Watch Upcoming Social Media and Technology Events for the Summer

Upcoming Social Media and Technology Events for the Summer


Those of you in Social Media or Technology space, here is the list of related global events for the summer you might be interested in attending including a few of them in Washington, D.C.:
June 21-23, 2010, Denver, CO: Hosted by WebmasterRadio.FM, AffCon 2010 is a conference series designed specifically to meet the needs of affiliate marketers. As such, admission is FREE for all working affiliates to attend! Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to meet and share ideas with the brightest business people in the affiliate marketing industry. Pulling together an amazing lineup of session panelists and speakers (including super affiliates), AffCon 2010 – Denver also features an exhibit hall, general and targeted skills sessions, networking and WebmasterRadio.FM’s epic AffiliateBash. Get registered today!
June 21-24, 2010, Ottawa, ON: Attend the Advanced Learning Institute’s Forum on Social Media for Government: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using The Latest Web 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results, to learn how to capture the power of social media in your organization, along with helpful tools, tips and techniques to get started. Hear practical advice, firsthand, from leading organizations such as: City of Ottawa, ON; Public Safety Canada; U.S. Department of State; Norfolk County, ON; Canadian Internet Registration Authority; Office of the Ombudsman, ON; Alberta Environment; Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada; Public Service Commission of Canada; Ottawa Public Library; Department of National Defence; Corporation of the City of London, ON; Thornley Fallis Communications & 76design; and more.
June 22-23, 2010, Atlanta, GA: The Business Of WordPress Conference is focused on providing generally non-technical business people with a roadmap for how they can leverage WordPress to establish or advance their business’ presence on the web. This two-day event will include a Workshop Day on June 22nd for hands-on WordPress training. The second day will be an all day conference to learn what’s possible on the web today with WordPress, which now makes it easy for almost anyone to launch a world-class website. Register now and save 15% off of the June 23rd Conference.
June 22-24, 2010, Santa Clara, CA: Now in its third year, Velocity – the Web Performance and Operations Conference from O’Reilly Media – is dedicated to helping people build a better Internet that is Fast by Default. Join hundreds of web developers and experts under one roof, Velocity packs a wealth of big ideas, know-how and connections into three concentrated days. You’ll be able to apply what you’ve learned immediately for high impact results and you’ll come away prepared for what’s ahead. O’Reilly Velocity 2010 is the premier conference dedicated to building industrial strength sites, at internet speed. Register Now at http://en.oreilly.com/velocity2010.
June 23, 2010, San Francisco, CA: The B2B Search Strategy Summit is designed by B2B Search Engine Marketers for B2B Search Engine Marketers to provide strategic and tactical Marketing knowledge and bring together the best minds in B2B search engine marketing, email, PR, social media and lead generation to share leading-edge information and experience. Conference attendees will walk away with a toolbox full of new strategies and tactics to apply immediately to current B2B Marketing challenges and opportunities. Attendance is limited to 150 B2B marketing professionals.
Coppied by http://awesomedc.com/2010/06/23/upcoming-social-media-and-technology-events-during-the-summer/

Watches The Rocket Project Documentary Hits the Science Channel

The Rocket Project Documentary Hits the Science Channel

Back in July, a team of high school students gathered on the dusty flats of the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada with a single purpose: to launch a 29-foot rocket into orbit using some rocketry training, their knowledge of physics, and a couple of Sony laptops powered by Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The event was the culmination of The Rocket Project, and after several delays and weather mishaps, the students finally managed to launch their rocket into orbit successfully.

Following the students on that journey were a handful of documentary filmmakers who released short episodes of the students trials and successes, and now a complete half-hour Rocket Project Documentary will air on The Science Channel tonight at 9:00pm Eastern (check your local listings for additional airings.) If you miss the half-hour documentary though, the shorter Web episodes that follow the months-long story of the launch are still available at The Rocket Project Web site
Coppied by http://www.gearlog.com/emerging_tech/

All the day's breaking news from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Watches All the day's breaking news from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
breaking news from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
Paul, the octopus who became a sensation by correctly predicting the outcome of all seven of Germany's games plus the Spain-Netherlands final - is going to retire.

He will "go into retirement and do what he likes to do best: play with his handlers and delight children who come visit to him," according to Tanja Munzig, a spokeswoman for the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen.

Paul took one last curtain call when aquarium employees presented the octopus with a golden cup - similar to the official World Cup trophy.

2215: Spain goalkeeper wins Golden Glove award

The Spain keeper and captain Iker Casillas conceded just two goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Under pressure after La Roja opened their campaign with a shock 1-0 defeat to Switzerland, Casillas answered his critics with a string of superb displays that proved crucial to Spain’s progress to the Final.

In the final it was Casillas ability with the high ball and quick reactions with his feet that denied a number of Dutch chances that could have lost Spain the World Cup.

2040: Dutch return to canal celebration

The Dutch football team, who were beaten 1-0 by Spain in the World Cup final, will return to a heroes welcome and a parade along the canals of Amsterdam, city officials confirmed.

"The players will parade in a boat which will navigate the canals of Amsterdam. The tour will last between two and two and a half hours," Guus Schoker, spokesman for the city of Amsterdam, told AFP on Monday.

"The fans will gather along the banks of the canals and can see the players."

The Oranje will then make their way to a specially-erected podium at the Museumplein in the city centre where 180,000 fans gathered on Sunday night to watch the final on a giant screen.
Coppied by http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/world-cup-2010/all-the-days-breaking-news-from-the-2010-fifa-world-cup-in-south-africa/story-fn50jked-1225921323471?from=public_rss

Watch this American economists in the buzz for Nobel

American economists in the buzz for Nobel


STOCKHOLM – Research into market behavior and the psychology of decision-making could be awarded the Nobel prize for economics on Monday and improve the weak U.S. representation among this year's Nobel laureates.
Betting agency Ladbrokes says American behavioral economists Richard Thaler at the University of Chicago and Robert Shiller of Yale University are the top bets for this year's award.
The 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.5 million) prize is not among the original awards established by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in his 1895 will, but was created in 1968 by the Swedish central bank in his memory.
Thaler is considered a pioneer in behavioral finance, having studied the psychology of decision-making and the behavior of markets, and Shiller is an influential economist who long predicted the U.S. housing bubble.
The economics prize — the last of this year's Nobel announcements — offers the U.S. a chance to boost its meager tally among the 2010 winners. So far there is only one American laureate: Richard Heck who shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry with two Japanese researchers.
Since the economy prize was first awarded in 1969, more than 40 Americans have received it. Last year, Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the prize for their work in economic governance, marking the first time ever a woman received the economics award.
"Usually the prize doesn't go to work that is popular right now, or that lies close in time. It absolutely doesn't have to have anything to do with the financial crisis for example," said Hubert Fromlet, a professor in International Economics at the Jonkoping International Business School and Linnaeus University in Sweden.
"Research results have to lie some 20 years or so back in time because that's about the amount of time needed to see whether it's sustainable," he said.
Fromlet's own top picks include American economist Dale Mortensen of Northwestern University, whose research focuses on labor economics.
Other names in this year's speculation include American finance researcher Eugene Fama, French microeconomist Jean Tirole, and American macroeconomists Robert Barro and Paul Romer.
The science unit of Thomson Reuters listed political economics professor Alberto Alesina, economic professors Kevin Murphy, Nohubiro Kiyotaki at Princeton and John Moore as front-runners for this year's award.
Last week, British professor Robert Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for his fertility research that led to the first test tube baby. Russian-born scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the physics prize for groundbreaking experiments with graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known to mankind.
The chemistry award went to Heck and Japanese researchers Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki for designing techniques to bind together carbon atoms.
Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa won the literature prize and the imprisoned Chinese democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The awards are always handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
Coppied by http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101011/ap_on_bi_ge/nobel_economics;_ylt=AoOr2CqD_UXqQmHT_VOgkYSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNmdXNuNjY2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMDExL25vYmVsX2Vjb25vbWljcwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzIEcG9zAzUEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2FtZXJpY2FuZWNvbg--

Commitment this Netanyahu, Abbas and the legitimacy deficit

Netanyahu, Abbas and the legitimacy deficit
The Palestinian president is too weak and compromised to accept any final settlement with which Netanyahu can live


Palestinian president Yasser Arafat shakes hands with with Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 2004. Photograph: Avi Ohayon/EPA
Since its inception in Oslo almost two decades ago, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stymied by the dysfunctional political systems of both sides. Hostage of an impossible coalition and of a settlement movement of freelance fanatics, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's leadership is seriously compromised. His Palestinian counterparts are hardly in a better position.

Today, the clique that surrounds Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas embodies the bitter deception that the peace process has meant for the Palestinians. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority has come neither to represent the majority of Palestinians nor to rule by democratic means.

Abbas's presidential term has expired, and elections are constantly being postponed. The PA's prime minister, Salam Fayyad, like his Hamas counterparts in Gaza, rules by decree, keeps parliament inactive, and silences the opposition. With no institutionalised democratic legitimacy, the PA is bound to rely on its security forces and on those of the occupier, Israel, to enforce its will.

Of course, throughout history, national liberation movements have had to marginalise their own radicals and fanatics in order to reach the Promised Land. This was true of Zionism, of the Italian Risorgimento, and most recently of the Catholics in Northern Ireland. But never did the outcast faction actually represent the democratically elected majority. A peace process conceived as a means to weaken and isolate the winners of an election – Hamas – is unlikely to gain much traction.

Like George W Bush, President Barack Obama confines his diplomatic engagement largely to friends rather than adversaries. This, more than anything else, explains the growing disconnection between Arab public opinion and the Obama administration.

The assumption – dear to the architects of the current process – that peace can be achieved by driving a wedge between "moderates" and "extremists" is a fatal misconception. The paradox here is double. Not only does one negotiate with the illegitimate "moderates", but it is precisely because of their legitimacy deficit that the moderates are forced to be unyielding on core issues, lest the radicals label them treasonous.

The Palestinian negotiators' dangerous lack of legitimacy – and, indeed, the disorientation of the entire Palestinian national movement – is reflected in the return of the PLO to its pre-Arafat days, when it was the tool of Arab regimes instead of an autonomous movement. The green light was given to the current negotiators by the Arab League, not by the elected representatives of the Palestinian people.
Coppied by http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/06/netanyahu-abbas-palestinian-legitimacy-deficit

Watch Manny Badillo & Bob Mcilvaine: NYC CAN World Video Premiere on The Alex Jones Show 1/2

Watches this new video enjoy Manny Badillo & Bob Mcilvaine: NYC CAN World Video Premiere on The Alex Jones Show 1/2


Coppied by http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlexJonesChannel

How The Edict of Warsaw?

The Edict of Warsaw?

Article by WorldNews.com Correspondent Dallas Darling.
"Paris is well worth a Mass." --Henry of Navarre

As thousands of protesters gathered in Warsaw to either protect or remove a cross that honored the victims of the plane crash killing the late Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, long ago this very week, but not very far away, the Edict of Nantes was signed allowing religious freedom and toleration.

The religious wars that had torn France apart when Protestant Jean Valliere was burned at the stake in 1523, and which Huguenots (French Protestants) and Catholics resorted to murder and war (actually eight wars were fought) in defense of God's true faith, as they saw it, came to an end when Henry of Navarre became king.

Although he was a Huguenot and had been at the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre-where Huguenot nobles were attending a marriage ceremony and were slaughtered by Catholics, symbolizing the folly of religious fanaticism and the complete breakdown of order in France-for the sake of his war-weary nation Henry chose to become Catholic.

In 1598, Henry established the Edict of Nantes which allowed French Huguenots to live in peace with Catholics, fortify their cities, and to have houses of worship in some cities.(1) Even though it did not grant Huguenots absolute freedom, still they could practice their religion in certain cities, hold public offices, and sat in mixed Catholic-Protestant meetings.

But as often happens, the toleration of the Many is sacrificed for the religious and political ambitions of the Few. In 1610, a fanatic, who hated Henry's religious compromises, leaped into the royal carriage and stabbed Henry to death. The Edict of Nantes was repealed when a new king, Louis XIV, argued the unity of France was at stake.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes aroused anger and fear. While King Louis XIV was demolishing Huguenot churches, thousands of Protestant families fled. Not only did France lose 500,000 people with talents, wealth, skills and industrial know-how, but hundreds of French soldiers deserted and joined forces with William of Orange against Louis XIV.(2)

Coppied by http://article.wn.com/view/2010/08/26/The_Edict_of_Warsaw/?section=TopStoriesWorldwide&template=worldnews/index.txt

Watch As the US troops depart, bombs rip through Iraq

As the US troops depart, bombs rip through Iraq


US soldiers at the site of an explosion yesterday in Kut, 100 miles south-east of Baghdad. A suicide car bomber killed at least 19 people and wounded scores in the attack on a police station, a police officer said
Al-Qa'ida showed that it has the strength to strike all over Iraq yesterday by making a string of attacks that left at least 56 dead, half of them policemen and soldiers, and 250 wounded, across at least thirteen cities and towns.

The bombings came a day after the US cut the number of its troops in Iraq to below 50,000 and withdrew the last of its combat brigades. The attacks undermine the Iraqi government's claim to have succeeded in greatly improving security and weakening al-Qa'ida.

The heaviest casualties were in the city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad on the Tigris river. A suicide bomber in a car penetrated security barriers and detonated his explosives between a police station and provincial government headquarters, killing 19 people, 15 of them policemen.
coppied by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/as-the-us-troops-depart-bombs-rip-through-iraq-2062208.html

Jennifer Aniston's new movie The Switch bombs at box office as The Expendables stays at No.1 for a second week

Jennifer Aniston's new movie The Switch bombs at box office as The Expendables stays at No.1 for a second week


Talk to the hand: Jennifer Aniston arrives at the Jon Stewart Show in New York last week
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html#ixzz0xPBs8M1r
The turkey baster mover starring Jennifer Aniston is officially a turkey. 'The Switch,' performed badly in its opening weekend at the U.S. box office scoring only eighth place and grossing a mere $8.1 million dollars.
Even Aniston's recent regrettable and forgettable comedy Bounty Hunter with Gerard Butler earned $20 million in its opening weekend.
Reviewers panned the film with Us Weekly's Thelma Adams stating that Aniston 'treads on all-too-familiar ground; there isn't an exasperated hair flip we haven't already seen 100 times.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html#ixzz0xPBoJfca
The sperm donor film starring the 41-year-old actress and Jason Bateman was no match for the Sylvestser Stallone vehicle The Expendables, which maintained its number one spot for the second weekend running. The film has now grossed $64.9 million.
The Switch was also beaten at the box office by the Twilight spoof Vampires Suck, which grabbed second place with $12.2 million, Bow Wow's Lottery Ticket at number 4 with $11 million and Piranha 3-D at number six with $10 million.
Following this latest flop for the former Friends star, the New York Post contemplated whether Aniston chooses her movies based on what is happening in her life at the time.
The Post notes: 'In her newest movie, The Switch, Aniston plays a character that has no husband or boyfriend, which is decidedly inconvenient considering her time to have a child is running out.
'It's funny, cause that's the exact same situation the real Aniston wakes up to each and every morning (minus the stupendous dimmers that Brad Pitt personally installed in the house they lived in together, and the weighted knowledge that he now has six children that she did not give him).'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html#ixzz0xPByrOVb

Tender moment: Aniston and co-star Jason Bateman share a quiet moment in The Switch, which only reached No.8 in the U.S. box office in its opening weekend

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html#ixzz0xPCGuo5s
Both Aniston's career and her love life have been chequered with her former beaus including Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn and John Mayer.
Now Aniston is having to talk about a date she went on with American comedian and talk show host Jon Stewart over a decade ago.
Last week, Aniston was a guest on Jon's show, 'The Daily Show' - one of many she went on to plug her movie- when he reminded her of a romantic Italian dinner they shared in New York.
However, they both had conflicting recollections of the evening.
Said Stewart: 'I asked you out and it was lovely. I remember you brought so many of your friends.
'And I remember thinking, "She's so excited to be on a date with me, she wants me to get to know her posse."'
However, Aniston responded: 'If I remember correctly, wasn't it sort of like, "Hey, a group of us are going out, do you want to join?"'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html#ixzz0xPCJiQXy

Sylvester Stallone and his co-stars have plenty to smile about as their movie The Expendables topped the US box office for the second week running

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html#ixzz0xPCig7wS
Coppied by http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1305324/Jennifer-Anistons-new-movie-The-Switch-bombs-box-office-The-Expendables-stays-No-1-second-week.html

Watch and enjoy 35 taken hostage during gunfight in Rio

35 taken hostage during gunfight in Rio



TOM HENNIGAN in Manaus, Brazil

TERRIFIED HOLIDAYMAKERS were caught up in an intense gunfight between a Rio de Janeiro drugs gang and police on Saturday, during which gang members invaded a luxury hotel and took 35 people hostage before releasing them after a three-hour standoff.

The violence started when police tried to intercept a convoy of vans and motorbikes containing up to 50 members of the Friends of Friends gang who were returning from an all-night party in the Vidigal favela to their base in the neighbouring favela of Rocinha, Brazil’s biggest slum.

The gang fought off police with machine guns and rifles as it sought to make its way back to Rocinha, with several gang members fleeing on foot or forcing passing motorists to drive them away.

The shootout lasted about 40 minutes leaving the surrounding streets littered with bullet casings. “I felt like I was in Iraq,” local resident José Oliveira e Silva told the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

Most of the gang made it back to the slum which police did not enter.

But a group of 10 fled into the nearby Intercontinental Hotel, taking 35 hostages, among them five guests. Local media showed guests fleeing the five-star hotel whose management said had about 800 guests at the time, half of them foreigners, many in town for Rio’s half marathon which was run yesterday.

After three hours of negotiations the group in the hotel released their hostages and surrendered to police.

The O Globo newspaper said the police operation was an unauthorised attempt by officers to capture Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, o Nem, the head of drug-trafficking in Vidigal and Rocinha. He evaded capture but police detained his second in command. One person died during the shootout, a suspected gang member who was wanted by police on drugs related offences. Four police officers were injured in the operation.

Saturday’s violence has highlighted the insecurity in Brazil’s second largest city which will host the football World Cup finals in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.
coppied by http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0823/1224277380181.html

Alex Jones - Breaking news - Google Plans to control and kill off the open free Internet!

Watch Alex Jones - Breaking news - Google Plans to control and kill off the open free Internet!



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Watch Chernobyl species decline linked to DNA

now we saw this Chernobyl species decline linked to DNA
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

The scientists have studied the exclusion zone for more than a decade
Scientists working in Chernobyl have found a way to predict which species there are likely to be most severely damaged by radioactive contamination.

The secret to a species' vulnerability, they say, lies in its DNA.

Continue reading the main story
Related stories

Mammals decline in Chernobyl zone
This discovery could reveal which species are most likely to decline or even become extinct in response to other types of environmental stress.

The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

Professor Tim Mousseau from the University of South Carolina, US, and Dr Anders Moller from the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, France, led the study.

The two scientists have been working in Chernobyl for more than a decade, gathering data about the populations of insects, birds and mammals in "zone of alienation" surrounding the desolate nuclear power station.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

One explanation may be that these species have, for whatever reason, less capable DNA repair mechanisms”

Tim Mousseau
University of South Carolina
For this study, they used existing databases to examine in detail the DNA patterns of each of the species they had studied in Chernobyl.

DNA secret
With every generation of a species' lineage, the pattern of its DNA changes ever so slightly, as a result of the natural balance between mutations and the individual's ability to repair damaged DNA. This is how species evolve.

The rate of this change - as each piece of the DNA code is replaced by another - is called the substitution rate.

"This information is available in large database," Professor Mousseau explained to BBC News. "So you can get the DNA sequences [of each species] and examine the changes that have occurred among a species over time.

"What we have discovered is that when we look at the species in Chernobyl, we can predict, based on their substitution rates, which ones are most vulnerable to contaminants."

Professor Mousseau said that the Chernobyl setting offered a "unique opportunity to look at a natural experiment in progress - [to see] what happens to species when they have this kind of environmental perturbation".

The results of this study could shed light on which species are most vulnerable to other kinds of environmental contamination.

Brightly coloured birds and birds that have a long distance migration were some of the organisms most likely to be affected by contaminants.

"One explanation may be that these species have, for whatever reason, less capable DNA repair mechanisms," said Professor Mousseau.

Lousise Johnson, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Reading, said the findings were "fascinating".

"Extreme events like Chernobyl provide opportunities to test predictions about evolution," she told BBC News.

"One of the difficulties of such research is that it isn't really an experiment- it is impossible to control for all of the confounding variables.

"But [the scientists] have been very careful to test all of the other factors that could be important - antioxidants, population size, body size, etc. of bird species and it appears... that there is a shared causal relationship between accumulating mutations over time and the ability to withstand radiation."
Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11023530

Pak accepts Indian aid after US prod

Enjoy Pak accepts Indian aid after US prod

Fresh aid for Pakistan flood victims
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: It took a week and a pointed "push" by Washington for Pakistan to finally see sense and accept India's flood-relief assistance.

Reeling under its worst-ever humanitarian crisis, Pakistan responded to an Indian offer of assistance with visible reluctance.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated the Indian offer to his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday, even offering to increase assistance. The US state department spokesperson on Thursday actually said Washington "expected" Pakistan to accept the assistance, which swung Islamabad into action.

Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced in New York on Thursday that Pakistan would accept Indian help.

Welcoming it, MEA spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash said, ""We believe India and Pakistan share a common destiny and also that it was in common interest of both our countries to work together for having cordial and cooperative relations."

Qureshi had said last week that Pakistan was hesitating on the Indian aid offer because of the "sensitivity" of the relationship. In the past couple of days, US senator John Kerry, who was visiting Pakistan had also told president Asif Zardari that Pakistan should accept Indian aid.

Addressing a special UN session on Thursday, Qureshi warned that unless Pakistan received adequate international assistance, hard-won gains in the war against terrorists would be undermined.

Part of the reason for Pakistan not accepting Indian aid thus far was opposition among the hardliners both inside Pakistan's military establishment and among the extremists. A significant section of Pakistan's media, too, opposed the aid.

An editorial in Urdu daily Nawa-i-Waqt said, "The Indian offer of aid is like throwing salt on our wounds." It went on to say that India had built dams to secure itself and was releasing water into Pakistan's rivers as part of its design to devastate Pakistan, using water as a weapon. "Sometimes it uses water to flood Pakistan and sometimes it wants to transform Pakistan into a parched desert."

The Indian high commission in Islamabad is now working out what Pakistan will need and mobilise them quickly. Officials said since India enjoyed a proximity advantage it would be able to move the assistance quickly.

On the Indian side too, while there was some hesitation given that in 2005, Pakistan refused a $25 million offer by India, as well as taking the extreme step of ripping off India labels from the assistance package.

"Pakistan is facing a slow-motion tsunami. Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time," Ban Ki-Moon warned the UN on Thursday.

According to weather forecasts, more rain is expected in the coming weeks.

The trouble is, though the UN has appealed for $460m in aid donors have so far given about half that figure. But the UN says they need all of it right now. Richard Holbrooke, US' Af-Pak envoy, has called on China to step up aid. So far, China has given $7.4 million, leaving the top slot for donors to the US, Saudi Arabia and the UK.

The wealthy Gulf and OIC countries, too, have been less than generous.

Holbrooke said, "The water has affected everyone, It's an equal opportunity disaster, and military operations have effectively faded away." An embarrassed China stepped up aid pledges on Friday.


Read more: Pak accepts Indian aid after US prod - Pakistan - World - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-finally-accepts-Indian-flood-aid-offer/articleshow/6369785.cms#ixzz0xE0mkxkb
Coppied by http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-finally-accepts-Indian-flood-aid-offer/articleshow/6369785.cms

Ballack warns Lahm over Germany captaincy

Germany coach Joachim Loew will have to choose between Lahm and Ballack
Watches Ballack warns Lahm over Germany captaincy
Injured Germany captain Michael Ballack has warned World Cup skipper Philipp Lahm he expects to take back the armband on his return to fitness.
Lahm, 26, led Germany to third place in South Africa in the absence of Ballack and wants to keep the role.
But Ballack, 33, said: "This is no issue for me. I am the captain.
"A player cannot request in what position he wants to play and it is the same with the captaincy. One should respect this. There are hierarchies."
Ballack was ruled out of the tournament because of an ankle injury suffered playing for Chelsea against Portsmouth in last season's FA Cup final.
The midfielder, who signed a two-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen in June, saw his country play impressively in South Africa before they lost to eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals.
Ballack, capped 98 times by Germany, added: "Philipp has made his claim at a moment that I feel is inopportune. I was injured and could not defend myself.
"I am going to talk to Philipp about this business."
Lahm last week told the Bild newspaper: "It is clear I would like to retain the captaincy. The job is a lot of fun for me. Why should I then voluntarily give up the role?"
The issue is dividing opinion in Germany with midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and ex-skipper Lothar Matthaus taking different sides.
Despite being Lahm's club-mate at Bayern Munich, Schweinsteiger, told newspaper Die Welt: "For me, it is Ballack who is the captain.
"Philipp took on the role solely because Michael was injured."
But Matthaus has said: "I don't mean that in a spiteful way but Ballack was arguably holding up a number of players who've now blossomed."
Coach Joachim Loew, who has yet to sign a new contract with the German football federation, has not commented on the situation.
Coppied by http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8822906.stm

Live - England v Pakistan - Third Test, The Oval

Watches this Live - England v Pakistan - Third Test, The Oval


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We are saw this Sri Lanka's Sarath Fonseka 'expects jail sentence'

Sarath Fonseka was once a close ally of President Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka's Sarath Fonseka 'expects jail sentence'

Former Sri Lankan armed forces chief Sarath Fonseka says he expects he will soon be given a jail sentence.

A military court last week sentenced him to be stripped of his rank as a general and dishonourably discharged from the armed forces.

Mr Fonseka, 59, said he expected to receive a jail sentence from a second military court trying him on charges of corruption.

He said he believed the verdict was already planned.

The former general spoke to reporters at the Sri Lankan parliament, to which he was elected in April and which he can attend under military escort.

Mr Fonseka said he would appeal against the first court-martial verdict - which found him guilty of dabbling in politics while still military chief - although he played down the sentence removing his rank, medals and pension.

"Whatever I did for the country, I didn't expect anything in return," he said.

"When I served the country for 40 years, I did not expect medals. I did not expect promotions. I did not expect money. I didn't work on a contract."

'No rule of law'
Mr Fonseka accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the government of harassing opposition politicians and he alleged that there was no rule of law on the island.

"They are trying to create a lawless situation, lawlessness in the country," he said.

"That is not in the long-term interest of the country. If there is no law and order in the country, people are not safe."

There are still several other legal cases pending against the former military chief.

The government says he was planning a coup and assassinations earlier this year. It says the law will take its course.

Sarath Fonseka, once very close to President Rajapaksa and his powerful brothers, says he is being victimised for daring to challenge Mr Rajapaksa in presidential elections.
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Watch The Besnard Lakes, The Garage

Not The Arcade Fire: live assault
We saw this The Besnard Lakes, The Garage
Although The Arcade Fire are currently occupying column inches on the back of their new album The Suburbs, it’s fellow Montréal band The Besnard Lakes that are over here, playing dates on the back of their recent third album The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night. Both bands share a fondness for a full-on live assault that leaves audiences reeling. But beyond that and the geography, The Besnard Lakes are different proposition, taking their cue from the fuzz and distortion of shoegazing, mixing it with a muscular rock that’s as much Led Zeppelin blast as Neil Young guitar flash.

The Besnard Lakes are also out on limb. As a non prog-rock band that record concept albums, they’re a rarity. Before the show, their co-leader, singer and guitarist Jace Lasek – his wife Olga Goreas also sings, plays bass and contributes songs – explained his attraction to the concept album.

"The musical gauze of shoegazing has been recast as stadium rock"

“Concept albums were great things,” he enthused. “What has been lost is putting a record on in a room you’ve built around your records. The concept album is like reading a book, it conjures images. We want to tell a story, it’s influenced by what I liked when I was young. I want to get into that world of the concept. Our last album The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse was about a about a retired spy living in modern times, but he’s harking back to when he was active in the Sixties during the cold war. I invented the story to give me ideas for songs and write from the perspective of him being active and being involved in wars and espionage. With The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night, it’s a character development. This time I wanted to get into the character from …the Dark Horse’s head It’s about a fictional war. It could be a war against cities, countries, people’s minds. We’re living in a limbo world now, and any discussion about war seems pertinent”.

Joined on stage by guitarist Richard White and drummer Kevin Laing, Lasek and Goreas made a forceful case for their fiction-based songs. Their set follows winning outings from unknown north-London four-piece The Dead Wolf Club (a male-fronted early Siouxsie and the Banshees filtered through a My Bloody Valentine sensibility) and fellow Canadians Final Flash (Crazy Horse/Neil Young with hints towards The Strokes).

Ranging through both …the Roaring Night and …the Dark Horse, The Besnard Lakes eschewed studio texture and played for impact – at mind-melting volume. “Devastation” rolled, steamroller-like, off the stage, with Lasek’s and Goreas’s sweet harmonies tempering the force. Even a relatively restrained, skeletal song like “Chicago Train” gained power, especially from being underpinned by Laing’s John Bonham-like thud. Yet throughout, the delicate – wispy even – sensibility that brings The Besnard Lakes their post-shoegazing aura remained. These mysterious, oblique songs are given an added edge by Lasek’s choirboy falsetto. The contrast between light and heavy is at the core of their live show.

Following …the Roaring Night’s “Albatross”, a voice shouts “fucking awesome”. A solitary lighter is held aloft. Dry ice puffs over the crowd. The musical gauze of shoegazing has been recast as stadium rock. And after two encores, it’s clear The Besnard Lakes could make any audience decide that they are just that – “fucking awesome”.

Find The Besnard Lakes on Amazon

Listen to "Like the Ocean, like the Innocent", below:

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The president is vowing not to privatize Social Security

The president is vowing not to privatize Social Security, but to resolve its enormous cash flow problems permanently, he risks angering liberals who believe a solution can wait. Keith Hennessey on his options.

A Democratic split is coming on Social Security.
On one side is the president, who said Tuesday in Ohio, “I have been adamant in saying that Social Security should not be privatized and it will not be privatized as long as I am president…The population is getting older, which means we’ve got more retirees per worker than we used to. We’re going to have to make some modest adjustments in order to strengthen it… And what we’ve done is we’ve created a fiscal commission of Democrats and Republicans to come up with what would be the best combination to stabilize Social Security not just for this generation, but the next generation. I’m absolutely convinced it can be done.”
On the other side we have Paul Krugman, who wrote in The New York Times earlier this week, “The program is under attack, with some Democrats as well as nearly all Republicans joining the assault. Rumor has it that President Obama’s deficit commission may call for deep benefit cuts, in particular a sharp rise in the retirement age.”
If doing so is the only feasible legislative path to addressing this critical policy problem, will the president be willing to lead?
Krugman continues, “Social Security’s attackers claim that they’re concerned about the program’s financial future… Instead, it’s all about ideology and posturing… To a large extent they rely on bad-faith accounting. But [conservatives] receive crucial support from Washington insiders, for whom a declared willingness to cut Social Security has long served as a badge of fiscal seriousness, never mind the arithmetic.”
While Krugman names Obama fiscal commission co-chairman Alan Simpson, he also is targeting Democrats such as fiscal commission chairman Erskine Bowles and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Let’s look at how a Social Security deal might come together, first in the president’s commission and then on Capitol Hill.
A few conservatives who say that personal accounts alone can fix Social Security will oppose any deal that includes changes to benefit spending promises or tax increases, so they’re on the outside no matter what. That group is small but could cause a little trouble by (incorrectly) promising gullible and nervous conservative members of Congress that a free lunch solution is theoretically possible.
For most Republicans, three things are important: permanently solving Social Security’s cash flow problem, not raising taxes, and allowing younger workers to voluntarily redirect some of their current payroll taxes into personal accounts. Republicans know these “carve-out” accounts are anathema to most Democrats and impossible with a Democratic president. To pick up enough Republican support to be viable, a deal must therefore significantly, if not permanently, address Social Security’s long-term cash flow problem and must not raise taxes. If a proposed deal includes tax increases, I think all but a few Republicans will walk away. To get a deal, Republicans might split evenly on carve-out accounts, but they won’t split on tax increases. The president gets a win by blocking “privatization” (carve-out personal accounts), while Republicans get a win by not raising taxes. The reduction in, if not elimination of, Social Security’s long-term financing problem would be a bipartisan win for which both sides would claim credit.
If I’m right about Republicans on personal accounts and taxes, Democrats will split. Many Democrats would naturally oppose a deal that only slows spending growth and does not raise taxes, even if that deal excludes the carve-out personal accounts they oppose.
Coppied by http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-19/obamas-social-security-challenge-anger-democrats-on-reform/?cid=bs:archive1

inside and exclusive All the Pope's Gentlemen

The body of Pope John Paul II makes its way through the Vatican on April 4, 2005, Vatican City, held aloft by members of the Pope's Gentlemen, who traditionally carry a pope's bier at his funeral.
Enjoy Italy: All the Pope's Gentlemen
ROME, Italy — When in 1994 President Bill Clinton went to pay a visit to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, he met first with a group of elegantly dressed old men. They greeted the leader of the free world in one of the "anticamere" — ante-chambers — of the Apostolic Palace, wearing black coat-tails and ornate golden collars with a heraldic emblem.

Veteran Vatican correspondents recall that Clinton, unsure of whom he was facing, nevertheless started talking politely with the members of the group. The conversation went on for nearly 10 minutes before his aides were able to intervene and remind him that he had more pressing meetings on schedule.

The men Clinton met were members of one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet, known as the Gentlemen of His Holiness — or the Pope's Gentlemen.

The latest list of their ranks, published in 2009, sets their number worldwide at 147. Most of them (114) are Italians, and they come from Roman families considered to be among the noblest and most ancient — the Torlonia, the Corsini, the Borghese. These families have been serving popes for centuries, previously going under the name Secret Chamberlains of the Sword and Cape. Their task, originally, was to attend the pope's meals together with other select Monsignors and Chapelains, forming the so-called Papal Family.

But such a relic from the centuries when the papacy was a monarchy which actually ruled over most of central Italy seemed anachronistic at the time of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, in the 1960s. And so Pope Paul VI decided to reform the Papal Family and turned the Secret Chamberlains in the more soberly named Papal Gentlemen.


Their duties today mostly consist of escorting diplomats and dignitaries during audiences with the pope or official ceremonies at the Vatican. Called upon by the prefecture of the Papal Household, they must come to Rome and be ready for service for two weeks every year. They also have to carry the pope's bier at his funeral.

Paul VI's reform also opened the Gentlemen's ranks, stating that beyond nobility, everyone who had distinguished himself “for the good of souls and the glory of the name of the Lord” could be called to join the exclusive club.

In fact, it has been mostly donors and businessmen with close ties to the Holy See or to some key cardinal to receive the honor — bestowed with an hand-written "biglietto" from the Vatican Secretariat of State — together with laymen who served the Catholic Church for decades.

One of them is 79-year-old Mario Agnes, who became a Gentleman in 2007 after editing for 25 years the Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. “It's a gift, an act of kindness the Holy Father wanted to do toward me,” he said about the appointment, shying away from giving to much importance to it.

Still, some who have received the honor have used it to boast about their special connection to the Vatican and the pope himself — just as they were involved in some less-than-transparent affairs. At a time when the papacy is already shaken by sex-abuse scandal, they have brought some unwanted publicity to the church.

The most recent case is that of Angelo Balducci, Papal Gentleman since 1985.
Coppied by http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/italy/100727/all-the-popes-gentlemen

Whenever there are The angry housewives setting Kashmir ablaze

We saw this The angry housewives setting Kashmir ablaze
Whenever there are protests demanding "freedom from India" in her crowded neighbourhood in Srinagar, Firdousi Farooq makes a point of participating, her four-year-old son in tow.

Joining such demonstrations in Indian-administered Kashmir these days is fraught with risks.

Security forces have often fired on stone-pelting protesters, killing over 50 people, mostly teenagers, in the past two months as the valley has been convulsed by what most locals call a fierce peoples' "uprising" against India.

So what makes a mother of three hit the angry streets of Kashmir?

Ms Farooq's eldest son, Wamiq, was killed in January when a tear gas shell fired by the police exploded on his head.

The 14-year-old top-of-the-class student, who loved watching cartoons and dreamed of becoming a doctor, had stepped out for a game of cricket.

The police report describes him as a "miscreant who was part of an unlawful assembly", at which the forces had fired tear gas shells in self-defence.

Very few - including his neighbours, lawyers and journalists - believe this.

'Subjugation'
Sitting in her home in the crowded old city, Ms Farooq says she had decided to hit the streets after her son's "murder".

"Why should I not protest? Why should I not pick up a stone? I am doing this in the honour of my martyred son. I am doing this for azadi (freedom) from subjugation and repression," she says defiantly.

Firdousi Farooq is just another addition to the burgeoning army of women who have been taking part in the protests in Kashmir this summer.

You see them on the streets; you see them in the pictures.

Young and old, middle-class and poor, mostly dressed in floral tunics, they defy the armed forces, pelting stones at them, shouting slogans and singing anti-India songs. When night falls, some of them even lead protests with their children.

Out of more than 50 people killed in the latest round of violence, three have been women.

Yasmeen Jan, 25, was standing near a window inside her house in Batamaloo on 6 July, watching a demonstration wind by when she was hit by a bullet allegedly fired by security forces.

"Mummy maey aaw heartas fire" (Mummy, my heart has taken fire), she told her mother, turning away from the window, before collapsing on the floor, dead.

Fifteen-year-old Afroza Teli took a bullet in her head during a protest demonstration in Khrew village in Pulwana district on 1 August. She died later in Srinagar.

Angry Kashmiris set fire to an irrigation office, a revenue office and a court building after her death. A police station and a police vehicle were also set on fire.

Aisha Shiekh, a 55-year-old housewife and resident of Srinagar, was allegedly hit by a stone flung from a sling shot by the security forces when she was walking with her granddaughter to buy milk on 7 August. She died from her wounds a day later.

This is not the first time that women in Kashmir have come out in droves to protest, but their numbers and impact appear to be greater than ever before.

"This time the intensity of protests by women is more. You can also see more women protesting. Women have borne the brunt of the Kashmir conflict, and it is not surprising that they are at the end of their tether," says Kashmiri journalist Afsana Rashid.



Rape
As Bashir Ahmed Dabla, who teaches sociology at Kashmir University says, Kashmir's women have "seen their children husbands and fathers being killed in the conflict, and routinely humiliated by the security forces".


Women have borne the brunt of the conflict
Studies have shown there are up to 32,000 widows of the two-decade-long conflict in the Kashmir valley, and nearly 100,000 orphans. Another 10,000 men have allegedly disappeared during the conflict, says a rights group.

Then there are some 400 "half-widows", whose husbands disappeared in the custody of troops or police. Women have also been the target of rape by the security forces.

"Women have been compelled to come out and protest because of the injustice and repression," says Professor Dabla.

Parveena Ahangar, a softly spoken housewife turned feisty activist, has been making a regular trek from her Gangbugh residence to the city's downtown every month, to protest against the disappearances during the conflict.

Ms Ahangar's son Javed was 16 when he was picked up by security forces in 1990 from the family home. He never returned.

The indefatigable woman has travelled around the world to highlight her cause, leaving behind her husband, debilitated and out of work after 10 surgeries, and her remaining three children, including a daughter.

"As long as I am alive, my struggle with go on. I want a simple answer from the authorities: Where did these men go?"

The coming out of women in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley has been helped by the fact that they have been traditionally freer than their counterparts in many parts of the world.

They have not observed the purdah, or faced religious or cultural segregation from men, say sociologists. Men and women have always worked in the farms together, prayed side by side in mosques and participated in religious congregations.

Key role
They have traditionally played an important role in the neighbourhood citizens' committees, preparing food for their protesting menfolk and taking the injured to hospitals.


Women have led night protests in Kashmir
The pro-freedom movement has also thrown up a number of women leaders - both fundamentalists and liberals.

"Kashmiri women are among the most politicised women in the subcontinent," says Professor Dabla.

Zaitun Khan, a 20-something homemaker, is one of them - she remembers participating in "peaceful" protests when she was in college, but is now determined to hit the streets to demand freedom.

Her brother Fayaz Ahmed Wani, who worked as a labourer in the floriculture department of the government, was hit by a bullet fired by the forces and killed while on his way to work on 6 July.

Mr Wani was 29, and left behind his wife and two daughters.

"I will go and join the protests now," says Ms Khan.

"He never protested or threw a stone in his life. But he died. How many more men will have to die? I want to go out and protest and demand freedom. Freedom to live."
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