Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287956445?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Thursday, February 28, 2013
Threats of violence in Kenyan slums color election
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Dozens of shack homes have been burned to the ground in recent weeks in Mathare, Nairobi's most dangerous slum. Families are moving into zones controlled by their own clans, fearful of attacks between the tribes of Kenya's top two presidential candidates.
Kenya on Monday holds its first presidential election since the 2007 vote devolved into months of tribal violence that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 600,000 from their homes. In a hopeful sign, this year's presidential candidates pledged at a weekend prayer rally to accept the outcome of the election and ensure violence doesn't again break out.
But the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights on Wednesday released a long list of physical attacks, hate speech and cases of ethnic intimidation Kenya has seen in recent weeks, exposing an undercurrent of tribal tension.
Those strains are on high display in Mathare, where at least seven people have died and 100 shacks burned in the last two months. Officially Mathare suffered 112 deaths during the 2007-08 election violence, though one policeman, who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, says Mathare really suffered over 370 killings.
Lewis Kamau is a Kikuyu but wears the bright orange hat of the Luo candidate, Raila Odinga. Kamau is not crossing party lines; he says the hat protects him from Luo attacks. He says he expects Luos to react negatively if Odinga loses.
"Violence will erupt because of results they don't like," he said. "I know these people. They won't accept the results."
Kamau ? who backs the Kikuyu candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta ? is standing 20 feet from a dirt lot scorched by fire, one of the shacks burned in Luo-on-Kikuyu attacks that began in late December and carried over into January.
"Just the other day they burned here and we didn't retaliate," he said, motioning to the charred lot. "We kept quiet. On Monday after the (election results) announcement, we will be ready for it."
Odinga or Kenyatta must win at least 50 percent of the vote in Monday's election, or the two will go to a second-round runoff, where attention will be even more focused on the two, heightening tensions further.
Many in Mathare, and across town in Nairobi's biggest slum, Kibera, say that Kenyans have learned from the 2007-08 violence, and won't repeat it. But many of those pronouncements come from people who assume their candidate will win.
"I think given the 2007 experience we will accept the results, even if, God forbid, we Luos lose. But I don't see us losing," said Daniel Omondo, an information technology specialist in Mathare.
The Kikuyu-Luo rift goes back decades, to when Odinga's father was asked by British colonialist to be Kenya's prime minister. The elder Odinga declined, saying that Jomo Kenyatta ? Uhuru's father ? was the rightful leader. Kenyatta eventually became president, with Odinga as his vice president. But a few years later Kenyatta forced Odinga out of the government, and the tribes' relations began a long slide downward.
In a small tin shack in Kibera where illegal, home-made whisky is served, one Odinga backer who gave his name as Christian Nyambega said the country needs its political leaders to accept the results and for the voters to remain calm. Then one of his drinking colleagues became agitated at the memory of the disputed 2007 election win of current President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu.
"They're going to steal the vote the way they did for Kibaki. The Kikuyus are not the only tribe in Kenya. We have 42 tribes in Kenya," said the man, who gave his name only as Patrick, saying her feared government retribution.
Of the dozens of worrying cases of political tensions described by the human rights commission on Wednesday was one in which Kikuyu landlords in a low-income area of Nairobi ejected Luo tenants from their rental houses. It also said a member of Kenyatta's party has been linked to the use of gangs to threaten opponents. The report also documented cases of residents voluntarily moving to areas controlled by their own tribe.
One Western embassy official watching election developments closely said he expects less violence this election season than in 2007. But he said if 200 people die in violence, it might have to be considered progress compared with the more than 1,000 deaths in 2007-08.
There are other areas of concern in addition to the Luo-Kikuyu rift in Nairobi. A United Nations official who is watching election developments said that Kenya's Rift Valley has seen an influx of imported guns that didn't exist five years ago, and the Tana River area ? a region that has seen serious tribal fighting over the last year ? is likely to see more deaths.
The official said that violence in Mathare will be the worst in Nairobi, and that members of Amnesty International and Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission have been receiving serious threats. The official said he could not be identified because he was not authorized to share election data.
Since Kenya's last election, the country now has a new constitution, a new judicial system that is lauded as less corrupted, and the police force is being overhauled. Many residents hold out hope that those changes will help ensure that government systems ? instead of massive street violence ? will be used to settle election disputes.
"The violence (in 2007-08) came because of the stealing of votes. The Odinga supporters thought it was rigged, so there was an outcry. This time we have a credible judicial commission and we have seen many changes in police," said Bernard Titus, a Kibera resident.
In addition, four prominent Kenyans ? including Kenyatta and his vice presidential candidate ? face charges at the International Criminal Court over allegations that they orchestrated the 2007 election violence. Some Kenyans believe those charges have reduced the chances that power brokers will hire thugs ? mostly young men and boys from the slums hired for $5 to $10 a day ? and send them into the street.
Grace Kalibo runs a small shop selling basic food goods in Kibera. She attended Sunday's massive peace rally where Odinga and Kenyatta shook hands and pledged peace. She believes Kenya will avoid the massive violence of five years ago. So does her neighbor, Lucas Awol, a 39-year-old bar owner where poor Kibera men gather on Sunday afternoons.
"This time they won't react at all. They are tired of war," said Awol. "This time it will be peaceful. People say so."
___
Associated Press reporter Tom Odula contributed to this report
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/threats-violence-kenyan-slums-color-election-182400085--politics.html
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Lions, bears removed from convicted gangster's property
Vadim Ghirda / AP
A Romanian man known as Nutzu the Pawnbroker has been indicted for leading a fearsome criminal gang, but the public seems to be more interested in his pets: four lions and two bears
By Alison Mutler, The Associated Press
A Romanian man known as Nutzu the Pawnbroker has been indicted for leading a fearsome criminal gang, but the public seems to be more interested in his pets: four lions and two bears.
Ion Balint ? his real name ? had long been known to have an affinity for wild beasts in his home.
"You said I fed men to the lions?" Balint was recorded saying on a videotape as he rode away from prison on a black stallion in 2010. "Why don't you come over and I'll give you some lions!"
Authorities won't confirm that the lions and bears were used to intimidate rivals at his high-walled and heavily guarded estate in the poorest part of Romania's capital, Bucharest. The compound also contained less fearsome beasts, including thoroughbred horses and canaries.
Balint, 48, a stocky man with a mustache and a receding hairline, often appears dressed in T-shirts and tracksuits.
The Romanian news media were awash in unconfirmed reports about Balint's excesses, reporting that he used the lions and bears to intimidate rivals and that his house contained a torture chamber.
Vadim Ghirda / AP
The Romanian news media were awash in unconfirmed reports about Balint's excesses, reporting that he used the lions and bears to intimidate rivals and that his house contained a torture chamber.
His son-in-law, Marius Vlad, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the reports were false.
"Many untruths are being reported," he said.
'A good neighbor'
Bystanders and relatives who gathered near the gates of the estate described Balint as a good neighbor and an animal lover, and said they weren't bothered by roaring lions.
"We can hear them every day, but only when they're hungry or the female is in heat," said Gabriela Ionescu, 36, clutching her toddler daughter's hand. "They don't disturb us at all."
Authorities allege that Balint and his brother Vasile headed a criminal network that controlled much of the underworld activity in Bucharest, a city of 2 million. Some 400 police and detectives were involved in the investigation that led to the arrest last week of 67 suspects, including the Balint brothers.
In 2009, Balint was convicted of human trafficking, violence and pimping, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. That was reduced to six years, but Balint was free after a year.
On Wednesday, the four lions and two bears were sedated, put in cages and removed by environmental authorities and the Vier Pfoten animal welfare charity. The animals, which generally appeared in good condition, will be temporarily housed in a zoo and may eventually be relocated in South Africa, animal welfare officers said.
Mircea Pupaza, commissioner of the National Environment Guard, told The Associated Press that Balint had no documentation or health records for the animals, which he's kept illegally for 10 years. He could face a year in prison and a hefty fine for illegally keeping wild animals.
"The lions are a status symbol for him," said Livia Cimpoeru, a Vier Pfoten spokeswoman. She declined to speculate whether they had a more sinister purpose.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Ancient shoes found hidden in Egyptian temple
Franco M. Giani - Milano - Italy
The unwrapped shoe bundle showing the two pairs of children's shoes and the adult isolated adult shoe.
By Owen Jarus
LiveScience
More than 2,000 years ago, at a time when Egypt was ruled by a dynasty of kings of Greek descent, someone, perhaps a group of people, hid away some of the most valuable possessions they had ? their shoes.
Seven shoes were deposited in a jar in an Egyptian temple in Luxor, three pairs and a single one. Two pairs were originally worn by children and were only about 7 inches (18 centimeters) long. Using palm fiber string, the child shoes were tied together within the single shoe (it was larger and meant for an adult) and put in the jar. Another pair of shoes, more than 9 inches (24 cm) long that had been worn by a limping adult, was also inserted in the jar.
The shoe-filled jar, along with two other jars, had been "deliberately placed in a small space between two mudbrick walls," writes archaeologist Angelo Sesana in a report published in the journal Memnonia.
?Whoever deposited the shoes never returned to collect them, and they were forgotten, until now. [See Photos of the Ancient Egyptian Shoes]
In 2004, an Italian archaeological expedition team, led by Sesana, rediscovered the shoes. The archaeologists gave Andr? Veldmeijer, an expert in ancient Egyptian footwear, access to photographs that show the finds.
Franco M. Giani - Milano - Italy
Archaeologists discovered seven shoes, which appear to be made out of bovine, within a jar in an Egyptian temple. The shoes date back more than 2,000 years and this picture shows the inside of the jar before the shoes were removed.
"The find is extraordinary as the shoes were in pristine condition and still supple upon discovery," writes Veldmeijer in the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. Unfortunately, after being unearthed the shoes became brittle and "extremely fragile," he added.
Pricey shoes
Veldmeijer's analysis suggests the shoes may have been foreign-made and were "relatively expensive." Sandals were the more common footwear in Egypt and?the style and quality of these seven shoes was such that "everybody would look at you," and "it would give you much more status because you had these expensive pair of shoes," said Veldmeijer, assistant director for Egyptology of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo.
The date of the shoes is based on the jar they were found in and the other two ?jars, as well as the stratigraphy, or layering of sediments, of the area. It may be possible in the future to carbon date the shoes to confirm their age.
Why they were left in the temple in antiquity and not retrieved is a mystery. "There's no reason to store them without having the intention of getting them back at some point," Veldmeijer said in an interview with LiveScience, adding that there could have been some kind of unrest that forced the owners of the shoes to deposit them and flee hastily. The temple itself predates the shoes by more than 1,000 years and was originally built for pharaoh Amenhotep II (1424-1398 B.C.).
Design discoveries
Veldmeijer made a number of shoe design discoveries. He found that the people who wore the seven shoes would have tied them using what researchers call "tailed toggles." Leather strips at the top of the shoes would form knots that would be passed through openings to close the shoes. After they were closed, a long strip of leather would have hung down, decoratively, at either side. The shoes are made out of leather, which is likely bovine.
Most surprising was that the isolated shoe had what shoemakers call a "rand," a device that until now was thought to have been first used in medieval Europe. A rand is a folded leather strip that would go between the sole of the shoe and the upper part, reinforcing the stitching as the "the upper is very prone to tear apart at the stitch holes," he explained. The device would've been useful in muddy weather when shoes are under pressure, as it makes the seam much more resistant to water.
In the dry (and generally not muddy) climate of ancient Egypt, he said that it's a surprising innovation and seems to indicate the seven shoes were constructed somewhere abroad.
Health discoveries
The shoes also provided insight into the health of the people wearing them. In the case of the isolated shoe, he found a "semi-circular protruding area" that could be a sign of a condition called Hallux Valgus, more popularly known as a bunion. [The 9 Most Bizarre Medical Conditions]
"In this condition, the big toe starts to deviate inward towards the other toes," Veldmeijer writes in the journal article. "Although hereditary, it can also develop as a result of close-fitting shoes, although other scholars dispute this ...."
Another curious find came from the pair of adult shoes. He found that the left shoe had more patches and evidence of repair than the shoe on the right. "The shoe was exposed to unequal pressure," he said, showing that the person who wore it "walked with a limp, otherwise the wear would have been far more equal."
Still, despite their medical problems, and the wear and tear on the shoes, the people who wore them were careful to keep up with repairs, Veldmeijer said. They did not throw them away like modern-day Westerners tend to do with old running shoes.
"These shoes were highly prized commodities."
Veldmeijer hopes to have the opportunity to examine the shoes, now under the care of the Ministry of State for Antiquities, firsthand.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook?and Google+.
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N.H. GOP lawmaker: Some people may 'like being in abusive ...
During a committee debate on whether or not to reduce the penalty for simple assault,?a New Hampshire state lawmaker on Tuesday suggested that certain people may like being involved in abusive relationships.
The remarks were caught on camera by Granite State Progress, a liberal advocacy group, during a meeting of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety to discuss a bill that would change the penalty on assault from a misdemeanor crime to a violation-level offense in some cases.
?Some people could make the argument that a lot of people like being in abusive relationships,? said state Rep. Mark Warden, a Republican. ?It?s a love-hate relationship. It?s very, very common for people to stick around with somebody they love who also abuses him or her.?
Warden?told the?Concord Monitor?that his words were ?taken out of context,? but refused to comment further.
According to the video, Warden continued, ?Is the solution to those kind of dysfunctional relationships going to be more government, another law? I tend to say no. People are always free to leave.?
Warden was one of four committee members to vote in favor of the bill. The committee ultimately voted, 16-4, to recommend the full House kill the bill.
Source: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/27/n-h-gop-lawmaker-some-people-may-like-being-in-abusive-relationships/
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Alcatel One Touch Fire preview: This anemic Firefox phone might be a tough sell
Alcatel One Touch FireAnother day, another Firefox OS-powered handset here at Mobile World Congress. We had the chance to take a hands-on look at Alcatel?s first Firefox phone on Tuesday and walked away with some distinctly tepid impressions. As a disclaimer, the software we played with was in beta, but Firefox and Alcatel are planning to launch these phones within months, so any performance enhancements they hope to achieve will have to be pushed out relatively quickly.
[More from BGR: Why every rival tech company should be scared to death of Samsung]
From a hardware perspective, there?s nothing wrong with the One Touch Fire. In fact, its soft-touch back, 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with?165 ppi, 3.2-megapixel camera and HSPA radio are nothing to scoff at in the budget phone market. Alcatel is clearly aiming for first-time smartphone users in developing regions with this phone, and as such it has a perfectly acceptable, possibly even above-average bit of hardware on its hands.
[More from BGR: Hands on with NVIDIA?s blazing fast Tegra 4 reference tablet]
The problem, however, is in the software.
Firefox OS is slow, slow, slow. Swipes from screen to screen take forever to process. Apps frequently crash, a surprising fact given that they?re all HTML5-based, and the user experience is frustratingly bogged down by an OS that struggles to keep up with even the most deliberate user interactions. It?s aggravating to use, and calls to mind the experience of attempting to navigate Android 4.2 on an original Nexus S ? except in this case, it?s the hardware that outclasses the software, not the other way around as in the case of the Nexus S.
There are some interesting software enhancements, including app search by keyword, allowing discovery without specific apps in mind. Carrier-based billing that gives customers without a credit card a viable way to purchase new content is also a nice touch. But neither of those things make up for the lackluster experience of actually using the device.
Needless to say, we are not sold on Firefox OS just yet. Perhaps future development will render the software a bit more user-friendly, but as we noted yesterday with the ZTE Open, Mozilla might not have the luxury of time with competitors like Nokia?s (NOK) Asha lineup and budget Android phones coming to market that are cheaper and more capable.
This article was originally published on BGR.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alcatel-one-touch-fire-preview-anemic-firefox-phone-010510244.html
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RolePlayGateway?
In the beginning there was a large, empty universe. It held nothing but the Lords. The Lords had no names and they were lonely. One of them said to the others, ?Let us create something to fill the emptiness.? The others agreed. The first one made great balls of burning mass and named them stars. The second created the gases that fueled the stars. The third made large hunks of stone to keep the stars company so they wouldn?t be alone. The fourth made water to cover the rocks and calm their hot, newly formed surfaces. The Lords named themselves Fire, Air, Earth, and Water, respectively.
Soon enough the newly named Lords grew tired of their lifeless worlds. There was nothing to recognize the work they did, no one to appreciate their great feats. They made animals, but they were stupid beasts who couldn?t even speak. Each decided to create life in his own image on a specially developed planet.
Fire created the Sprites. Air created the Klika. Earth created the Werlan. Water created the Dragons.
Satisfied with their creations, the Lords rested and watched their children grow. All was well in the new world. Sooner than later the Lords grew prone to jealousy, however. Fire claimed that because he created first, both with life and matter, he was the greatest Lord. Air quickly retorted that no mortal creature could live without the harsh sun shielding gasses he provided. Earth rumbled angrily that he had made a home for all of their creations, making him deserve the most respect. Water, not to be outdone, argued that he should be revered by the creations because no creature could live without water.
The Lords couldn?t come to an agreement of who was the greatest among them. Then Water said, ?Why shouldn?t we each ask our people who they think is the greatest? That way we can settle this.? The other three agreed this was a good idea.
Each of the Lords went to their respective people and asked who they thought was the greatest. The creatures each thought that their own creator was the best of the Lords. This didn?t help at all. They argued more until Earth came up with an idea. ?We should combine our efforts to make a race of people. Then this race won?t be biased to any one of us.?
This was hailed as a better idea, so the Lords set out to work. Earth gave the new creature a body of clay. Air gave it a breath of life. Fire gave it a spark of ambition. Water gave it a spring of intelligence. They named this new race the Humans and set it off into the world.
The five races grew and expanded, fighting here and allying there. The Lords were content to watch for a while, for the Humans had to get accustomed to the world in order to decide which of the Lords? gifts they valued the most. Each Lord was confident that he would be called the best.
The humans, however, realized that the Lords wanted something out of them. They said to each other, ?Each Lord wants us to name him the best. Why not ask for something from each to help us decide?? This was regarded as a good plan.
When the Lords came down to the humans they asked to know which of them the humans thought was the greatest.
One Human, a man named Nar, said, ?I cannot know who the best is. What have the Lords done for me??
Fire, eager to be named the greatest of the Lords, gave Nar a hollow log filled with fire. Nar, satisfied with the gift, said, ?I say that Fire is the greatest Lord, but I can only speak for myself.?
?I am not decided who the greatest Lord is. They have never shown me any kindness,? a woman named Kipe said.
Wanting to show his brother that he wasn?t the only one who could be called the greatest, Air gave Kipe a sling and taught her how to use it. Thanking Air gracefully, Kipe said, ?I say that Air is the greatest of the Lords, but I too can only speak for myself.?
Angry at being out done, Earth showed another man how to fashion tools from stone.
Water, desperate to be called the greatest, showed a woman how to make a water holder so the humans could carry water from place to place.
At the end this the Humans left, satisfied with the success of their plan. The Lords, however, felt cheated. All of them were called the best, which made the title lose its specialness. They couldn?t help but feel flattered that the Humans recognized their power, but their problem wasn?t solved. Each Lord lay down to rest and regain strength. When they had recovered from the exertion of creating a world and its peoples they would resume their fight and determine which of them would be the Lord of the Lords.
This story is past now. It is widely regarded as a myth among all the races. Since that time ages have passed. Few believe that the Lords exist. The world has been named Nirkem. Many parts of it are populated by the five sentient races, many are not.
The humans, although they are the youngest race, are one of the most numerous. There are two main human kingdoms, Deonel and Kipen. A war is going on between them and they are about to unwittingly trigger something far, far larger than a fight between men.
They rediscovered magic. Magic was lost to the five races since the retreat of the Lords. There was very little record of it, but there were enough hints scattered across legends and bedtime stories for the humans to piece together the old power. Four parts of magic were discovered: Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. A gifted human could choose to study one branch, learning to manipulate the element.
The secret of magic leaked to the other races and each race discovered that they could learn to control the element of the Lord they were created by. As with humans, not every member of the other races could learn magic.
As the use of magic became more popular its human users noticed a change. The more a human used magic the easier it would be to use it and the easier it would be to get lost in it. A human who used too much magic would feel a beckoning call that would grow stronger with the amount of magic they used. This is the call of the Lord of the element of magic they use.
The rediscovery of magic has reawakened the Lords. When a human uses magic they let the will of the Lord bind with theirs until they become a creature of the Lord, called a nadasami. A nadasami looks no different than a regular human, other than that their eyes change color from what they used to be. A fire nadasami?s eyes will be red, an earth nadasmi?s eyes will be brown, an air nadasami?s eyes will be green, and a water nadasami?s eyes will be blue. They have more magical power than a human, but they have lost something greater: free will. While they still can think for themselves and make decisions, they are extremely loyal to their Lord. They do not truly lose free will, but they will put their Lord?s interest before their own, for they are creatures of the Lords. Should a nadasami desert his or her Lord the Lord will hunt them down.
How quickly a human magic user becomes a nadasami depends on how much they use magic. If a human magic user goes a day without using magic then the hold a Lord has on them will decline. The less hold a Lord has on a human the faster it will disappear. Once a human becomes a nadasami, however, there is no going back.
The existence of nadasamis is not well known, for magic was only recently discovered. Mages are used in the human war and they become nadasmis without anyone knowing, although some confess of strange sensations before they become nadasamis. The growing number of nadasamis has come to the alert of the mage leaders, though, so word is slowly spreading to stop humans from using too much magic.
The other races are immune to becoming nadasamis. Magic wise the strongest mages are the sprites, who can go beyond the power of a nadasami. The nadasamis are the second strongest, the werlan are the third strongest, normal humans the fourth strongest, the dragons the fifth strongest, and the klika the weakest as far as magical terms go.
But the human leaders of the war do not care about the diminishing humanity of their troops. They care about winning at whatever the cost. But what happens when the cost is far greater than they imagined?
The Lords still fight each other for dominance, becoming even more contrary than they were before. They will not stop voluntarily until one has beaten the rest. Their battles cause earthquakes and dangerous weather patterns, threatening the life of the world they created. Will they be able to make peace?
Nirkem:
There is a main continent on the planet Nirkem where this will be taken place, called Alteri. In the north of Alteri are the Durkada Mountains. A branch of them trails down into the northern human kingdom, Kipen. Kipen is the smaller of the two human kingdoms and it has less arable land, but its people are adept woodsmen and it has more access to raw materials given its heavily wooded state and mines. There is a big lake in Kipen known as Kipe?s Crater among the humans, due to its depth and the peculiar fact it is nearly a perfect circle.
Bordering Kipen on the south is the other human kingdom, Deonel. Deonel is more agriculturally based than Kipen, as well as having more cities and being more scholarly than its counterpart. It also borders the ocean to the east, so fishing is another large industry for Deonel. Deonel is mostly farmland.
Alteri is not covered by human owned territory. The other races have their own claimed territory, too. North of Kipen, in the Durkada Mountains, live the klika. The klika also have settlements in forests across Alteri, although their main population is in the mountains.
Sprites do not have a territory of their own, but share with other races, usually humans.
The werlan are nomads, living in tribes who travel the continent.
The dragons live in the various rivers and lakes of Alteri as well as the ocean. On the west side of Alteri is more ocean. The shore on this side is not much of a shore at all; high rocky cliffs line border the ocean on the west side. The only way to get a boat in and out on the west side is the Kerrar River, which is populated by dragons as well.
There are plenty of lands not claimed by the sentient races yet, and little is known about what populates those areas. One of the most infamous of places are the Gut Caves, located deep underground, perhaps spanning the whole of Alteri. They are known as the Gut Caves because they twist and turn much like intestines.
Another place is Embri Mountain, located to the southwest. This enormous mountain is an active volcano, occasionally blowing off smoke.
There is also the Zefen Tree deep, deep into the Durkada Mountains, farther north than anyone would think a tree could survive, let alone flourish. Yet flourish it does. This tree is immensely tall and thick, indicating ancient age.
To the north of Deonel and the east of Kipen there is a large, spring fed lake full of clear, icy cold water called Clarity Spring. In the middle of the lake is an island that is large enough that trees and some animals live on it.
Each of these four places has a shrine in/on it somewhere. In the deepest part of the Gut Caves is a shrine made of green-streaked-with-cream-color stone surrounded by large multi colored crystals. At the base of Embri Mountain is a shrine made of glossy black rock with a fire continuously burning on top of it. Somewhere in the upper branches of the Zefen Tree is a shrine made of a clear, glassy material that sings when the wind passes through it. In the center of the island in Clarity Spring is a shrine made of ocean blue stone halfway submersed in clear water.
These are the shrines of the Lords. This is where they are the closest to the mortal world and can communicate with mortals far more easily in their respective areas. It is not uncommon for a nadasami to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of their Lord.
Races
Humans: Typical traditional human. Need I elaborate?
Sprites: Sprites are humanlike in shape, but there are obvious differences between the two races. Sprites, for one, are shorter than humans, averaging at five feet in height. Their hair can be a wide range of colors, from orange to red to shocking white and rich yellow. A sprite?s skin is always very pale no matter how much they are exposed to the sun. Sprites have delicate, long fingered hands that are very dexterous and nimble, making them excellent at craftsmanship that requires precision and finesse. At the tips of their fingers are not fingernails but rather soot black talons that turn ember orange when their heart rate goes up. Sprites are more resistant to heat than humans and it takes more to burn them, although they are not immune to being burnt.
Sprites are creatures of quick wit and hot tempers. They can swing between emotions quite unexpectedly, making them unpredictable. They are vain creatures and love to be petted and praised. They are clever with their deft fingers and excel at making fine objects. Fire is their friend and they are fascinated with it. A popular competition among sprites is to see who can stand in a roaring fire the longest. Sprites love beautiful things and receiving gifts. If a sprite gives you something you better reciprocate the favor for they will get angry if you don?t. A sprite?s grudge can last a long time and they will wait for the best moment to get back at the offender. Sprites are clever and like to get their point across. However, if they think there is a better idea than theirs, they will go with the other idea instead and feel no self-chastisement for thinking a ?wrong? way before.
Werlan: As do the sprites, werlan share some characteristics with humans. Normally they take the shape of tall, bulky humanoids. They are a plain looking people characterized by dark hair and pointed ears. A werlan?s eyes are not set to any one color; their eye color varies with their emotions. No two werlans have the same set of colors for their eyes. Werelan are strong people, both in body and spirit. They have a nomadic society in which they travel the continent of Alteri, their territory changing with the season. There are seven different tribes of the werlan: the Snake, the Wolf, the Squirrel, the Horse, the Deer, the Bear, and the Badger. The werlan have the ability to change into the animal of their respective tribe.
If any one thing can be said about the werlan it is that they are patient. Like the earth itself they can weather many situations and still come out strong. This patience, along with their strong willed determination, is one of the most notorious qualities about them. Werlans are social creatures and enjoy being with other werlans, although they are wary of other races. They have excellent memories and will forgive but never forget. Werlans are loyal to those they align themselves with and they would never betray another werlan. With other races they are not quite as loyal, but still follow their word. Werlans have a great sense of direction and it is hard for them to get lost.
Dragons: The dragons of Nirkem are slender, wingless creatures built for aquatic life. They average at about seven feet tall. Dragons do not have scales but instead have smooth, supple skin to reduce the drag under water. This skin can range to green to blue to purple to black in color, as well as having patterns of florescent yellow. This yellow quite literally glows in the dark. Dragons? eyes have slit pupils and can be a wide variety of colors. Dragons have wide webbed feet and finned tails, great for swimming, although they have no opposable thumbs. They have gills on the sides of their necks so they can breathe underwater and they have lungs too. Housed in the mouth of a dragon are two rows of pointed teeth sharp enough to bite through steel if enough pressure was applied. Instead of horns dragons have flexible tentacle like things sprouting from the backs of their heads that are used to grip and touch objects. These tentacles, called grippers amongst the dragons, are not particularly strong but are very precise and sensitive. Dragons actually have taste buds on the tips of their grippers. Dragons can survive just as well on land as they can in water, for their slim frames lend themselves well to speed. Dragons do need more water than other races do, however, so thus rarely live far away from a reliable water source. Dragons also have very strong bones that are extremely hard to break.
Since dragons live underwater most of the time one might expect them to be ignorant of many of the happenings on land. This is not so for dragons are curious creatures and like to stick their noses in things even if there is a possibility those things might bite back. News spreads quickly amongst the dragons because many of the waterways that are connected and they have set up a postage system, which delivers messages for other races, too. When confronted with a fight a dragon is more likely to run than do any fighting unless it takes place in the water. Dragons often feel far more comfortable in the water than on land, although they can get used to living on the ?topside? as they call it. Dragons are generally social creatures that live in pods when amongst themselves. When with other races they will often gather a group of people together that they feel protective of. While they lack the appropriate physiology to make even simple things dragons are quite creative and quick thinkers as well as fast learners.
Klika: In shape the klika are perhaps most easily likened to large cats. An emphasis on large, because klika are on average nine feet long from the tips of their noses to the tips of their tails. They have opposable thumbs and surprisingly finger like digits on all four of their paws, although they are not as well developed as a human?s. Klika have thick fur with two layers, built for trapping warmth. The fur of the klika is usually dark in color, black being the most common by far. It is uncommon for a klika to have a pattern of any sort in their fur, but sometimes designs are in individual?s fur. These designs are usually in shades of white or light grey, although rarely blues and oranges are seen. Klika have compact, muscular bodies with most of their strength in their legs, specifically their hind ones. Klika can easily jump ten feet, whether horizontally or vertically. A klika?s eyes are probably one of the strangest out there as their eyes are a solid color without pupil. This color can be any hue and can often be the distinguishing feature of a klika to other races. Klika have excellent eyesight and hearing. As well as being able to run swiftly on four legs klika can also walk on their hind legs. When they do this they tower over other races, even the dragons.
Klika are generally aloof in manner and do not display emotion readily. This isn?t to say they don?t feel emotion; it?s just that in the klika society an adult is expected to be reserved and polite. Among them only cubs and immature people are supposed to display emotion. As is such, when exposed to other races they usually find others as childish before they get to know them. Klika have a hierarchical society based around the strength of an individual. A klika will often not obey someone they think is weaker than them. Klika constantly asses the strength of the others around them and are not afraid to challenge others for favorable positions in a group. Klika, unlike some other races, have a rough form of government throughout their race. They have a leader called the Relka situated in their main city, Flisk, in the Durkada mountains. The Relka?s job is to help settle disputes amongst the klika, deal with other races, and help decide the actions of the klika. Klika are blunt creatures who do not like to backstab or deceive. If a klika has a problem with you you will know it. If a klika is tired of taking orders from someone in command it is common for them to challenge them to a duel for leadership. Klika are just creatures and do not like to see innocent harmed, especially if those innocent are children. In informal situations klika loosen up some and are friendlier, although the habit of hiding emotion doesn?t disappear completely. Because of their society klika are great at putting on masks of emotion that hide their true feelings.
Hello all. Thanks for spending the time to check this out. This is an idea I've had for a while, so I wanted to see how much interest I could get in it first before I created it.
Right now the plot is a little loose. I had an idea that there could be a group composed of a rougue nadasami or two and some representatives from each of the races to go to the shrines and collect some of the Lords' essences and use them to influence the Lords themselves. They would try to make the Lords not fight with each other any more. They could try to change the Lords to make them more human like. What do I mean by this? Well, the Lords are obviously inhuman (even more so than the non human races of Nirkem) and have different thought processes than the mortal races. They are little more than the elements they they are named after. This group's goal could be to force them to evolve in a sense to a higher state of conciousness that can reason and set aside differences. There could also be some people from the Lords who are trying to stop this group.
I am open to suggestions for ideas and feel free to ask questions if you have any. Feedback in general is welcome. Also, if you are interested, please express it!
I'm planning for this to be somewhat literate of a role play, meaning that I expect people to be able to write at least two paragraphs with good grammar. I understand if you are not impeccable with grammar. I know I'm not. But an effort is appreciated.
I hope to hear from you guys. Thanks again for checking this out!
Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RolePlayGateway
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Telit expands Qualcomm-based portfolio with LTE Concept product ...
Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain. February 25, 2013 ? Telit Wireless Solutions today announced the expansion of its long-standing relationship with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. At the same time it is expanding its mobile computing offerings with Intel?
The collaboration with Qualcomm is marked by the introduction of a 4G LTE product and the development of variants for the company?s top selling 3G modules in the xE910 product family.
The complete portfolio allows the global vendor of machine-to-machine (M2M) modules and value-added services, to offer form factor-compatible Qualcomm Technologies-based solutions for CDMA, UMTS and LTE radio technologies to address the communications needs of M2M and Internet of Everything (IoE) application developers.
The LE910, based on Qualcomm Technologies? GobiTM MDM9215, will be Telit?s first LTE module delivered in the xE910 product family, and the company?s second LTE offering, following the LE920 LTE automotive-grade module announced last year, also based on the MDM9215.
In January 2013, Telit introduced two new xE910 modules?the HSDPA UE910 V2 based on Qualcomm Technologies? QSC6270-Turbo chipset and HSPA+ HE910 V2 based on Qualcomm Technologies? MDM6200 chipset?to address the growing demand for 3G solutions. Variants of both products with support for Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.2 are being planned. With the LE910, the xE910 product family is now poised to address not only the 2G to 3G migration, but also the growing set of opportunities and applications that require LTE.
The Qualcomm Technologies? chipsets have enabled Telit to build the xE910 family to provide interchangeability between 3GPP2?CDMA (1xRTT, EV-DO) and 3GPP?UMTS (HSDPA, HSPA+) and LTE variants, making the adaptation of customer applications to regional technical requirements quick and easy while minimizing time to market and total cost of ownership.
Visitors to the Telit booth at Mobile World Congress (Hall 5, G70) can glean the breadth of the product portfolio at the ?Qualcomm Technologies Corner?, including existing and prototype products and their respective chipsets. Included in the display will be the LE910 product concept and a number of commercially available and prototype modules for the automotive industry.
?The increased scope of our relationship with Qualcomm comes at an exciting time, when we are seeing strong demand from the M2M market for our products and solutions,? said Oozi Cats, CEO of Telit. ?By expanding our portfolio with products such as the LE910 module we can address the 3G and 4G market which were previously beyond our reach.?
?We are pleased to work with Telit to bring 4G LTE to the CDMA, HSPA and HSPA+ platforms based on certain Qualcomm Technologies? chipsets,? said Nakul Duggal, vice president of product management, new markets, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. ?Qualcomm Technologies has an extensive 3G and 4G LTE chipset portfolio, helping Telit deliver solutions in various product tiers to address the myriad of technical and regional needs of M2M and IoE developers.?
Telit has been a one-stop-shop for the M2M community for more than a decade, leveraging a broad portfolio of hardware in cellular, short range and positioning technologies, artfully complemented by services and connectivity from m2mAIR. By applying products and services in synergizing bundles, delivered with global support and logistics matching each individual need or want, Telit aims to help eliminate technical risk, shortening time to market to the Internet of Everything.
Telit to expand its mobile computing offerings through collaboration with Intel?
Telit has also used Mobile World Congress to announce the introduction of a family of new data cards in the new M.2, Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF). The data cards augment the company?s mobile computing product line currently comprised of mPCIe modules in HSPA+ and 1xEvDO cellular technologies. The new data cards are to be based on Intel?s designs for LTE/DC-HSPA+ and HSPA+. They target not only new always-connected consumer and leading edge adopter applications such as Ultrabook?, laptops, tablets, but also commercial and industrial devices, as the current favored mPCIe form factor gets gradually replaced by M.2.
Telit has since 2002, applied Intel chipsets in many of its M2M modules but starting in September 2012 the two companies agreed to design and market data card products, to keep pace with growing global demand for mobile broadband solutions. Telit?s new M.2 lineup will include LN930 and HN930 product families conceived to address both global, regional, and speed requirements from cutting edge LTE/DC-HSPA+ and HSPA+ applications in mobile computing and gadgets. The Intel-based LTE products are set to deliver speeds up to 100 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up; Dual Carrier HSPA+ 42 Mbps down and 11.5 Mbps up; and HSPA+ 21 Mbps down and 5.76 Mbps up.
The sub-compact and ultra slim 30x42mm M.2 data cards include global satellite (and assisted) positioning technology and certified drivers for Windows?7 & 8. They also feature the industry?s new Firmware Switching standard enabling the host Operating System and drivers to switch the card?s firmware to the latest and specific cellular network approved revision, thus overcoming a long-standing complexity hurdle in provisioning cellular connectivity devices in non-operator branded consumer products. The switching is triggered by the simple insertion of the consumer or operator supplied SIM card into the PC?s SIM card slot.
The new data cards interface to the host computer or gadget through a USB 3.0 connection supporting selective suspend (SS) and link power management (LPM). The SS feature allows the device driver to turn off (standby) the data card when it goes idle. When the card is again active or required, the system wakes it and resumes normal operation. Both SS and LPM are critical for latest generation battery powered consumer devices such as the Ultrabook?, conceived to ensure the user can reap several hours of use before a battery recharge is needed. The data cards employ these and other power-saving standards and policies to enhance the user experience of the host device.
Telit?s industrialisation plans call for start of samples programme in Q2 and commercial availability in Q3 2013. To accelerate time to market for the PC OEMS, Intel has validated M.2 cards for use with the Intel Tablet and Ultrabook? reference designs.
?Intel is pleased to be working with Telit to bring to market highly competitive modules offering worldwide coverage, high performance, and an optimised user experience,? said Horst Pratsch, head of Product Line Modules & M2M at Intel Corporation. ?Telit 3G and 4G M.2 modules take advantage of Intel?s experience in ramping cellular technology globally in industry leading smartphone devices, along with integration, validation, and optimisation in Intel computing platforms.?
?Until recently, a large cellular infrastructure equipment vendor held a 50% market share in the data card market used in mobile computing, primarily with the mPCIe format. However, this supplier has exited the market representing a potentially disruptive development in the supply chain,? said Oozi Cats, Telit?s CEO. ?Telit is perfectly positioned to step in to fill the gap given the high confidence level we enjoy with our customers, particularly OEMs with respect to long-term, high-volume supply as well as our strong global and local support structure.?
Ten years on, leveraging the industry?s broadest portfolio of hardware in cellular, short range and positioning technologies, is complemented by services and connectivity from m2mAIR. By applying products and services in bundles, delivered with global support and logistics matching each individual need or want, Telit intends to eliminate technical risk, thereby shortening time-to-market (TTM) to the Internet of Things, whichever industry or segment you come from.
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State senators to talk Sunday liquor store sales in Minnesota (Star Tribune)
Monday, February 25, 2013
Day after Oscars, Senate committee drops bin Laden film probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One day after "Zero Dark Thirty" failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers' contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency.
The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA, film director Kathryn Bigelow, and screenwriter Mark Boal and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produced the film, had no immediate comment. But attacks by Washington politicians may have damaged its prospects at the Academy Awards. "Zero Dark Thirty" was nominated for a best picture award, which it did not win. Also, in what industry watchers considered a snub, Bigelow did not receive a best director nomination.
The Senate committee launched its review of the film, a dramatization of how the U.S. government located and killed Osama bin Laden, after its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, expressed outrage over scenes that implied that "enhanced interrogations" of CIA detainees produced an breakthrough that helped lead to the al Qaeda leader.
In December, as "Zero Dark Thirty" was about to premiere nationwide, Feinstein joined fellow Democrat Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator John McCain in condemning "particularly graphic scenes of CIA officers torturing detainees" in the film.
A source familiar with contacts between the filmmakers and intelligence officials said the CIA did not tell the filmmakers "enhanced interrogations" led to bin Laden. Instead, the agency helped develop characters in the film, said the source.
The political fallout prompted Bigelow to write in an op-ed piece: "Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time."
The government cooperated as much, if not more, on "Argo," the film about the 1979-81 hostage crisis in Iran that won the best picture Oscar. Actor-director Ben Affleck and his team were allowed to film scenes in the lobby of the CIA building in Langley, Virginia; the "Zero Dark Thirty" crew did no such filming.
(Reporting By Mark Hosenball. Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-intelligence-committee-drops-bin-laden-film-probe-222245522.html
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Ibn Batutta: Morocco's famous medieval traveler | Morocco World ...
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Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/02/79877/ibn-batutta-moroccos-famous-medieval-traveler/
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Japan likely to nominate ADB's Kuroda as Bank of Japan head: sources
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's prime minister is likely to nominate an advocate of aggressive monetary policy easing - Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda - as the next central bank governor to step up his fight to finally rid the country of deflation.
Shinzo Abe won a big election victory in December promising to revive the fortunes of an economy stuck in the doldrums for most of the past two decades. He has repeatedly called for a more aggressive central bank willing to take radical steps.
The yen fell on the nomination news to a 33-month low and yields on five-year government bonds hit a record low as markets moved to factor in bolder monetary policy.
"Kuroda is a fan of a weaker yen and of deflation bashing," said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale in London.
Sources said the government is likely to nominate Kuroda and two deputies this week for parliamentary approval. It is also lining up Kikuo Iwata, an academic who advocates unorthodox monetary easing steps, and BOJ Executive Director Hiroshi Nakaso, who now oversees the central bank's international operations, as deputy governors, a source familiar with the process said. Iwata told reporters he had been offered the job and he would accept it.
Like the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan has cut interest rates close to zero. Since then it has adopted unusual measures to inject cash into the economy, currently in its fourth recession since 2000, to try to stimulate growth.
But Kuroda has long criticized the BOJ as too slow to expand stimulus, so he is expected to push for more radical efforts to achieve a 2 percent inflation target set in January.
"Kuroda's nomination won't change the course that has been dictated by Abe in recent months - that is aggressive monetary policy, but perhaps thanks to the inclusion of Iwata the market will expect more eye-catching bold easing measures," said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo.
The nominations to lead the BOJ must be approved by both houses of parliament, which means Abe will need opposition support because his ruling-bloc lacks a majority in the upper house. The incumbents leave March 19.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is likely to support Kuroda, although some in the party may oppose the choice of Iwata on grounds that his reflationary views are too extreme, party officials say.
Among other beliefs, Iwata has argued the central bank is mostly to blame for prolonging deflation by not being aggressive enough in easing policy.
If approved, the nominations increase the chances that the BOJ will ease monetary policy on April 3-4, the first rate review under the new leadership, say officials with knowledge of the central bank's thinking.
"Monetary easing is pretty much a given. The question is what specifically the BOJ will do," said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The BOJ has already pledged to pump 101 trillion yen ($1 trillion) into the economy by the end of this year by buying assets and through a lending program and to shift to open-ended purchases from next year.
To underline a more aggressive policy in April, the most likely options include starting the open-ended buying sooner than planned and increasing the amount of monthly asset purchases, the officials said.
Extending government bond purchases to maturities beyond the current three-years or buying more risky assets, such as exchange traded funds, are also options.
A drastic overhaul in the way the BOJ buys assets could take some time to materialize, while foreign bond purchases is also unlikely as Kuroda has ruled it out as an option, they say.
YEN SLIDE
Kuroda, 68, has been considered a strong candidate to replace current BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa because of his extensive experience in international policy and his calls for more aggressive monetary easing that matched the views of Abe.
As Japan's top financial diplomat from 1999 to 2003, he aggressively intervened in the exchange-rate market to weaken the yen to support the country's export-reliant economy, a sign he will be keen to keep any sharp yen rises in check.
He has called for the BOJ to achieve its 2 percent inflation target in two years by pumping money into the economy through unorthodox steps, such as expanding government bond purchases and buying shares. Inflation in Japan has rarely reached 2 percent since the early 1990s.
There are several hundred trillion yen worth of domestic financial assets that the BOJ could buy to expand its quantitative easing, he said on February 11.
The yen has weakened nearly 20 percent against the dollar since November, when Abe began calling for bolder monetary easing.
The cheaper yen has helped improve profits at Japanese exporters, notably carmakers like Mazda Motor Corp, which raised its operating profit outlook for the year ending in March by 80 percent.
But it has also sparked international concern the fall could prompt competitive currency devaluations as many countries are struggling for growth and to reduce debt following the global financial crisis.
Shirakawa's last rate review will be on March 6-7. The BOJ meets twice in April, once on April 3-4 and then on April 26.
Abe has stressed the need for the new governor to have international contacts, suggesting he prefers someone with experience in financial diplomacy, like Kuroda who, as president of the 67-member ADB rubs shoulders with policymakers around the world.
In nominating a BOJ governor, the premier usually respects the views of the finance minister and the ministry's bureaucrats because they work closely with the central bank on economic policy.
The finance ministry lobbied for former financial bureaucrat Toshiro Muto, but was likely turned down by Abe and his aides who saw him as lacking international contacts and less willing to experiment with untried monetary easing steps.
(Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Dean Yates and Neil Fullick)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-likely-nominate-adbs-kuroda-bank-japan-head-020805489--business.html
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Sunday, February 24, 2013
Obesity Reduces Quality of Life in Boys | Psych Central News
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 23, 2013
For boys, being overweight or obese significantly lowers their quality of life compared to healthy weight peers.? Interestingly, these results were not found in girls.
The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, also showed that quality of life (QOL) scores improved for children of either sex whose weight status changed from overweight/obese to normal.
The research involved more than 2,000 Australian school children who were about 12 years old at the start of the study in 2004-2005. The researchers followed up with the children after five years.?
The participants then answered a questionnaire designed to measure whether being obese (also known as? adiposity) influenced their quality of life at age 17 or 18.
?Adiposity in boys was associated with poorer quality of life during adolescence. This association was not observed among girls.
?In both boys and girls, though, persistent overweight or obesity was related to poorer physical functioning after the five years. In contrast, weight loss was associated with improved quality of life during adolescence,? said Bamini Gopinath, Ph.D., senior research fellow at the University of Sydney in Australia.
The questionnaire measured the children?s physical and psychosocial health.?It also calculated a combined total quality of life score. The psychosocial health summary score reflected how well the teens were functioning emotionally and socially.
The study revealed that both males and females who were obese at the start of the study and who later reduced to a normal weight had far better physical functioning scores than those who remained obese after five years. These physical functioning scores measured one aspect of the overall quality of life score.
?The findings suggest that an unhealthy weight status and excess body fat could negatively impact the mental and physical wellbeing of adolescents, particularly boys,? said Gopinath.
He noted that the study highlights the value of looking at the quality of life among obese teens in both clinical practice and in research studies.?
He also added that ?obesity prevention and treatment efforts [ought] to address the broad spectrum of psychosocial implications of being obese as a teenager.?
Lawrence J. Cheskin, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, noted that the differences in quality of life and physical functioning between obese and normal weight teens has not been carefully done before.
?The fact that QOL improved with improvement in weight over time is also important,? said Cheskin. He added that parents, health care providers and teenagers need to understand the far-reaching effects that being overweight can have on a teen?s enjoyment of life.
Source:? Center for Advancing Health
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Obese boy on scale photo by shutterstock.
APA Reference
Pedersen, T. (2013). Obesity Reduces Quality of Life in Boys. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 25, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/02/24/obesity-reduces-quality-of-life-in-boys/51902.html
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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/02/24/obesity-reduces-quality-of-life-in-boys/51902.html
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Hawaii Governor: Sequestration will make Pearl Harbor less secure
(Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The United States military base at Pearl Harbor will be made less secure as a result of Washington's failure to avoid across-the-board sequestration budget cuts, Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii warned Saturday.
"The plain fact is that will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor," Abercrombie said, referring to the base that was attacked by Japanese military forces in 1941 that resulted in the deaths of 2,400 Americans. "Now if that doesn't symbolize for the nation that far from overstating it, it is zeroing in on a graphic example of what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does."
Speaking at the annual Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C., Abercrombie said that the $487 billion reduction in Pentagon spending will have an impact on 19,000 civilian employees who work with the United States Pacific Command. The budget reduction, he said, would cut four work days from each employee.
For weeks, Democrats and Republicans have issued dire warnings about the potential impact of the sequester--a budget measure that will slash $1.2 trillion from federal spending over 10 years that begins March 1. President Barack Obama last week declared that it would reduce the effectiveness of first responders and health care providers across the country. Abercrombie argued that Obama was understating what could happen if Congress fails to find an alternative to the sequester next week.
"The question about whether this is being overstated is rhetorically, I think, a disservice to what the realities are in terms of everyday lives," Abercrombie said.
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Pope's resignation raises questions about church's future
Pope Benedict XVI has reshaped the papacy simply by giving it up. But how?
As the first pontiff in six centuries to step down, Benedict has carved a new path for his successors who decide they cannot rule for life. But scholars say the repercussions could reach beyond just changing how pontiffs leave to ultimately shape perceptions about the authority and significance of the pontificate.
"A lot of what it will mean has to do with what subsequent popes do. Does this become a precedent for future popes to follow or not?" said Phillip Thompson, executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University.
Benedict's pontificate will end at 8 p.m. Thursday. He plans no role in the conclave that will choose the next pontiff, and will retreat to a life of prayer in a monastery behind Vatican walls. His decision shocked the church. But papal resignations are expected to become more likely over time because of extended lifespans and the growing demands of the pontificate, Thompson said.
Travel is now a major responsibility due largely to the globe-trotting example of Pope John Paul II. Shepherding the 1.1 billion faithful requires constant contact through the Internet. These days, Catholics far from the Holy See can watch the weekly general audience, ask the pope questions on Twitter and pray in real time along with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square. As a result, staying on until death can mean a very public decline. John Paul, suffering from Parkinson's disease and other health troubles, could no longer walk or talk when he died in 2005 at age 84.
The pope is regarded as a teacher, an international diplomat and an administrator, but he is also the vicar of Christ ? a leader with a divine mission. Benedict's retirement raised fears that the pontificate could be viewed as less holy. Some questions have even focused on the much misunderstood Catholic teaching on papal infallibility: With two popes, one emeritus and one in power, who will have the final say? In fact, infallibility applies to the office, not the person, and only when a pope invokes apostolic authority to define doctrine or morals for the entire church.
Yet, many Catholic scholars say the act has in some ways demystified the papacy, especially given the intense focus in the final days of Benedict's pontificate to the 2012 scandal over leaked Vatican documents and what role the crisis had played in his decision to leave. Joseph Bottum, writing in The Weekly Standard, a conservative U.S. publication, called Benedict "a terrible executive of the Vatican."
"There's the relationship part ? he's your father ? and your father is always your father. Then there's the functional part ? whether he's up to the job," said Chicago Cardinal Francis George in a phone interview. "The functional concerns, those have come to the fore now. We'll see what, if any, impact that has as we go forward."
Even with Benedict's resignation, new popes are unlikely to emerge from a conclave thinking, "I'll go in for 10 years or so then give it up," said Francesco Cesareo, a specialist in church history and president of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. The significance of the office, its history and spiritual duties, will always make any decision to leave difficult.
At the Feb. 11 Vatican event when Benedict made his dramatic announcement, the 85-year-old leader said he had examined his conscience before God and decided his strength, due to old age, had "deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."
"I'm sure Benedict agonized and prayed over this for a long time asking what would this mean for the church," Cesareo said. "Benedict must have been thinking, 'What will people think that I'm leaving? Will I be seen as abandoning the flock?' He decided, 'I'm willing to sacrifice this position, for the good of the institution.'"
John Paul did not step down in part out of concern that some Catholics would follow him and cause a schism. His decision was seen as a brave witness to human suffering. But his weakened condition also fueled fears that the church was effectively leaderless.
"If a pope is disabled, different people will be vying for power or trying to take over," Thompson said. "Or nobody takes over and therefore it just drifts. People don't feel it's their place to make decisions for the pontiff. You don't want the church just to drift."
Many Catholics have argued that Benedict's decision has only underscored the importance of the pontificate. He put the spotlight where it belongs, on the church, not on the man, and sent a message that the job is so important it cannot be carried out in a weakened state, they argue. Thompson compared the impact to when George Washington gave up the presidency after two terms, setting a precedent for future presidents.
According to Stephen White, a Catholic studies fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think-tank, Benedict has powerfully demonstrated that the pope's primary role is one of service.
"The papacy, in other words, was not given him for his sake, but for the sake of the church's mission," White wrote on The Huffington Post.
A week after Benedict's announcement, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he was only just starting to grasp the significance of the pope leaving. Still, Dolan dismissed worries that pontiffs would now be newly vulnerable to pressure to step down, either from a disgruntled public or factions within the church armed with opinion polls or questions about a pope's health.
Dolan argued modern-day popes in many ways have been facing that challenge for years. And moving ahead, he argued they would have two strong models of how to approach the papacy: John Paul's decision to stay until the end and Benedict's choice to leave.
"I think we need to say this is extraordinary. This is exceptional. This is a once in a three- or four-century phenomenon," Dolan said, discussing the abdication on his radio show on SiriusXM's "The Catholic Channel." ''It's not going to become something that every pope feels obliged to do."
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Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/popes_resignation_raises_quest.html
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