it was with the early cell phone games, "it will only get better."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ouya-looks-dent-game-console-market-222735095.html

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New IRS chief: Inappropriate screening was broader

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The head of the Internal Revenue Service says inappropriate screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than was previously disclosed.

Danny Werfel told reporters Monday that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered inappropriate and wide-ranging criteria in lists screeners use to single out groups for careful examinations. He did not specify what terms were on the lists.

Werfel's comments suggest the IRS may have been targeting groups other than tea party and other conservative organizations for tough examinations to see if they qualify. The agency has been under fire since last month for targeting those groups.

Werfel said he has suspended use of those lists. Investigators have previously said agency officials abolished targeting of conservative groups in those lists in May 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irs-chief-inappropriate-screening-broader-191736127.html

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Fireworks Spectacular Ends With Thrilling Finale; Scare Sends Some In Crowd Running | Detroit Free Press

The International Freedom Festival Fireworks colorfully light up the Detroit, Michigan sky, June 23, 2008.

Detroit Free Press:

Music pumped, fireworks popped and the crowd cheered as the color of life filled the sky over the Detroit River on Monday night during the Ford Fireworks.

Thousands of people lined both the Detroit and Windsor banks of the river for the 23-minute, 10,000-fireworks show.

Read the whole story at Detroit Free Press

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2. Detroit

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/fireworks-spectacular-end_n_3495951.html

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South Korea issues cyberattack alert as sites shut

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korea has issued a cyberattack alert after government websites shut down on the anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

Officials said Monday they were still investigating whether hacking was responsible. The alert warns government and the public sector to be wary of the possibility of cyberattacks.

Multiple government websites and at least one media website were down.

The shutdown happened on the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War.

South Korean officials say that North Korea orchestrated a cyberattack in March that shut down tens of thousands of computers and servers at South Korean broadcasters and banks. Seoul said in April that an initial investigation pointed to a military-run spy agency as the culprit.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-issues-cyberattack-alert-sites-shut-032400902.html

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Series of bomb attacks in Iraq kill at least 42

Shiite Muslim worshippers gather at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

Shiite Muslim worshippers gather at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

Shiite Muslim worshippers pray at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

Shiite Muslim worshippers gather at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

Shiite Muslim worshippers gather at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

Shiite Muslim worshippers gather at the holy shrine of Imam Abbas during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A series of evening bombings near markets in and around Baghdad and other blasts north of the capital killed at least 42 people and wounded dozens of others Monday in the latest eruption of bloodshed to rock Iraq.

The attacks were the latest in a wave of violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives since the beginning of April. Militants, building on Sunni discontent with the Shiite-led government, appear to be growing stronger in central and northern Iraq.

The violence came as tens of thousands of Shiites poured into the holy city of Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, for the annual festival of Shabaniyah, marking the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam. Tight security measures were in force to try to prevent insurgent attacks on the worshippers.

One of the deadliest attacks came at night when two bombs placed near a market blew up less than a minute apart in Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhood of Husseiniyah, killing ten people and wounding 30 others.

Police said the second bomb went off among a group of people who had gathered at the scene to help the victims of the first blast.

Bassem Hazim, a merchant from Husseiniyah, said he was preparing for night prayers when he heard an explosion. He went out to see what happened.

"As we came near the blast site, a second bomb went off in the crowd. We helped carry some wounded people to the hospital. All the shops closed and all the shoppers fled, he said, but "government officials are busy with trips abroad and contracts while the country is bleeding."

Earlier, police said that two car bombs exploded within minutes on a commercial street in the mixed neighborhood of Jihad in western Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 21 others, police said.

Also, four people were killed and nine others were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a line of shops in the Shiite-dominated area of al-Shurta al-Rabeaa.

Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan Ibrahim said that al-Qaida is avoiding direct confrontation with the security forces and instead are choosing civilian targets.

"By attacking soft targets like markets, al-Qaida wants to send a message that they are still active and still capable of striking anywhere in Iraq," he said.

Police said car bomb exploded near a supermarket on a main commercial street in the Shiite Karrada neighborhood, killing five people and wounding 16.

Just after sunset, police said a car bomb went off near an outdoor market in the Shiite suburb of Nahrawan, killing four civilians and wounding 15 others.

Minutes later, a car bomb went off near a market in the Shiite-majority neighborhood of New Baghdad. Police said that three people were killed and 10 others were wounded. Minutes later, a second car bomb hit a bus stop in the same neighborhood, killing two people and wounding eight others.

Also, two people were killed in a car explosion in the Christian-Shiite neighborhood of Garage al-Amana in southeastern Baghdad.

In the morning, a provincial police officer in Ninevah said a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into an army patrol in the city of Mosul, killing a soldier and a police officer. He said that seven people, including two civilians, were wounded. Mosul is 360 kilometers (220 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Another officer said a second bomber blew set off his explosive-rigged belt inside a university campus in the city of Tikrit, killing a police officer. The city is 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad.

Two medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to release information to reporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but security forces and Shiite residents are frequently targeted by al-Qaida's Iraq branch.

___

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-24-ML-Iraq/id-ff60de1bf149450098d54e0ddb528512

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Jews tell pope of concern over moves to make Pius XII a saint

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Jewish leader expressed concern to Pope Francis on Monday over attempts to make a saint of World War Two-era Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.

Francis made no mention of his wartime predecessor during his talks with members of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), but the pontiff repeated the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism.

"The Jewish community continues to be concerned about efforts to canonize Pope Pius XII while innumerable documents pertaining to the history of the Church and the Jewish people during the dark years of the Holocaust still remain closed to outside scholarly investigation," IJCIC chairman Lawrence Schiffman told the pope.

The issue of whether the Vatican and the Church under Pius did all they could to help Jews has dogged Catholic-Jewish relations for decades. Pius became pontiff in 1939, the year World War Two broke out, and reigned until 1958.

Critics accuse Pius of failing to take action to stop the Holocaust but his supporters say he worked actively behind the scenes to encourage the Church to save Jews. They say speaking out more forcefully would have worsened the situation for all.

Jews have asked that the process, still in its early stages, that could eventually make Pius a saint be frozen until after all the Vatican's wartime archives have been opened and studied by scholars. The bulk is expected to be released next year.

At Monday's meeting, the first between the pope and an international Jewish organization since his election in March, Francis did not mention Pius but when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires he expressed support for opening Vatican archives.

"COMMON ROOTS"

"Due to our common roots, a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic," he told the delegation from IJCIC, an umbrella group that represents most major Jewish organizations and all streams of Jewish thought.

Francis, who had good relations with Jews in Argentina and wrote a book with Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka, told the delegation the Church was committed to the Second Vatican Council document Nostra Aetate (In Our Times).

The 1965 declaration, which Francis called "a key point of reference for relations with the Jewish people", revolutionized those relations by repudiating the concept of collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus and urging dialogue with Jews.

A participant at the meeting called the atmosphere "extremely friendly" and less formal than in meetings with Francis' predecessor Benedict.

Francis reached out to the Jewish community a day after his election on March 13 as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years by sending a message to Rome's chief rabbi and inviting him to his inaugural Mass at the Vatican.

In April, Francis accepted an invitation from Israeli President Shimon Peres to visit the Jewish state.

Both of Francis's two immediate predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, visited the Holy Land, including the Palestinian territories, in 2000 and 2009 respectively.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jews-tell-pope-concern-over-moves-pius-xii-174232191.html

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Sony May Take Another Stab At A Smartwatch And Show It Off Next Week

Neither of Sony's two previous smartwatches were runaway hits, but that doesn't seem to have stopped the Japanese electronics giant from taking another crack at the concept. A slew of tweets hash-tagged #itstime started appearing on the official SonyXperia account the other day, and they hinted heavily that the company is preparing to show off yet another smartwatch at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai next week.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UTKZXGOBpV4/

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Wright's two blasts power Mets past Braves

By GEORGE HENRY

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 11:07 p.m. ET June 20, 2013

ATLANTA (AP) - David Wright wasn't looking forward to leaving Turner Field, not after his latest heroics against the Atlanta Braves.

But with the New York Mets heading to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series on Friday, Wright hopes his team can keep grinding out some wins.

"We've had our struggles here in Atlanta," Wright said. "But to come in, sweep that double-header and be able to win the rubber match today - in those close games, it comes down to bullpen, defense and timely hitting, and we've got all three of those."

Wright hit two solo homers, New York's bullpen pitched five-plus scoreless innings and the Mets overcame an injury to starter Jonathon Niese in a 4-3 victory over the Braves on Thursday night.

Niese left the game in the fourth with left shoulder discomfort and the Mets trailing 3-2, but the Mets' bullpen shut down Atlanta for the next 5 2-3 innings.

Closer Bobby Parnell earned his 11th save in 14 chances by facing the minimum in the ninth, retiring Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton on groundouts and B.J. Upton on a lineout.

LaTroy Hawkins (2-0), New York's third pitcher, earned the victory after allowing two hits and striking out two in two innings.

The Mets have won four of six, thanks in part to a bullpen that's 1-0 with a 1.55 ERA over the last nine games.

New York, at 28-51, is 12 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the division, but Wright knows that's better than being even further back.

"It's a good feeling to come in here and take this series against this team," Wright said, "because they're obviously one of the elite."

Mike Minor (8-3) allowed nine hits, four runs and two walks in six-plus innings for the Braves. The left-hander struck out six.

Wright, who went 3 for 4, has 32 homers against Atlanta - his most against any opponent - including 18 at Turner Field.

"He's a really good hitter," Minor said. "I threw a fastball over the middle of the plate. You can't do that. It was up and over the middle and then a hanging curveball that was up and over the middle."

In his last 14 games, Wright is hitting .407 with four homers and eight RBIs since June 5. It was his 20th multihomer game and second this season.

Atlanta used four singles in the third to go ahead 3-1. Chris Johnson's RBI single scored Freeman from second and moved Justin Upton to third. Gerald Laird's RBI single drove in Upton.

Those runs came off Niese, who winced in the fourth after making a pitch to Tyler Pastornicky. Niese motioned to the dugout that he was hurt and was done for the night after Collins visited the mound.

Niese, who gave up eight hits and three runs with five strikeouts in 3 1-3 innings, will fly to New York on Friday and visit an orthopedist. He said he felt fine until facing Pastornicky.

"It's never good when you have to leave a game, but on a good note, the doctor (at Turner Field) did some tests and everything was negative," Niese said. "It just felt really weak. I think the tendinitis kind of flared up again."

Wright gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first with his 10th homer and led off the fourth with his 11th to cut Atlanta's lead to 3-2.

After Wright's second homer, New York loaded the bases with no out, but Minor escaped the jam on Juan Lagares' flyout and Omar Quintanilla's double play grounder.

Andrew Brown's pinch-hit homer to lead off the Mets' fifth tied to score at 3-all.

David Aardsma replaced Niese and pitched out of a jam with runners on first and second when Justin Upton lined out. After Hawkins faced four batters in the fifth and four in the sixth, Brandon Lyon faced the minimum in the seventh.

The Mets took a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh. Quintanilla doubled on the 10th pitch he saw from Minor and scored from second when pinch-hitter Josh Satin doubled down the right-field line to chase Minor.

"The solo home runs kept us in the game, gave us a little momentum, but it came down to the bullpen, defense and that big hit by Satin," Wright said.

NOTES: Niese missed a turn in the rotation with tendinitis in his left shoulder late last month, but avoided the disabled list. He received 12 days of rest before making his next start June 9, a no-decision against Miami in which he allowed two earned runs in 6 2-3 innings. ... Braves 3B Johnson committed three errors, including two on the same play in the ninth. ... Niese's road ERA rose to 6.66 in five starts this year. ... On a bobble-head night for B.J. Upton, the promotion's namesake went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. Upton, who signed a five-year $75.25 million contract that's the biggest in franchise history, is batting.169 in his first season with Atlanta.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Staring at a seven-run deficit with Seattle's Felix Hernandez on the mound Thursday night, the Los Angeles Angels could have been excused for starting to think about the weekend.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/52270523/ns/sports-baseball/

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AP NewsBreak: Report alleges misconduct in BP case

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? A lawyer working for the court-appointed administrator reviewing claims as part of a multibillion-dollar settlement over BP's Gulf oil spill has been accused of receiving payments from a law firm representing a claimant, allegations that were discussed in a closed-door meeting Thursday with a federal judge overseeing the case, a BP official with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The BP official, who has reviewed a report outlining the allegations, said claims administrator Patrick Juneau delivered a copy of the report to U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier during a meeting in his chambers. Lawyers for BP and the team of private attorneys who brokered the settlement also attended the meeting. The BP official spoke on condition of anonymity because the report hasn't been made public.

The lawyer under scrutiny, Lionel H. Sutton III, acknowledged in an email late Thursday that he has been told he was suspended "pending an investigation of an anonymous allegation against me."

"I have not been made aware of the substance of the allegation or the status of the investigation," Sutton wrote. "Once this is resolved, I would be happy to discuss it all with you."

The report indicates that Juneau's s security head, David Welker, also notified the FBI's New Orleans division about the lawyer's alleged misconduct. Welker until recently was the special agent in charge of the FBI office in New Orleans.

An FBI spokeswoman in New Orleans declined to comment Thursday.

The BP official said Juneau told the judge that he has suspended Sutton and is weighing further disciplinary action. Neither Juneau nor his spokesman responded to calls and emails on Thursday night.

The report says the head of security for Juneau's office received a complaint that the staff attorney had referred claims to a New Orleans law firm in exchange for portions of subsequent settlement payments. The lawyer allegedly filed those claims before he went to work for Juneau.

The claims at issue were filed on behalf of a single claimant and involve hundreds of thousands of dollars, the BP official said.

BP has sued to block what could be billions of dollars in settlement payouts to businesses over the spill. The London-based oil giant has accused Juneau of trying to rewrite the terms of the deal and claims he has made decisions that expose the company to fictitious losses that were never contemplated in the settlement.

Barbier appointed Juneau last year and has upheld his decisions for calculating payments. BP has appealed, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case in July.

The spill began in April 2010 after the BP-leased drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers. Roughly 200 million gallons of crude oil were released from the Macondo well a mile under the Gulf surface. Marshes, fisheries and beaches from Louisiana to Florida were fouled by the oil until a cap was placed over the blown-out well in July.

BP set up a compensation fund for individuals and businesses affected by the spill and committed $20 billion. The claims fund initially was handled by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg but Juneau took over the processing of claims after the settlement was reached last year.

It wasn't immediately known how many lawyers work for Juneau, but his office announced in May that it has determined more than $3 billion in claims are eligible for payment through the settlement agreement. More than 162,000 claims were filed and more than $2 billion had been paid to claimants as of May 6.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-newsbreak-report-alleges-misconduct-bp-case-032409884.html

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Boehner dances between GOP, Dems on immigration (The Arizona Republic)

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