The Steubenville 'Rape Crew' Trial Will Be on Display for the World to See

If you thought hackers and the media had brought a lot of attention upon the tough town of Steubenville, Ohio, just wait until everyone gets to see the legal fate of two of its high-school football stars accused of sexual assault play out in public there. In the culmination of a surprise development, the visiting judge in the case of Trent Mays and Malik Richmond ruled Wednesday that the media will be allowed in the courtroom when the proceedings begin in a little less than two months.

RELATED: The Steubenville Rape Saga Now Includes a Shooting Threat

Judge Thomas Lipps moved the trial date from February 13 to March 13 at the request of attorneys for the two boys, but he also ruled that the trial will remain in Steubenville ? the defense had long been pushing for a change of venue, citing "threats" after the spotlight descended upon the lower-middle-class town late last year from the media, and then again earlier this year when a group associated with the hacker collective Anonymous began releasing documents online.

RELATED: The Steubenville Rape Case's Party Host Has His Sports Scholarship Under Review

"In Ohio, the decision to keep a juvenile case secret is left up to a judge," reported the Toledo Blade.?But then there's the case of the alleged victim: "Prosecutors with the Ohio Attorney General?s Office told Judge Lipps that the trial should be sealed to protect the victim," the Blade?report added. And?WTOV-TV adds:?"Another motion filed by defense attorney Walter Madison to refer to the teenage girl as 'the accuser' in this case was also denied." Though that may seem like squabbling over semantics, it will become serious business when the court decides just how the world will get to know the Jane Doe in this case ? especially since preliminary testimony has already revealed?some of the key witnesses in this case. Mays and Richmond are still being charged as minors, with?photographic evidence of the girl being violated?likely to be re-submitted as evidence and Mays facing a charge involving illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.

RELATED: Inside the Search for the Truth About Steubenville ? 1,000 Tips at a Time

But there you have it: For better or worse and in some form or another, the victim, the accused, and all court proceedings will be on display for public consumption. The ongoing public outcry over the case, though it has quelled while court proceedings developed these past two weeks, has centered on the idea that the details of this case has not been publicly exposed enough???and that this small football city was somehow colluding to obscure the facts and possibly hide a larger crime by what the hackers at LocalLeaks called the Steubenville "rape crew."?Considering the amount of attention paid to what the New York Times?called a "decaying steel town"?small Ohio town over the past few weeks, exposure is probably not going to be the problem when the TV trucks inevitably descend in March.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steubenville-rape-crew-trial-display-world-see-171826550.html

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Context and Identity in Science Writing #scio13ID

As you now all know, my partner in crime Scicurious is much like the superhero Batwoman. Or maybe, she is trying to tell us something, and finally share with us her secret identity? I always wondered why she was hastily stuffing a cape into her backpack right before our Skype conversations?

I may not be a superhero, but my daughter is. The kiddo as Wordgirl for Halloween.

Sci and I have taken pretty different approaches to our online identities. Sci keeps things close to the vest ? yet many of my identities are quite clear to you. My age, gender and ethnicity are known, or easily assumed, from my profile picture. You know what I do and where I work. You know the composition of my family and the sport that is dear to my heart. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (or the C&V Facebook page), you know even more about my life.

You know just enough about me that whatever stereotypes you hold about my various identities, depending on who you are and where you?re from, come to rest on my shoulders. This is an understandable and normal aspect of online communication ? your brain wants to fill out the rest of who I am, and we?ve never met. This can have positive consequences, as the more you feel you know me the more you may trust my perspective, particularly if you feel we have anything in common. We may develop a warm acquaintance, or even friendship. Many of my closest and most valuable relationships have started or grown online. And I am constantly humbled by how some people perceive me as a role model.

The negative consequences, of course, are that if you disagree with me or aren?t a lot like me, you know exactly who to pin your anger on, and how to get under my skin. For a thirtysomething female like me, that means undercutting my authority, questioning my expertise, making sexual jokes, having an opinion on my reproductive decisions, and sometimes worse.

As Bora has recently brought up, and as I wrote about last year, moderating comments on the blog has made it so that my community has to see very little of this behavior. I can?t stop what happens on Twitter or Facebook, though. Despite the fact that setting up comment moderation on this blog helped create a brief resurgence of comments, a clunky commenting system and broader sea changes in online commenting have meant that Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites are where all the conversation has gone.

To be honest, the comments that used to destroy me hardly bother me anymore. You?d be surprised how much easier it is to shrug off someone joking about how you might look without clothes when you can delete the comment before anyone else sees it. More recently, what troubles me more about these attacks is that because readers feel they know me, they may do a less close reading of my posts and make assumptions about the content.

The other issue I?ve noticed is that because I now blog for a network, whatever assumptions people hold about Scientific American also carry over to what people read here. The positive side to this is that SciAm holds some prestige, which might elevate my standing or the impact of my words. But in some cases their expectations for what readers think they should be reading at SciAm do not match the kind of material I cover here, which leads to sputtering, indignant rage.

Overall, I have found that sharing a lot of myself has on the whole been good from blogging, role-modeling and community-building perspectives. But I think the degree to which you share of yourself, and which parts of your identity you share, should be deliberate and based on the particular goals for your online presence.

And that?s really the point of Sci?s and my session. What identities do you share, and how do they enable or hold back your goals for communicating science? What identities do you hide and why ? how do you curate your image? What audiences do you reach? And how does the way we control our identity online affect the diversity of online voices? What careers do you make look possible?

Our session is session 9A Saturday at noon EST in room 3. Last year was a hit, and we moderate well together (it might have something to do with the mind-clearing, crazy workouts we do ? go on and scroll down), so I?m looking forward to it. We?re one of the sessions that will be recorded, so you can watch us on your own, or attend one of the Science Online Watch Parties popping up all over the country. Also follow the story at hashtag #scio13ID, and in the diversity carnival that will be hosted here after Science Online.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c82a166a21b0e43bbaaeed2c94963937

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Mass extinction? Man may still have time to catalog Earth's species.

A trio of respected biologists and zoologists concludes that Earth's sixth mass extinction may be unfolding slower than feared, giving time for the valuable work of cataloging the planet's species.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / January 25, 2013

This file photo shows two jaguar cubs born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in November. Jaguars are an endangered species.

Milwaukee County Zoo/AP

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For years, ecologists and biologists have warned that the planet is sliding into a mass extinction event comparable to the one that did in the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

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But Earth?s species may not be vanishing as fast as previously believed ? providing a fresh opportunity to catalog and conserve more of them before global warming and habitat loss take a higher toll on the planet?s biodiversity.

That's the conclusion a trio of respected biologists and zoologists has reached after reviewing recent studies on extinction, the pace at which new species are being reported, estimates of undiscovered species, and the human and technological capital available for building the catalog.

When it comes to discovering and preserving biodiversity, "things aren't hopeless," says Mark Costello, a University of Auckland marine zoologist and the lead author of the analysis, which appeared in this week?s issue of Science.

Three years ago, another, larger team of biologists and zoologists estimated that if collectively countries devoted $500 million to $1 billion a year to the project of cataloging nonbacterial life on Earth, the project could be complete within 50 years.

Dr. Costello and colleagues renew that call. And their lower estimate of the number of species and a higher estimate of the people available than many thought implies the job could be done more quickly.

The stakes are high, many researchers say. Human population growth and activities ? from altering landscapes and oceans to altering climate ? are widely seen as the drivers behind the current mass-extinction event, the planet?s sixth.

"We are the asteroid," says Michael Novacek, provost and curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, referring to the event widely held to have triggered the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

"This may be the most important century in our evolutionary history, where the environment is really transformed to a level where the nature of life on Earth is redefined," says Dr. Novacek, who was not part of the team performing the new analysis.

Getting a handle on the full range of nonbacterial species the planet hosts is important for a number of reasons, researchers say. A full listing of what lives where would provide important information for maintaining the health of ecosystems on which humans rely for food, clean water, and other so-called ecosystem services. And undiscovered species could represent new sources of compounds for pharmaceuticals or appear as novel structures human engineers could mimic for lighter, stronger materials.

At its broadest, the widespread loss of biodiversity before anyone has a chance to take the full measure of what's out there makes it difficult to fully grasp the ecological consequences of its loss.

Novacek and others say they are a bit surprised at the relatively low number of nonbacterial species the team estimates as living on the planet ? about half the 10 million that others estimate as realistic. And the trio's estimate for a global extinction rate ? less than 1 percent per decade ? is far below the worst-case scenario of 5 percent per decade some have estimated.

Still, Costello and colleagues acknowledge that if extinction rates are on the high side, say 5 percent per decade, half the 5 million nonbacterial species he and his colleagues estimate as currently inhabiting Earth will have vanished within 150 years.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/KBKdZw2rdqY/Mass-extinction-Man-may-still-have-time-to-catalog-Earth-s-species

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Obama launches push for immigration overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Seeking swift action on immigration, President Barack Obama on Tuesday will try to rally public support behind his proposals for giving millions of illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship, as well as making improvements to the legal immigration system and border security.

The president will launch his push in a campaign-style event in Las Vegas, a day after a bipartisan group of senators unveiled their own plan for addressing an issue that has languished in Washington for years.

Administration officials said Obama would largely endorse the senators' efforts, though immigration advocates said they expected the president's own proposals to be more progressive than the Senate group's plan, including a faster pathway to citizenship.

The simultaneous immigration campaigns were spurred by the November presidential election, in which Obama won an overwhelming majority of Hispanic voters. The results caused Republican lawmakers who had previously opposed immigration reform to reconsider in order to rebuild the party's reputation among Hispanics, an increasingly powerful political force.

Most of the recommendations Obama will make Tuesday are not new. He outlined an immigration blueprint in May 2011 but exerted little political capital to get it passed by Congress, to the disappointment of many Hispanics.

Obama "believes that we are at a moment now where there seems to be support coalescing at a bipartisan level behind the very principles that he has long put forward and behind principles that have in the past enjoyed bipartisan support," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday. "And that is a very positive thing."

The president was to make his pitch in Nevada, a political battleground he carried in November, in large part because of support from Hispanics in the state.

Nationally, Obama won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, giving him a key advantage over Republican rival Mitt Romney.

Administration officials said the president would bolster his 2011 immigration blueprint with some fresh details. His original plan centered on four key areas: a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., improved border security, an overhaul of the legal immigration system, and an easier process for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.

Administration officials said they were encouraged to see the Senate backing the same broad principles. In part because of the fast action on Capitol Hill, Obama does not currently plan to send lawmakers formal immigration legislation.

However, officials said the White House does have legislation drafted and could fall back on it should the Senate process stall. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy.

Gay and lesbian advocates were also expecting Obama's proposals to include recognition of same-sex couples where one partner is American and another is not.

Sen. John McCain called the issue a "red flag" in an interview Tuesday on "CBS This Morning."

The Arizona Republican also said he didn't think the issue was of "paramount importance at this time."

"We'll have to look at it," McCain said. But he added that the highest priority is finding a "broad consensus" behind the immigration bill already being planned. He said the country must do something about 11 million people "living in the shadows."

Obama's previous proposals for creating a pathway to citizenship required those already in the U.S. illegally to register with the government and submit to security checks; pay registration fees, a series of fines and back taxes; and learn English. After eight years, individuals would be allowed to become legal permanent residents and could eventually become citizens five years later.

The Senate group's pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. would be contingent upon securing the border and improving tracking of people in the U.S. on visas. Linking citizenship to border security could become a sticking point between the White House and lawmakers.

The Senate framework would also require those here illegally to pass background checks and pay fines and taxes in order to qualify for a "probationary legal status" that would allow them to live and work here ? but not qualify for federal benefits ? before being able to apply for permanent residency, a critical step toward citizenship. Once they are allowed to apply they would do so behind everyone else already waiting for a green card within the current immigration system.

Passage of legislation by the full Democratic-controlled Senate is far from assured, but the tallest hurdle could come in the House, which is dominated by conservative Republicans who've shown little interest in immigration reform.

The senators involved in formulating the immigration proposals, in addition to McCain, are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on comprehensive immigration legislation pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn't get enough GOP support.

___

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-launches-push-immigration-overhaul-080157239--politics.html

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Belladiva featured in StarTribune ?Pajama Party? article | G.L. Berg ...

Great front page photo in the Entertainment section, Belladiva!

Friday?s StarTribune Variety section featured an article on ?The Ultimate Pajama Party,? a stage show targeted at the girlfriend experience.? ?The Ultimate Pajama Party? is an interactive girls? night out variety show featuring skits, music, and refreshments that ends in a disco dance party.? The show was conceived by Tammy Hauser, an entrepreneur from Wayzata who conceived of throwing a grown-up girl party with pajamas instead of cocktail dresses.

The venue for the variety show is The Lab Theater, 700 N 1st Street, Minneapolis, and it continues Thursday through Saturday evenings through February 10, 2013.

For additional photos, check out the StarTribune stage + arts web page.

Source: http://www.glberg.com/2013/01/belladiva-featured-in-startribune-pajama-party-article/

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Lawmaker wants quake warning system funded

An early warning system for California earthquakes could soon get a much-needed dose of money, a state lawmaker announced Monday.

State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, introduced legislation to fund a California-wide earthquake early warning system during a press conference at Caltech. The technology for a warning system already exists, through a prototype called the California Integrated Seismic Network, but scientists need more money to take it public. Other earthquake-prone countries with public warning systems include Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey.

The estimated cost to create a public warning system is $80 million. This will cover adding new seismic monitoring equipment and upgrading the state's existing network, as well as public outreach and education, said Lucy Jones, senior adviser for risk reduction for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), one of the monitoring network partners. "If we were building it from scratch, it would cost $650 million," she said.

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Padilla added, "If you think about the lives we can save, the injuries we can reduce, and the billions upon billions of damages associated with every large earthquake, the system would more than pay for itself."

It would take from one to three years to fully launch the new system, Jones said.

Hope for more funding
However, Padilla's bill has no funding source within the state's budget, which is only now recovering from years of billion-dollar deficits. He hopes to identify a funding source by August, he said. The project also needs federal funding, Padilla said. Private groups have stepped in to help: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation kicked in $6 million in 2011 for the prototype.

"I'm moving on the state funding piece because I don't want to wait for the federal government. We ought to deploy it sooner rather than later," Padilla said.

There is a 99 percent chance of a magnitude-6.7 earthquake or larger in the next 30 years in California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's most recent forecast, released in 2008. But the state's been relatively quiet for the past two decades ? college students born and raised in the Golden State have never lived through a catastrophic earthquake.The last big shaker, the Northridge quake in 1994, killed 60 people and caused about $13 billion in damage. [ The 10 Biggest Earthquakes in History ]

"We should do this before the next big earthquake," said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson, one of the project leaders. "Then we will not miss the opportunity of saving lives," he told OurAmazingPlanet.

How earthquake early warning works
The warning system relies on the speed of light to outrun earthquake waves, which travel at the speed of sound, Hauksson explained. "It's like lightning and thunder. You see the lightning first, and hear the thunder later."

Here's how it works:

California is dotted with a dense network of sensitive seismic monitoring equipment called seismometers. When an earthquake starts, the nearest seismometers ? and there are almost 1,000 in California ? detect ground shaking and send electronic signals at the speed of light to computers that rapidly analyze the strength and location of the quake.

The early warning system relies on the time delay between two earthquake waves. The first wave to emerge from an earthquake, called the P-wave, is an acoustic, or sound wave. It may make a slap or a bump as it passes, but doesn't cause much shaking. The second wave out is an S-wave (sometimes called secondary waves), and they travel at half the speed of the P-wave ? about 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) per second. The slower S-wave is the destroyer, the source of heavy shaking during an earthquake.

A computer can figure out the earthquake's size and location from the P-wave, and send out a warning signal before the damaging S-wave arrives. [ Video: Earthquake Early Warning System Demonstration ]

The signal arrives a few seconds to a minute before shaking, depending on the distance between the earthquake epicenter and the user's location, said Doug Given, the USGS early earthquake warning project coordinator. The primary users will be emergency personnel, hospitals, nuclear reactors, trains, factories and schools, Jones said. However, the signal will be publicly available, as in Japan, where programmers have created custom signal apps for phones, Hauksson said.

The prototype in place today works best for smaller earthquakes, and needs to be improved so it has fewer false alarms and can perform better during major quakes, such as those expected on the San Andreas Fault, Hauksson said. A recently published study suggests that California could experience a statewide earthquake, with the fault ripping apart for hundreds of miles.

"This is a starting point," Hauksson said.

The early warning system is a partnership between Caltech, the USGS and the University of California, Berkeley.

Reach Becky Oskin at boskin@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @beckyoskin. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter@OAPlanet. We're also onFacebook and Google+.

? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50621405/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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SKYE Condominiums in Uptown Charlotte - Charlotte Real Estate

SKYE Condominiums in Uptown Charlotte?s Second Ward is the up-and-coming, hippest mixed-use development to hit the city!? Formerly The Park Condos, SKYE is located at the corner of S. Caldwell and E. 3rd Streets and features 67 luxury residential condominiums on floors 14-21with 2 penthouse suites, atop a 172-room Hyatt Place hotel and ground-floor retail space.

The cherry on top of this glass, brick, granite, stucco and metal exterior hip, new complex is going to be a fabulous rooftop restaurant and bar featuring 360? panoramic views of Charlotte?s gorgeous skyline.

Uptown Charlotte is the premier live/work (and play!) community in the area. ?Such convenience to arts, sporting events, concerts, fine dining, shopping?simply?everything Charlotte!

• A rooftop pool
• Sun deck
• 7,800 square feet of green, landscaped gardens
• Conversation areas
• Theatre room
• Game room
• Party room/kitchen
• Fitness center
• Valet services
• Controlled-access parking
• 24-hour concierge services
• 5 elevator banks
• 24-hour security
• 172-room limited-service hotel
• Valet parking service
• 5-story parking garage
• Rooftop restaurant and bar
• Valet laundry service
• Bicycle storage
• Private mail room
• Limited number of private storage units available

?

What more could you ask for in luxury and convenience in Uptown Charlotte?!

About that fabulous first-in-Charlotte roof-top bar and restaurant.? The 20th floor will serve as home to an 8,000 square-foot open-air rooftop restaurant that will seat 260, with both indoor and outdoor seating, a private dining area and a fabulous bar with 360? view of Charlotte and beyond.

The first model 2-bedroom unit will open in March.? You may not want to wait though, pre-sales are doing quite well in the new Skye Condominiums!? Reserve yours today!

?Debe Maxwell | [email?protected] |?SKYE Condominiums in Uptown Charlotte ? Hip, New and Happening!

Debe

I am a full-time REALTOR? personally specializing in historic homes and luxury home sales in the Charlotte NC real estate market. My team specializes in a variety of areas including first time home buyers, condos and townhomes as well as single family home sales and marketing. ? Follow me on Google+

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Source: http://www.icharlotterealestate.com/skye-condominiums-in-uptown-charlotte/

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Venezuela prison riot kills 61, government mum

URIBANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - A prison riot in southwestern Venezuela killed 61 people, a hospital official said on Sunday, although the government has refused to give an official death toll in the bloody standoff that highlighted chaos in the country's jails.

The violence took place on Friday at the Uribana jail near the city of Barquisimeto. Relatives who gathered outside the jail fumed at the lack of information from authorities who have started transferring prisoners to other facilities but have not confirmed how many were killed.

The rioting took place at a time when cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez remains in Cuba receiving treatment and with Vice President Nicolas Maduro - the notional head of state - visiting the socialist leader in Havana and then traveling to a summit in Chile.

The riot was the fourth high-profile conflict in 18 months in a prison system that houses three times the number of inmates it was designed to hold. Critics say it is controlled by gangs with ready access to machine guns and even hand grenades.

"We're suffering here, and the government is saying nothing," said Josefina Ramirez, 36, whose 25-year-old husband was inside. "We want Chavez to come here to give us news. We want an answer."

Chavez has not been seen or heard from in 45 days, which has spurred criticism from opposition leaders that the country is effectively without a president. Allies insist he is fully carrying out duties.

Ruy Medina, director of the Barquisimeto Central Hospital, put the death toll at 61.

A hand-written list posted on a barbed wire fence outside the Uribana jail listed 20 dead and 104 injured. Outside the nearby morgue, where hearses lined up on Saturday to collect bodies, a similar list showed 24 dead.

It was not known who posted the lists. A prisons ministry official did not respond to requests for comment. Amid the silence, rumors circulated among family members at the prison gates that the death toll had reached as high as 400.

'BUNCH OF DEAD PEOPLE'

"There's a bunch of dead people tossed on the ground in there, the government doesn't want to take them out to avoid showing the reality," said Veronica Chavez, whose husband told her he was being transferred to another prison but did not know which. She called the list outside the prison "a lie."

Maduro vowed a full investigation of the incident in pre-dawn comments on Saturday just after arriving back in Venezuela from Havana. Within hours, he left to meet with Latin American and European dignitaries at a summit in Chile.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff scrapped her agenda at that summit and returned home after a nightclub fire killed at least 232 people.

Prisons Minister Iris Varela in a news conference said the riot was triggered by reports in the opposition media about plans to search the prison to remove weapons. "It seems as though their thirst for blood and terrible things will never be quenched," she said, referring to media.

Varela said reports had exaggerated the number of dead by including prisoners whose bodies showed signs they died several days before the incident - comments that critics seized as further evidence of the cruelty of the penitentiary system.

"They're not dogs, they're not animals, they're people like us," said Angelia Ibarra, 42, seeking information about her 25-year-old son inside. "The true animals are the government people."

Venezuelan jails have been increasingly in the headlines because of repeated shootouts and riots as well as conditions that are both outrageously cruel and downright surreal.

Inmates refusing to be transferred out of a Caracas prison battled security forces in May for days as smoke rose above the compound and shots rang out. Chavez later said he called from Cuba, where he was receiving medical treatment, and spoke with one of the inmates to help negotiate an end to the standoff.

Local media last year published a story about a nightclub called Disco Tokio that held a Mother's Day party that featured musical groups flown in from Colombia and Puerto Rico. The club was located inside the Tocoron jail.

An online animated series about jail violence called "Jail or Hell," produced by a former inmate, has drawn a following among Venezuelans captivated by the chaos of the prisons.

(Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-prison-riot-kills-61-government-mum-193314251.html

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Republicans blame message, not ideas, for failures (reuters)

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

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Fraud concerns linger over new Illinois license law

CHICAGO (AP) ? As Illinois becomes the fourth and most populous state to give illegal immigrants permission to drive, nagging concerns remain about whether there are enough safeguards to avoid the identity fraud and other pitfalls other states faced.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed Illinois' measure into law Sunday in Chicago. Backers, including Quinn, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and some of the state's top Republicans, tout it as a public-safety measure. They argue that required facial recognition technology is reliable enough to prevent fraud.

They hailed it as an important step for immigrant rights in Illinois, which approved its own Dream Act in 2010 to create a privately-funded scholarship program for immigrant students. President Barack Obama plans to discuss his plan to overhaul the immigration system during a trip to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

"This was a bipartisan effort to pass an important law," Quinn said. "When the president speaks on Tuesday, he can say about his home state of Illinois ... we not only passed the Dream Act last year, we passed driver's licenses for those who are undocumented ."

However, the law's opponents have pointed to hundreds of fraudulent cases in New Mexico, Washington and Utah after those states began giving illegal immigrants permission to drive. Illinois will not require applicants to be fingerprinted, for fear that would discourage immigrants from applying.

"How many people would apply for this document knowing that fingerprints will be going to (federal authorities)? Probably not all that many," said Fred Tsao, policy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, a driving-force behind the measure.

Proponents say it will allow an estimated 250,000 people unlawfully residing in the state to apply for a three-year temporary driver's license and require them to get training and insurance. The Illinois secretary of state's office said the licenses will be available starting in October.

Those ready for the change include 45-year-old Victoria Chavez.

"I need to get my driver's license because I have two kids," the Chicago woman said. "They need my support. This is a victory for all of us in the immigrant community."

The licenses will be like those already issued to certain foreign-born, legal visitors. Applicants will be photographed, and their photo will be entered into the state's facial recognition database ? like the rest of Illinois' licensed drivers? to verify their identity.

But other states' driving programs for illegal immigrants have been abused. New Mexico and Washington both issue licenses, while Utah issues a permit.

An Associated Press investigation last year found a striking pattern in New Mexico, suggesting immigrants tried to game the system to obtain a license. In one instance, 48 foreign-born individuals claimed to live at a smoke shop in Albuquerque to fulfill a residency condition.

Authorities also busted a fraud ring last year that forged documents for illegal immigrants to use after driving from as far as Illinois and North Carolina to obtain a New Mexico license. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has vowed for years to repeal the decade-old measure, but the Legislature has rejected such efforts.

Washington's requirements attracted national attention when Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, revealed his illegal immigration status in an essay for the New York Times Magazine in 2011. Vargas chronicled how he obtained his Washington license. State authorities conducted an investigation that revealed Vargas did not reside at the address he stated in his application and canceled his license.

Utah's permit is not valid for identification. Illinois' law follows suit.

Utah's Republican-controlled Legislature amended the state's law in 2011 to require illegal immigrants to be fingerprinted, and mandates that the state notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if an applicant's fingerprint check yields a felony on record. If the applicant has a misdemeanor warrant outstanding, the state must notify the agency that is seeking the person's arrest.

That kind of information-sharing between state and immigration authorities worries Illinois' immigrant-rights advocates, such as Tsao, who pushed for the legislation without a fingerprinting requirement. They say fingerprinting could deter potential licensees from applying for fear of being identified and deported.

Local law enforcement officials argue in favor of fingerprinting.

"We could see if they have committed a crime; it could be a crime in another state or it could be a crime in their home country," said John Kennedy, executive director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.

The Illinois secretary of state's office says its facial recognition database is highly sophisticated and accurate. The program uses an algorithm to match more than a dozen facial features that are not easy to alter, such as eye sockets and sides of the mouth.

"The integrity of our driver's license system is a priority," said Henry Haupt, a spokesman for the office.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Edward Acevedo, a Chicago Democrat, said state roads will be safer because illegal immigrants will receive training and be tested before obtaining a license. They also will be required to purchase insurance, Acevedo said.

Tsao's organization estimates uninsured illegal immigrant drivers cause $64 million in damage claims each year, an expense currently covered by increased premiums.

___

Garcia Cano reported from Springfield, Ill.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fraud-concerns-linger-over-ill-license-law-155828827.html

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Fog delays 3rd round at Torrey Pines

Several players warm up for the fog-delayed start to the third round of Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Several players warm up for the fog-delayed start to the third round of Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Golf fans cross a fairway in the fog at Torrey Pines golf course during a weather delay before the start of the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Vijay Sing, of the Fiji Islands, warms up for the fog-delayed start to the third round of Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Tiger Woods is going to have to wait to pursue another win at Torrey Pines.

A thick fog shrouded the course along the Pacific bluffs on Saturday and essentially wiped out the entire day at the Farmers Insurance Open. Woods, a six-time winner of this tournament, had a two-shot lead and never even bothered coming to the golf course. Three players completed one hole ? and that was after a three-hour delay.

Players were to resume the third round Sunday morning and go as long as daylight allowed, and then finish Monday.

And that's a best-case scenario.

In a bizarre twist, tour officials were hopeful of rain and a little wind Sunday morning, two elements that most golfers dread. That's what is needed, however, to keep the fog away from Torrey Pines and allow the tournament to resume.

"When Mother Nature doesn't want you to play, you can't play," said Mark Russell, the tour vice president of competition.

They did just about everything else.

Lucas Glover warmed up three times, at one point passed the time with a little trickery. He lined up two balls in the direction of the range, and hit them with a wedge so that one ball went straight in the air, and Jerry Kelly took a baseball swing with an inverted club and made contact.

Through four tournaments this year, the PGA Tour already had had its share of weather problems. This will be the second tournament that doesn't finish on the scheduled day. The Tournament of Champions at Kapalua didn't even start until Monday, the day it was supposed to end, because of 40 mph gusts. It had to be reduced to 54 holes and was completed on Tuesday.

Woods was at 11-under 133 and didn't need to come to the course with all the delays because he was in the last group with Billy Horschel and Casey Wittenberg. Horschel spent part of his day getting advice through text messages on how to play with Woods.

He'll get to see plenty of Woods over the next two days.

Russell said there would not be a 54-hole cut for 87 players ? typically there is a cut when the field is more than 78 players on Saturday. Instead, they will take a short lunch break and go back out, racing time when fog allows. The groups will stay the same until the tournament is over.

"I think the coolest thing that can come from it is that I think it looks like we're going to be paired together for 36 holes," Horschel said. "So it's a pretty cool thing that's going to happen. It's just going to be a fun day tomorrow and Monday. So we'll see how it goes."

Horschel also is among 17 players who are entered in the qualifier Monday to get into the Phoenix Open, which starts next week. Russell said those players have been given the latest tee times for the qualifier ? the latest is 1:36 p.m. MST ? with hopes of getting there.

Saturday began with a 30-minute delay that soon stretched into three hours, and the sun broke through the clouds as Hunter Mahan, Robert Garrigus and John Mallinger teed off on the 10th hole at the South Course. Five minutes later, the horn sounded. Because it was for weather, they were able to finish the hole.

Mahan's caddie took a picture of the 11th tee, a 216-yard par 3, and the visibility was no more than 50 yards.

It never got any better.

"That little bit of sun we did get today was overpowered by just the saturation of the atmosphere, so we just couldn't overcome it today," said Stewart Williams, the tour's meteorologist.

Defending champion Brandt Snedeker, seven shots out of the lead, was among those who had the longest day. He was up at 5 a.m., arrived in darkness, warmed up in the fog and never hit a shot.

"It's tough when you prepare one day, and then it's one of those days where preparation is going to be kind of thrown off," he said. "But we have these days from time to time. We kind of know what to do to keep your mind fresh and ready to go. You realize it's a different week, and could be a Monday finish now and be ready for that."

Woods won in 2005 at Torrey Pines when fog interrupted the tournament, though it was completed on Sunday. The last time this event was shortened to 54 holes because of weather was in 1998.

Russell said the Farmers Insurance Open will go 72 holes. He just couldn't promise when 84 players could get to the 37th hole of the tournament. Without rain, there was the chance of more fog Sunday morning.

"If we say we're not going to play because we might have fog in the morning, and we didn't have fog, we'd have tremendous problems," he said. "So we're going to schedule it, and hopefully, we won't have fog and we can play golf. That's all we can do. If Mother Nature doesn't cooperate, we don't have very much control over that. We're going to be out here, ready to play, and see what happens."

That's assuming they can see at all.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-26-GLF-Farmers-Insurance-Open/id-3e4e33d129f44782962295462e60de2a

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Top Internet Reputation Management Expert JW Maxx Solutions ...

Top internet reputation management expert, JW Maxx Solutions stands strong as an industry leader in protecting the online reputation of their clients.

Phoenix, Arizona (PRWEB) January 25, 2013

Even the best-run businesses bump into the occasional unreasonable customer looking to smear the reputation of a particular brand. Angry remarks and fraudulent claims are not the kind of search engine results a business owner wants customers to see. As a top internet reputation management expert, JW Maxx Solutions has the legal, and the technical, power to devalue and eradicate these negative comments.

?It is every business owner?s worst nightmare: idly Google searching your company?s name and seeing negative press on the first page of results,? states Walter Halicki, CEO and Founder of JW Maxx Solutions. ?The information that is posted online about your business affects your revenue, your business opportunities, and your reputation.?

Luckily, for those in need, JW Maxx Solutions is offering services to lessen the strength of these negative results. By using the search engine?s own algorithms to directly help their clients, JW Maxx Solutions provides satisfying results, like no other top internet reputation management expert can offer. In an age where so much business is done online, business owners would be smart to secure their online reputation.

When a customer searches for a brand, and they find only positive results, they will subconsciously start to trust that brand. Brand trust is one of the most important parts of business; for with brand trust, comes sales. One of the many benefits that come with working with a top internet reputation management expert is that the business is highly likely to see an uptick in sales, as an effect.

JW Maxx Solutions is determined to get businesses the positive results they want. Their keen consultants are on hand to help clients with all matters concerning their online reputation, and are skilled at noticing trends in various industries, allowing them to act quickly when changes come about.

?Do you know how to use meta tags to optimize your website for Google search results, without triggering their spam filters and causing your website to be demoted in their rankings?? asks Halicki. ?Can you use keywords in your content to appear in relevant search results, without appearing to ?over-stuff? and dooming yourself to the bottom of Google?s spam filter? Can you easily find and address all the negative comments that might possibly be said about you, so that potential customers are not turned away by bad reviews? If the answer to any of these questions is ?no,? then professional ORM through a company like JW Maxx Solutions might be a good option for your business.?

For the entirety of 2013, JW Maxx Solutions is providing free consultation for brand owners interested in safeguarding their online reputation, and increasing their brand?s positive online presence.

JW Maxx Solutions, Online Reputation Management, Contact Information:

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebtopbusinessreputation/managementexperts/prweb10359241.htm

Source: http://www.hbglawfirm.com/2013/01/top-internet-reputation-management-expert-jw-maxx-solutions-utilizes.html

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Iraq troops kill four in clashes with Sunni protesters

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi troops shot dead at least four people during clashes with Sunni Muslim protesters in Falluja on Friday in escalating unrest against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

A Reuters witness said troops initially fired in the air to disperse crowds, but then he saw some soldiers fire towards protesters who had approached their military vehicles and set one of them on fire.

Thousands of Sunnis have taken to the streets to protest against mistreatment of their minority sect since late December, increasing worries that Iraq could slide back into widespread sectarian confrontation.

Friday's violence complicates Maliki's attempts to end the protests, where demands range from amendment of terrorism laws that many Sunnis feel single them out to more radical calls for the Shi'ite leader to step down.

After thousands gathered for Friday prayers in Falluja, a mostly Sunni city 50 km (30 miles) north of the capital, clashes broke out when troops arrested three protesters and others tried to block a major highway, officials said.

"A final count shows we have six people killed and 52 wounded," a hospital source told Reuters. He said at least four had died from gunshot wounds, but it was not clear how the other two people had died.

A local television channel showed demonstrators approaching the army vehicles and throwing stones and water bottles while troops tried to keep them away by firing in the air. But images also showed one soldier aiming his rifle at demonstrators.

"I was trying to see the burned vehicle when the army started to drive the demonstrators away. When that did not work the soldiers opened fire at the people," said Aziz Nazal, a cameraman, who was wounded in his hand.

A year after the last American troops left Iraq, sectarian tensions are still raw in Iraq, where many lived through Shi'ite-against-Sunni bloodletting that killed tens of thousands a few years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Since the fall of the Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein a decade ago, many Iraqi Sunnis feel they have been sidelined by the Shi'ite leadership and believe Maliki is amassing power at their community's expense.

SUNNI FRUSTRATIONS

The protests erupted in late December when authorities arrested the bodyguards of the Sunni finance minister on terrorism charges, a move that many Sunnis saw as politically motivated. Officials say it is simply a judicial case.

Unrest has centered on the Sunni heartland of Anbar, a vast desert province that makes up a third of Iraq's territory and is populated mainly by Sunnis in towns along the Euphrates River.

Falluja, once the heart of al Qaeda's battle against American troops, suffered some of the worst urban fighting in the U.S.-led war and many there still harbor bitter memories.

Among the thousands of protesters in Falluja on Friday, some raised the old three-star Iraqi flag from the Saddam era and the black flag of al Qaeda's local wing, Islamic State of Iraq.

Sunni unrest has been accompanied by an uptick in violence from Sunni Islamist insurgents. Four suicide bombers have struck over the last week, including one in Falluja who targeted a Sunni lawmaker well known for his bitter opposition to al Qaeda.

The protests are evolving into a major political challenge for Maliki, whose fragile government, comprising Shi'ites, Sunnis and ethnic Kurds, has been deadlocked over how to share power almost since it was formed two years ago.

Authorities have released nearly 1,000 detainees in an effort to defuse the protests.

Moderate Sunni leaders are calling for modification of the anti-terrorism law, more control over a campaign against former members of Saddam's outlawed Baath party and the release of more detained prisoners under an amnesty law.

But more radical Islamist leaders and clerics call for Maliki's resignation and even for an autonomous Sunni Muslim region to be set up in Anbar.

The tensions are adding to Iraqi government worries that the war in neighboring Syria will upset Iraq's own delicate sectarian and ethnic balance.

Mainly Sunni rebels are fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose ruling clan belongs to a minority offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Hardline Iraqi Sunnis think the potential rise of a Sunni regime in Damascus after Assad will strengthen their own position in Baghdad.

(Reporting by Kamal Naama in Falluja and Suadad al-Salhy in Baghdad; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nine-wounded-iraq-troops-clash-sunni-protesters-091946441.html

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Brands Running Ads On Vine - Business Insider

Urban Outfitters was the first big brand to run an ad on Vine, as far as we can tell from searching Twitter and media coverage of the launch of Twitter's ingenious new 6-second video app.

Vine was unveiled by Twitter on Jan. 24. By 6.07 p.m., UO had tweeted this Vine video of a couple of dogs, along with the sarcastic comment, "The most important Vine you'll ever see."

Ironically, if it indeed turns out to be the case that UO was the very first advertiser to promote itself through Vine, then it will actually have been a very important Vine.

See the original here or here:

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/brands-running-ads-on-vine-2013-1

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The Note's Must-Reads for Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com

Compiled by ABC News' Jayce Henderson, Amanda VanAllen and Jordan Mazza

GUN CONTROL ABC News' Arlette Saenz: "Biden to Host Google 'Fireside Hangout' on Gun Violence" Vice President Joe Biden will hold a modern-day version of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "fireside chat" Thursday when he participates in a Google+ Hangout on gun violence. LINK The Washington Post's Paul Kane: " Gun control proposals could split President Obama, Harry Reid" The success of President Obama's starkly liberal second-term agenda will rest largely on the shoulders of Senate Majority leader Harry M. Reid, who has been a rock-solid political ally and a valued legislative tactician for Obama during his first term. But for the first time since Obama became president four years ago, his political interests and Reid's may be diverging. Not so much because there is huge disagreement on the president's agenda, but because helping Obama may hurt vulnerable Democrats in the Senate. LINK

GOP The Hills' Jonathan Easley: " Boehner: Obama's goal is to 'annihilate' the Republican Party" Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama's second term is to "annihilate the Republican Party." "Given what we heard yesterday about the president's vision for his second term, it's pretty clear to me that he knows he can't do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans," Boehner said in a speech Tuesday to The Ripon Society. LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Lisa Mascaro: " House GOP seeks steep cuts while raising debt ceiling" Stepping up their austerity campaign, House Republicans plan to demand far deeper spending cuts from President Obama to balance the federal budget in just 10 years, an extraordinary goal that would hit Medicare and other safety-net programs. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), confronted with a more conservative Republican majority, agreed to the dramatic initiative to coax reluctant rank-and-file lawmakers Wednesday to approve a temporary suspension of the $16.4-trillion debt limit without any cuts in spending. LINK

INAUGURATION The New York Daily News' David Hinckley: " President Obama's inauguration TV ratings drop by almost 50% from 2009" Slightly more than 20 million Americans tuned in to watch President Barack Obama inaugurated for his second term - a little more than half the audience that watched in 2009. These figures mirrored the sizes of the crowds that came to Washington to watch the ceremony in person. LINK

BENGHAZI The Washington Times' Guy Taylor and Shaun Waterman: " Tears and rage on Benghazi" She teetered on the verge of tears and laughed out loud. She pounded a table with her fists and snapped at lawmakers Wednesday. And once again, Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton accepted blame for the death of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, but repeatedly deflected criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the attack and its aftermath. LINK

Bloomberg's Indira A.R. Lakshmanan: " Clinton Defends Libya Actions Amid Republican Criticism" Hillary Clinton's last solo testimony as secretary of state was an intense cross-examination by Republicans about the deadly attack in Libya that marked the low point in her four-year tenure.More than five hours of questioning before Senate and House committees yesterday were punctuated by politicized exchanges that underscored the partisan divide over the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Inadequate security and initial, conflicting descriptions of the assault became a lightning rod for criticism of the Obama administration's posture on terrorist threats. LINK

PENTAGON The New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker: " Pentagon Is Set to Lift Combat Ban for Women" Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is lifting the military's official ban on women in combat, which will open up hundreds of thousands of additional front-line jobs to them, senior defense officials said Wednesday. The groundbreaking decision overturns a 1994 Pentagon rule that restricts women from artillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles, even though in reality women have frequently found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than 20,000 have served. As of last year, more than 800 women had been wounded in the two wars and more than 130 had died. LINK

Politico's Reid Epstein: " No culture war over Pentagon shift" The Pentagon's decision to allow women to serve in combat didn't find many takers for a culture war fight. Instead, much like the response to President Barack Obama's ending of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and endorsement of gay marriage, the only voiced complaints came from a few scattered corners. Most of the president's political opponents - even old culture warriors themselves - either endorsed the decision or carefully avoided saying anything publicly against it. LINK

DEBT USA Today's Susan Davis: "House passes short-term debt-limit extension" The U.S. House approved, 285-144, a bill to suspend the nation's $16.4 trillion debt ceiling through May 18 to avert a U.S. default on its legal obligations and buy Washington more time to negotiate budget priorities. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Janet Hook, Corey Boles, and Patrick O'Connor: "Passing Debt Bill, GOP Pledges End to Deficits" The House defused one potential debt crisis Wednesday, while a top Republican set the stage for a far broader debate over whether it is possible to actually balance the U.S. budget in coming years. LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA The Boston Globe's Scot Lehigh: " To succeed, Obama must take his case to the people" President Obama tried to galvanize the country to progressive purpose in his inaugural speech, arguing that in this era, advancing time-honored individual aspirations requires collective action. LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEO "Hillary Clinton Testifies Before Congress" LINK

BOOKMARKS The Note: LINK The Must-Reads Online: LINK Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK ABC News Politics: LINK George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK Follow ABC News on Twitter: LINK ABC News Mobile: LINK ABC News app on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: LINK

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/notes-must-reads-thursday-january-24-2013-080138968--abc-news-politics.html

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