Missing American schooner 'probably had a catastrophic event'; 7 remain missing

"Nina," a historic schooner built in 1928, was last seen in the South Pacific off the north coast of New Zealand three weeks ago.

By Henry Austin and Miriam Firestone

The "biggest ever" search of the seas surrounding New Zealand turned up no sign of an American schooner that has been missing for more than three weeks, officials said Friday. ?

Search and Rescue officer Neville Blakemore said the 70-foot vessel ?probably had a catastrophic event? while traveling from New Zealand to Newcastle, Australia.

?The areas that have been searched have been absolutely massive and the area searched is the biggest area the Rescue Coordination Center of New Zealand has ever undertaken,? Blakemore said. ?The comprehensive search by the Orion [aircraft] the last couple of days has indicated that if the yacht was still afloat they would have seen it in the search area. So we are assuming that it's not in the search area and thus probably had a catastrophic event.?

AP Photo/St. Andrews Historic Seaport and Commercial Marina

David Dyche, skipper of the 70-foot vessel Nina.

Blakemore added that he was refusing to give up hope of finding survivors but said the search was now focusing on debris from wreckage.?

The New Zealand Herald identified four of the people on the vessel as David Dyche, 58; his wife, Rosemary, 60; their son David, 17; and Evi Nemreth, 73, of Boulder, Colo., a maritime technology expert and retired University of Colorado professor. A 35-year-old British man, a 28-year-old American man and an 18-year-old American woman were also on board.

A storm was reported near the vessel's last known location on June 4, the day the Nina vanished. It featured winds gusting up to 70 mph and 26-foot waves.

New Zealand-based meteorologist Bob McDavitt told the Associated Press?that one of the crew was concerned about the conditions when she called on a satellite phone on June 4. ? ?

"The weather's turned nasty, how do we get away from it," McDavitt quoted Nemreth as asking him. ?

He added: "She was quite controlled in her voice, it sounded like everything was under control."

Stephen Western / AFP - Getty Images, file

The Nina is seen at sea in January 2012.

Friends in Panama City, Fla., where the Nina often moored, ?told NBC station?WJHG that David Dyche was an ?accomplished captain? and said they were refusing to give up hope.

"You always worry anytime you've got a vessel in a bad weather situation,?Massalina Bayou marina director Bill Lloyd told WJHG on Thursday. ?But you don't handle a boat the size of Nina unless you're an accomplished captain.?

Blakemore, the rescue official, refused to rule out the possibility of survivors. However, he said that the ?logical conclusion? is that the boat sank rapidly, preventing the seven strong crew from sending out an SOS.

Unlike many locator beacons, he said that the one aboard Nina was not activated by water pressure and wouldn?t start automatically if the boat sank. However, he maintained that it would be unlikely that a craft the size of the Nina would sink. ??

?If the vessel got knocked over by a rogue wave it would have happened very, very quickly and they may not have had time to, to launch any life-saving equipment,? Blakemore added.

On her Facebook page, Rosemary Dyche said her family had planned a world tour.

?I am now on an adventure of a lifetime going around the world with my Wonderful husband who is my best friend and our youngest son," she wrote . "But I do Miss my 2 older sons Justin and Kevin and my grand kids Katelynn and Sean my mom. And all my friends. But we have to do it now while we can.??

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:40 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663309/s/2debf4fb/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C280C191851330Emissing0Eamerican0Eschooner0Eprobably0Ehad0Ea0Ecatastrophic0Eevent0E70Eremain0Emissing0Dlite/story01.htm

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Vine For Android Gets Updated With Front-Facing Camera Support

When Vine started shipping for Android, there was one, big, near-universal complaint amongst its users: It didn't support front-facing cameras. While the existing iOS port had been supporting front cameras for months, Android users looking to take Vine-selfies (Velfies?) were stuck contorting their wrists like some sort of chump. In an update pushed to the Google Play store just a few minutes ago, Vine for Android finally picked up compatibility that front lens.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gI8F6qiL-gQ/

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Envoy says U.S. loses trust in Hong Kong after Snowden

By Greg Torode

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The top U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong warned on Thursday of a "big struggle" ahead to repair Washington's trust in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory after the flight of fugitive spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Speaking publicly for the first time since Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday despite a U.S. request to hold him to face charges of espionage, Consul General Stephen Young told Reuters that Washington's confidence was "shaken".

"My point is simple - I've spent three years working for good relationship between Hong Kong and the U.S. and we've had a loss of trust at this point," said Young, who is due to retire later this year.

Re-building that trust, he said, "is not going to be easy because you have President (Barack) Obama's administration just starting its second term so it is not like you can say: 'We'll wait for these guys to change'."

Young did not specify how any deterioration in ties would play out but added: "I'll say specifically in law enforcement co-operation - where we have a whole series of agreements, and protocols and practices - our confidence has been shaken."

The United States and Hong Kong have enjoyed strong ties under the "one country, two systems" system that has underpinned the former British colony since it was handed over to China 16 years ago.

U.S. multinationals have a strong presence in the city while U.S. warships are frequent visitors to its highly-strategic port on the South China Sea.

Young had repeatedly praised Hong Kong officials and the strength of their ties with the United States in recent speeches, before Snowden's revelations about the scope of Washington's electronic surveillance systems.

In Washington, officials have admonished China for letting Snowden escape, but Young said he was not so worried about the broader U.S.-China relationship, given its importance and opportunities for dialogue.

"But in U.S.-Hong Kong terms, it is a bigger struggle because people in Washington don't usually wake up thinking of Hong Kong but now they do, and it is in a negative sense," he said.

Young's comments come as Hong Kong and Washington officials continue a war of words over the back-room maneuvering ahead of Snowden's departure.

U.S. Department of Justice officials have accused Hong Kong of having feigned confusion over Snowden's middle name to avoid detaining him before he fled to Russia.

They were responding to statements from Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen that his officials had to wait for clarification of Snowden's middle name and passport number in U.S. documents before detaining him at Washington's request.

The U.S. authorities used the middle name James in some documents for Snowden, while a U.S. Justice Department document referred to him as Edward J. Snowden, Yuen said.

But Hong Kong immigration records showed Snowden's name as "Edward Joseph Snowden."

"These three names weren't completely the same, so we felt that there was a need for clarification. Otherwise when we issued the provisional arrest warrant, it could have caused legal problems," Yuen said.

Before any clarification could be given, Snowden left. He has asked Ecuador for asylum and is now in a transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

(Additional reporting by Lavinia Mo; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/envoy-says-u-loses-trust-hong-kong-snowden-103658847.html

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Stages of Business Growth ? Stage 6 ? Visionary - Catalist Consulting

Preface ? these articles on stages of business growth are guidelines ? so use them with some flexibility. They are also based on number of employees and not annual revenue because different industries will generate different levels of revenue based on employee count. If you are looking for sales by paid employee for your industry, contact me I have a complete list. We will cover the following stages:

• Stage 1: 1 ? 10 employees ? The One Person Show
• Stage 2: 11-30 employees ? The Ramp Up
• Stage 3: 31 ? 50 employees ? Delegation
• Stage 4: 51 ? 70 employees ? People Crunch
• Stage 5: 71 ? 125 employees ? Professional
• Stage 6: 126 + employees ? Visionary

Stage 6 ? Visionary

The visionary. Patterns of behavior have been established, processes are in place and the feel of the company is good and comfortable. Your confidence in your staff is strong. There are good managers in place and employees are responding well to their direction and leadership. The culture is good and strong and it is a good place to work.

Management/Organizational

As the CEO of a stage 6 company, you are engaged in a unique blend of managerial and visionary styles. You believe strongly in the power of effective and consistent communication. Your leadership style is creating synergy by connecting people to each other, healing rifts in a team and motivating during stressful times.

There are more people and more complications. The impact is felt by the CEO on the hiring practices of the first 4 stages. The CEO is spending time in two distinct areas: people and processes. The CEO is now managing through people and evaluating if the hires through the last 4 stages are working and spending more time with the management team to build their confidence as a group and each individually; it is now a people business and it takes about 70% of the CEO?s time. The second focus is making sure internal processes are running smooth and flawlessly.

One of the biggest challenges may be employee turn-over, this is one indication that the department managers are not as strong and experienced as you need. People stay with a company because they respect their manager. If you are beginning to provide your employees with managers who are already trained and hardwired to grow the business and manage the people, your company will feel less frustrating, become more productive and make more money.

Marketing/Sales

The marketing person is tuned in and working effectively. They are integrated with the sales department and customer service. They understand the needs of the market and are looking for innovative and unique ways to get the message to their highest value prospects. Management is provided with monthly marketing graphs showing what is/is not working, market penetration and return on marketing dollars.

The sales manager is seasoned, effective in leading, hiring, mentoring and monitoring the sales organization. The sales manager is spending 60% ? 70% of their time in the field with each of the sales people, nurturing them to improve their trade. There should be individual sales evaluations in place for each sales person on at least a quarterly basis on customer acquisition and product or market growth.

Human Resources

The HR manager is clearly comfortable with the job, the company and providing the guidance the company needs in the personnel area. They are on top of their primary functions and are keeping up the ?culture? of the company and making the organization a place to look forward to work in.

Product and/or Service

The VP of operations is comfortable in their job, driving performance forward and managing the day-to-day functions and people effectively. There are regular (weekly) production management meetings with the production management team where opportunities are evaluated, performance is measured and issues are discussed and resolved. KPI?s are a routine and the employees in this area are comfortable with reporting key indicators on a daily basis.

Finance

The company has a very qualified controller. Someone who has an accounting degree, has 5+ year controller experience and understands the big picture. They work closely with the CEO and the balance of the management team, giving the financial perspective of new opportunities and threats to the company. As the company grows, more money is changing hands more frequently and a good person at the controls of the money system is critical. These functions are just an extension of other responsibilities defined in previous stages of growth articles. If they don?t have a controller that understands the big picture, the company will benefit from someone giving them that insight.

The company has a profit target that is supported with a revenue and expense budget for the year, by month. The controller and the key management staff: sales, operations, CEO and controller review performance on a monthly basis and evaluate, standardize and improve the overall performance of the business. The company should have a projected cash flow forecast in place that is updated on (at least) a monthly basis to insure that the company will have adequate cash to operate and that the line of credit and financing is adequate to support growth.

Challenges in this stage

Revenue and profit
Weak project management
Difficulty diagnosing/forecasting problems
Employee turnover
Not getting systems in place
Your organization is uninformed about company growth

What to do to get to the next stage

Continue to focus on revenue and profit and weakness in your company including people and systems. The goal of the company is to function as a well oiled machine with improved systems, better people and a powerful culture.

Connect with Dan Lacy:

Dan Lacy at PO Box 2900 Anderson, Indiana 46018.

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Jun

posted in: Business Coaching, Business Growth, Business Planning, Business Profit, Business Tools, Company Blog, Dan Lacy, Financial Planning, Funding, Hiring, Human Resources, Systems by admin | tags :business coach, Business Coaching, business growth, coaching, Consulting, Dan Lacy, executive coaching, Human Resources, Management, Marketing, organizational alignment, People, Professional, Sales

Source: http://www.catalistconsulting.com/stages-of-business-growth-stage-6-visionary/

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Filibuster and protest stop Texas abortion bill

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Despite barely beating a midnight deadline, hundreds of jeering protesters helped stop Texas lawmakers from passing one of the toughest abortion measures in the country.

As the protesters raised the noise to deafening levels in the Texas Senate chamber late Tuesday, Republicans scrambled to gather their colleagues at the podium for a stroke-of-midnight vote.

"Get them out!" Sen. Donna Campbell shouted to a security guard, pointing to the thundering crowd in the gallery overhead that had already been screaming for more than 10 minutes.

State troopers try to clear the gallery after Davies' filibuster.This verified video was uploaded to YouTube by journalist Andrea Grimes.

"Time is running out," Campbell pleaded. "I want them out of here!"

It didn't work. The noise never stopped and despite barely beating the midnight end-of-session deadline with a vote to pass the bill, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the chaos in the chamber prevented him from formally signing it before the deadline passed, effectively killing it.

Dewhurst denounced the protesters as an "unruly mob." Democrats who urged them on called the outburst democracy in action.

In either point of view, a raucous crowd of chanting, singing, shouting demonstrators effectively took over the Texas Capitol and blocked a bill that abortion rights groups warned would close most abortion clinics in the state.

"They were asking for their voices to be heard," said Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, who spent nearly 11 hours trying to filibuster the bill before the outburst. "The results speak for themselves."

The final outcome took several hours to sort out.

Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards announces the vote result to protesters.This verified video was uploaded to YouTube by journalist Andrea Grimes.

Initially, Republicans insisted the vote started before the midnight deadline and passed the bill that Democrats spent the day trying to kill. But after official computer records and printouts of the voting record showed the vote took place Wednesday, and then were changed to read Tuesday, senators retreated into a private meeting to reach a conclusion.

At 3 a.m., Dewhurst emerged from the meeting still insisting the 19-10 vote was in time, but said, "with all the ruckus and noise going on, I couldn't sign the bill" and declared it dead.

He denounced the more than 400 protesters who staged what they called "a people's filibuster" from 11:45 p.m. to well past midnight. He denied mishandling the debate.

"I didn't lose control (of the chamber). We had an unruly mob," Dewhurst said. He even hinted that Gov. Rick Perry may immediately call another 30-day special session, adding: "It's over. It's been fun. But see you soon."

Many of the protesters had flocked to the normally quiet Capitol to support Davis, who gained national attention and a mention from President Barack Obama's campaign Twitter account. Her Twitter following went from 1,200 in the morning to more than 20,000 by Tuesday night.

"My back hurts. I don't have a lot of words left," Davis said when it was over and she was showered with cheers by activists who stayed at the Capitol to see her. "It shows the determination and spirit of Texas women."

Davis' mission was cut short but her effort ultimately helped Democrats earn a rare victory in a Legislature dominated by Republicans for more than a decade.

"It's a bad bill," said Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin, leader of the Senate Democrats.

The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. Also, doctors would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles ? a tall order in rural communities.

If signed into law, the measures would have closed almost every abortion clinic in Texas, a state 773 miles wide and 790 miles long with 26 million people. A woman living along the Mexico border or in West Texas would have to drive hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion if the law passed. The law's provision that abortions be performed at surgical centers means only five of Texas' 42 abortion clinics are currently designated to remain in operation.

Republicans and anti-abortion groups insisted their goal was to improve women's health care, but also acknowledged wanting clinics to close.

"If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and daughter of the late former Texas governor Ann Richards.

The showdown came after Davis had slogged her way through about 11 hours of speaking while Senate Republicans ? and several House members ? watched and listened for any slipup that would allow them to end the filibuster and call a vote.

Democrats chose Davis, of Fort Worth, to lead the effort because of her background; she had her first child as a teenager and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School.

Rules stipulated she remain standing, not lean on her desk or take any breaks ? even for meals or to use the bathroom. But she also was required to stay on topic, and Republicans pointed out a mistake and later protested again when another lawmaker helped her with a back brace.

Lawmakers can vote to end a filibuster after three sustained points of order. As tension mounted over Davis' speech and the dwindling clock, Campbell, a first-term lawmaker from New Braunfels, made the call on the third violation, sparking nearly two hours of debate on how to handle it.

After much back and forth and senators shouting over each other, the Republican majority forced a vote to end the filibuster minutes before midnight, sparking the raucous response from protesters.

Senate security and several Department of Public Safety state troopers tried to quiet the crowd but were simply outnumbered and had no hope of stopping the outburst.

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, blamed the confusion surrounding the final vote on the demonstrators and Democratic senators who urged them on.

"Had that not happened, everyone would have known," what was happening, Patrick said.

Standing next to him was Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, a Democrat.

"This is democracy," Hinojosa said. "They have a right to speak."

___

Senate Bill 5: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/history.aspx?LegSess=831&Bill=SB5

___

Follow Jim Vertuno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JimVertuno .

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cltomlinson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-abortion-bill-falls-challenge-080130212.html

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My credentials: Personal Training in Brunswick, Australia. | Lose ...

It?s me! Out of breath, sweaty and horrible, at Doherty?s Gym Brunswick.

AKA bragging rights.

Just in case there are some new people out there who might need confirmation of my credentials, here?s a little bit of a write up about my real life as a Personal Trainer In Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.

I?ve worked from a number of locations over the past 5 years or so that I?ve been qualified as a PT. In fact you can go back even further to that, when I trained (and instructed) martial arts way back in the previous century. So as far as PT goes, it started out just doing some cardio kickboxing type stuff with a few mates in the park. From there, for a very short while I worked at an inner city PT studio, but the training style, not being my own boss and a few other aspects weren?t sitting right with me.

There was a stint last year where I was asked to come and work and provide PT in a small gym out in the country. I was only there a few days each week, but within a short period of time my schedule was booked solid and I was becoming very successful as a PT. The gym itself was not doing so well though and eventually closed. I took a few of my clients to the gym in the next town and got them started there, and then decided to re-focus my efforts closer to home.

Before (and at the same time as) all this, I had been working as an independent trainer out of Doherty?s Gym in Brunswick. If you didn?t know, this is a world famous ?hardcore? style gym and home to some of the country?s elite body builders, boxers, power lifters, and so on. Mr Olympia Phil Heath recently rated it as one of his top 3 favourite gyms in the world. It?s THAT good, and it?s a real gym owned and ran by people who are passionate about training, health and fitness ? not just by business investors.

I think there?s really two sides of the fitness industry world wide, and one half is more of the ?what?s stuff that people will pay money to come and do and feel like at least they are trying?? type of fitness businesses, and then there?s the ?we cater to the people who are serious about training, and serious about results? gyms? with that hard core, old school vibe. You can guess which sort of gym I?m working out of.

So as I say, this is a prestigious gym to work from and I?m in some elite company with many great trainers and athletes there. The big news as of the past month or so is that I?m now recognised as an officially approved and recommended trainer there. When you?re personally endorsed by perhaps THE biggest name in the legitimate fitness industry in this country, well that?s a big deal and something I?m very proud of.

Doherty?s Gym is home of many of the Best Personal Trainers In Australia, and finally I?ve taken my rightful place amongst them. Officially.

Now I know (because people have told me!) there are still a few people out there who find their way to this site and think ?free? it can?t be very good if it?s free? and go off and do some other shit instead. Well, it?s your loss. Between what I?ve just told you here, the testimonials and progress photos scattered around the site you should know I am VERY good at what I do, and if you?re smart enough to listen and put these very, very simple nutrition and training principles into action you are going to be successful.

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Source: http://loseweightnobullshit.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/my-credentials-personal-training-in-brunswick-australia/

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Sorry Uber, Los Angeles Has Been Banning Ride-Shares For a Century

This week the city of Los Angeles sent a cease-and-desist letter to ride-sharing app companies Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. The city claims (quite correctly) that these services are "rogue taxis" that are "bypassing all safety regulations created to protect riders and drivers." But this isn't the first time that this town has gone after the unregulated four-wheeled menace. This crackdown on unlicensed taxis in the City of Angels is nearly identical to a battle that raged a century ago ? without all the iPhones and whatnot, of course.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BvtEc4B8WYU/sorry-uber-los-angeles-has-been-banning-ride-shares-fo-574851806

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The Omnipotent Engineers at Google Have Banished Clouds From Earth

Google Earth may give us a real, live view of what our blue marble actually looks like, but even reality could stand to be improved a bit now and then. So to make sure you get the beautiful summer you deserve?while you're sitting inside a dark room hunched over your computer screen?Google has taken steps to give you a new view of the world?totally cloud-free.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/y0JLMhRDgmY/the-omnipotent-engineers-at-google-have-banished-clouds-586705238

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Taliban attack presidential palace in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The army said the attackers were killed but knew of no other deaths.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group.

The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces and where access is heavily restricted. It houses Karzai's residence but it was not immediately clear whether the president was in the building at the time and his spokesman did not answer his phone.

Gunfire started around 6:30 a.m. inside a heavily guarded area near the east gate leading to the palace, next to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the former Ariana Hotel, which former U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA.

A car bomb then exploded trying to enter the area. About 20 journalists took cover behind a religious shrine, pulling a schoolboy off the street who had been caught in the open on his way to school.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying in a text message the militants had "brought death to the enemy" with a suicide attack. He later suggested in an emailed statement that all three buildings had been targeted, saying the attack came "near the Ariana Hotel, the important CIA base, and also the presidential palace and Ministry of Defense."

Smoke could be seen coming from the area of the hotel, but there was no immediate indication any of the buildings were hit in the attack.

Mujahid claimed the attackers had inflicted "heavy casualties," but Afghanistan's Kabul division army commander Gen. Kadam Shah Shahim said he knew of no deaths among security forces or civilians.

He said his forces killed all of the attackers, three or four men who had jumped out of a car and opened fire.

Police had no immediate comment.

Lt. Col. Frank Hoelzner, a spokesman for the NATO coalition, said he had no immediate information but that the headquarters had not been affected by the attack. The U.S. Embassy was not immediately available for comment.

The Taliban have indicated they are willing to open peace talks with the U.S. and the Afghanistan government and just last week opened an office in Qatar for possible negotiations.

But at the same time they have not renounced violence and attacks have continued across Afghanistan.

_____

Associated Press writers David Rising and Amir Shah contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-attack-presidential-palace-afghanistan-030026459.html

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Onkyo's CS-255 docks your iPhone 5 for $300 this August

Onkyo's late to the iPhone 5 party with the CS-255 Lightning dock, but considering the company's history of quality we'll forgive it. It may be hard to justify that tardiness given the CS-255's $299 price tag -- somewhere between mid-range and super fancy -- given its lacking power compared to similarly priced docks. But hey, it plays CDs too! It's also worth considering that, for that much money, you could get one of the company's own home theater receivers offering much more power and flexibility. Of course, should you be interested and not an iPhone 5 owner, the CS-255 is also compatible with ... well, anything with a USB input. It comes bundled with two 15-watt speakers and hits stores this August.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Apple

Comments

Via: Electronista

Source: Onkyo USA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/26/onkyo-cs-255/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Court says suit testing blogger's rights can go on

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A federal appeals court says former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod can continue her defamation case against a conservative blogger.

Larry O'Connor, a colleague of the late blogger Andrew Breitbart, asked a federal court of appeals to throw out the case, saying it violates his freedom of speech rights. The appeals court on Tuesday upheld a federal district court's rejection of that motion to dismiss.

The case is one of the first high-profile federal lawsuits to test bloggers' freedom of speech rights, and large news organizations including the New York Times Co., Washington Post Co. and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the suit.

Sherrod was ousted from her job as a rural development official in 2010 after Breitbart posted an edited video of Sherrod, who is black, supposedly making racist remarks. She sued Breitbart, O'Connor and an unnamed defendant for defamation and emotional distress after USDA officials asked her to resign and the video ignited a racial firestorm.

Breitbart died unexpectedly last year. Sherrod's lawyers say the unnamed defendant is the person whom they believe passed the video on to Breitbart, though the person's identity remains unknown.

The video on Breitbart's website turned out to be edited, and when Sherrod's full speech to an NAACP group earlier that year came to light, it became clear that her remarks about an initial reluctance to help a white farmer decades ago were not racist but an attempt at telling a story of racial reconciliation. Once that was obvious, Sherrod received public apologies from the administration ? even from President Barack Obama himself ? and an offer to return to the Agriculture Department, which she declined.

Sherrod's 2011 lawsuit says the incident affected her sleep and caused her back pain. It contends that she was damaged by having her "integrity, impartiality and motivations questioned, making it difficult (if not impossible) for her to continue her life's work assisting poor farmers in rural areas" even though she was invited to return to the department.

O'Connor's lawyers had argued to have the case dismissed under a District of Columbia statute called an anti-SLAPP law that aims to prevent the silencing of critics through lawsuits. A federal district court judge rejected their motion to dismiss, citing timing and jurisdictional issues, prompting the appeal.

In March arguments, the lawyers told the court of appeals that O'Connor and Breitbart, before he died, stood by the content, saying the blog post was opinion.

"What happened here is what happens in journalism every day," said Bruce Brown, a lawyer for O'Connor.

Sherrod's lawyers disagreed and said dismissal under the District of Columbia statute would violate their right to a trial.

The case has been closely watched as a test of the District of Columbia's anti-SLAPP statute.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MCJalonick

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-25-USDA-Racism-Resignation/id-829de553f12b4414bda2836c405a16eb

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Qatar's new emir raised profile with sports

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? Qatar's new ruler was the not the first choice to lead the Gulf nation and its growing political and economic ambitions.

Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani became the crown prince a decade ago ? at the age of 23 ? when his older brother Jassim gave up his position as emir-in-waiting.

That began a gradual grooming process for the British-educated Sheik Tamim inside Qatar's security and investment arms, which are bankrolled by enormous oil and gas wealth.

As deputy commander of the armed forces, he had sway over multibillion dollar arms purchases and direct dealing with defense officials from the U.S. and other Western allies. His senior role with the Qatar Investment Authority gave him a powerful voice over the direction of one of the world's most active sovereign wealth funds, whose landmark stakes around the world include Harrods department store in London and luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co.

But Sheik Tamim's most enduring international image to this point has been linked to sports.

His crowning moment came as he helped win Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup. Sheik Tamim and other Qatari officials, however, later faced complaints that the nation used its vast wealth to swing support its way from football federation members in Africa and elsewhere.

Last year was less positive ? an International Olympic Committee member since 2002, Sheik Tamim headed Doha's unsuccessful bid for the 2020 Olympics. Qatar's capital has been mentioned as a possible bidder for the 2024 Games ? an effort that could get a boost from the new emir.

Sheik Tamim ? who also has served as head of Qatar's Olympic panel since 2000 ? helped avoid an embarrassing showdown with Olympic overseers by organizing the first female athletes representing Qatar for last year's London Olympics. Neighboring Saudi Arabia and the Asian country of Brunei also sent their first women Olympic athletes.

Sheik Tamim was educated at schools in England and then graduated from Sandhurst, Britain's prestigious military academy and alma mater for many Middle Eastern leaders.

His two wives include Sheika Anoud bint Mana al-Hajri, a member of a prominent Qatari family. He has six children.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/qatars-emir-raised-profile-sports-145814570.html

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Can Democrats Win Back the Deep South? (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314642606?client_source=feed&format=rss

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HBT: K-Rod earns 300th save in Brewers win

Brewers closer Francisco ?K-Rod? Rodriguez earned the 300th save of his career this afternoon, wrapping up a 2-0 victory over the Braves. He becomes the 25th member of the 300-save club. It was his sixth save of the year and he lowered his ERA to 0.59 (in 15.1 innings) in the effort. However, the Brewers had planned to make Jim Henderson the closer once Rodriguez achieved his milestone.

At 31-42 and just one game out of the cellar in the NL Central, the Brewers should draw interest from contending teams looking to bolster their bullpen, such as the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/22/k-rod-notches-300th-career-save/related/

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AOL Reader: Simple, Fast, But Hardly Groundbreaking

With Google Reader ready to tap out, it seems like everyone is keen to throw their hat into the feed reader ring. The latest offering is from AOL and it's simple, fast and lacking any unique features?though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

A simple RSS reader, it seems designed to make the transition from Google as straightforward as possible. Housed within a browser window, it's simple, unfussy and certainly looks quite a lot like Google's old faithful?though it's a little more cluttered and has dark and light themes. You're essentially looking at a column full of folders and viewing pane. And an ad. Obviously.

There's a neat tagging function to collate articles, which could prove useful, and you can choose exactly how things are displayed from a selection of different views, like in Feedly. It's also apparently rather speedy, refreshing quickly and loading articles in a snap. A couple of things do suck, though: there's no automated Google Reader import function, so you're going to have to download an import an OPML file, and there's no search function whatsoever.

All in, it seems like a perfectly respectable light reader?just with nothing setting it apart from the crowd. But in what looks set to be a tough fight, it's not obvious how AOL's effort will beat the likes of Digg or Feedly. But hey, give it a try?its simplicity might be just what you're after. [AOL Reader via Verge]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/aol-reader-simple-fast-but-hardly-groundbreaking-554993248

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Kim Kardashian Baby Photos: What Will North West Look Like?!

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The Edward Snowden Drama Has Reached Peak Action Movie

If the Edward Snowden saga is a Michael Bay movie that we are all just living in, on Sunday morning it would have passed over the believability abyss. That's when Snowden, the NSA leaker turned America's Most Wanted poster-boy, took a plane out of Hong Kong, en route to Russia, where he landed around 9:15 a.m. EST. Snowden is reportedly?headed?from there to Havana, Cuba on Monday. Originally, it looked like he was going from there to Caracas, Venezuela. Now, it appears he's off to Ecuador.

Oh, and on the run with Edward Snowden? Diplomatic and legal escorts from WikiLeaks, according to a press release from the organization. WikiLeaks released a profile of Sarah Harrison on Sunday morning, a U.K. citizen who the organization says is acting as Snowden's escort. WikiLeaks, being WikiLeaks, is live-tweeting the adventure:

WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange is getting himself back in headlines with his moves to help Snowden. Assange has been living in the Ecudarian embassy in London for?over a year, avoiding extradition to Sweden.?

The first seeming plot-hole in today's story: how did Snowden get out of Hong Kong? Especially with all of the pressure that the Obama administration was putting on the government to extradite hm? Hong Kong's governmnet has plugged that hole with a statement:

The U.S. Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden. Since the documents provided by the U.S. Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the U.S. Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the U.S. Government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions. As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.

If that part of the statement doesn't make this point obvious, the government of Hong Kong is not too pleased with the United States:

Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government has formally written to the U.S. Government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies. The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong.

So much for extradition treaties.?

And just how many more U.S. relationships with how many more countries will Snowden muck up?

Sen. Chuck Schumer, on CNN's State of the Union?Sunday morning, told host Candy Crowley that he is "very disappointed" with how Hong Kong handled Snowden, and believed that "the hand of Beijing was involved here." He had harsher words for Russia, saying there'd be "serious consequences" for the U.S.-Russia relationship, and that "allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways." The senator also made the assumption that Vladimir Putin approved Snowden's plane landing in Russia, and called the president "infuriating."?

Sen. Rand Paul, also on State of the Union, had kinder words for Snowden:?"I think it's still going to be an open question how this young man's judged." The Kentucky senator and 2016-maybe said that history would look back at the records of both Snowden and National Intelligence Director James Clapper, saying that "Mr. Clapper lied to Congress, in defiance of the law, in the name of security," and that "Mr. Snowden told the truth in the name of privacy."

Paul, however, wasn't too thrilled with what Snowden looked to be doing on Sunday morning:

If he cozies up to either the Russian government, the Chinese government, or any of these governments that are perceived still as enemies of ours, I think that that'll be a real problem for him in history.

While the U.S. doesn't actually consider Russia or China to be enemy nations, you can get a pretty decent sense of where this drama could be heading in the coming days.

Update (1:05): WikiLeaks has released an updated press release saying that Snowden "is bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks."

(12:48): AFP and others are now reporting that Snowden has applied for asylum in Ecuador:

Ecuador's foreign minister confirms, in Spanish and English:

(12:20): More intrigue!

(12:05): ABC News is reporting on what could be a huge, logic-leap plot hole in the drama that is Snowden:

So, how exactly did Snowden get out of Hong Kong without a valid passport? As ABC's Jon Williams also notes, the lack of a passport shouldn't be a problem for Snowden getting out of Russia, as it sounds like his plan is to stay at the airport and not technically cross through another border.

This is also on top of new speculation that Snowden may not be going to Venezuela after all:

Ecuador is, of course, the country that has been giving political asylum to Julian Assange for the last year, and apparently plans to continue to do so. The Guardian, meanwhile, is reporting some confusion from Ecuador's ambassador in Moscow. Confusion: definitely the word of the day.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/edward-snowden-drama-reached-peak-action-movie-095635777.html

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A Windows Phone fan reviews the LG Optimus G Pro

It's always good to try new things, and that includes your smart phone choices

Our own Anndrew Vacca was fairly smitten with the Optimus G Pro. He puts it plainly, that the OGP "has the features, style, and wow-factor to steal eyeballs (and customers) away from the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4", and that's a bold statement from someone who has been able to use all three. But sometimes, you want the point of view a more "normal" user has when you're interested in a new smart phone. We get it, and we understand.

WPCentral forums ambassador mase123987 recently spent some time with the 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro, and took the time to write quite the review over in the WPCentral forums. We're not going to spoil the ending, but it's a great read if you're a smart phone fan on any level. Go give it a read, and be sure to thank mase for his insight -- this is valuable stuff coming from someone without any preconceived Android prejudices. 

Review of the Optimus G Pro (and Android) by a WP Lover

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/hMxDXxMoJ0k/story01.htm

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