ANTHONY STASTNY: Former athletes vs. NCAA: Imagine that

The most important play in college sports won?t unfold on a football field.

Instead, in the excitement-parched environment of a court room, amid the ties and suits and volumes of text that could leach the drama out of a moon landing, a judge will rule in a case that could stand college athletics on its head.

No small feat, considering how pointy it is.

Some former athletes, including former UCLA basketball player Ed O?Bannon, want to strip the NCAA and member colleges of the source of much of their power ? their cash flow.

I won?t lay out all the legalities. I would probably get something wrong and there would go my case, besides which, I get paid too little to be that bored but too much to be that boring.

Essentially, former athletes are taking the NCAA, the entity that governs college sports in reality and the multi-verse in its own mind, to court over licensing of images, names and a host of other things.

Very profitable things. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth for the NCAA and member institutions.

The haggling right now is whether the suit can go forward as a class action suit that includes current athletes as well.

One minor sticking point ? no current NCAA athletes are a party to it.

Gee, I wonder why. Maybe for the same reason college athletes sign the NCAA?s licensing agreement ? no sign, no play.

Legal types believe the possibility of a class action suit is a big deal. It would multiply the stakes tremendously, instead of limiting any damages to licensing agreements, transactions and athletes long discarded.

But to me, as rivetingly uninteresting as all that is, the essential point is a lot simpler and more interesting.

Where besides college athletics can a person not own their own image or profit from their highly valuable labor?

Sure, college athletes attend college on a free-ride scholarship (and I?m equally sure a choice few get free-ride rides). The NCAA believes (or least argues, not the same thing), that a college education is payment of a sort for all the hundreds of millions of dollars athletics generates.

And it is true that the majority of athletes in most sports (they don?t call them nonrevenue for nothing) aren?t household names with the earning potential of a new MacBook.

But what does any of that have to do with the Johnny Manziels of the world?

The Texas A&M quarterback can?t sell so much as T-shirt with his face on it, pose for a calendar for coffee money or do any of a number of lucrative things that you or I could do. Except we can?t, because nobody cares about us. They do care about guys like Johnny Football.

And the NCAA and member institutions make the most of it.

I find it supremely ironic that NCAA colleges, most funded by their respective states, fire off carefully worded agreements with their mandatory credential applications for athletic events.

There is a lot of legalese (sort of computerese but less understandable) in these, but basically they say the college retains the rights to all images, and you can?t take photos, videos, drawings, sketches, cave paintings or doodles except for the severe limits set by the school.

Punishable by revocation of the press credential.

OK, so sometimes that might be a blessing.

But the point is this: This is an institution that won?t let an athlete benefit a nickel from the same skills that will make him a millionaire when class is dismissed.

This is an institution that belongs to a governing body that produces nothing, nada, zip, but sells the labor and images of unpaid teenagers.

The NCAA collects money from colleges, manages playoffs, such as the NCAA Tournament, and collects the fat proceeds.

In fairness, the NCAA does look out for its member schools, particularly the smaller schools, and makes a gesture at watching such things as eligibility and recruiting, and routinely produces insanities like the Academic Progress Report.

And if the NCAA loses control over the earning power of its top athletes, no can predict what that will mean for the college sports we all love. And we do love them ? that?s why there is so much money at stake.

It would certainly mean more change in store for athletics and less change in the till for the NCAA and member institutions.

The upheaval that might bring isn?t only scary to the NCAA.

But there is something unfair about anything that denies someone the right to make pennies off his potential, then lets others rake in millions off that same potential.

Class action? More like no-class action.

Anthony Stastny is sports editor of the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at 912-652-0356 or anthony.stastny@savannahnow.com.

Source: http://savannahnow.com/sports/2013-06-29/anthony-stastny-former-athletes-vs-ncaa-imagine

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Gay marriages resume in California after five-year hiatus

By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Same-sex couples - some in shorts and jeans, some in their work clothes - rushed to be wed in California on Friday after a court abruptly ended the state's five-year ban on gay marriage in the wake of landmark rulings at the Supreme Court.

On a balcony overlooking the grand staircase at San Francisco City Hall, an ornate space that has long been a magnet for weddings, the couple whose case sparked this week's Supreme Court decision exchanged vows. The ceremony was officiated by state Attorney General Kamala Harris, and the ring bearer was the couple's 18-year-old son.

"This is the first day of the rest of our lives together, said Kristin Perry, who with her fianc?e, Sandy Stier, filed the lawsuit against Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California in 2008.

Stier turned to the horde of reporters and well-wishers crowding the room, smiled and said: "Thank you so much for coming to our wedding."

At the city clerk's office, other couples waited for their marriage licenses. Two men - one in jeans and the other wearing a pair of shorts - exchanged vows after Stier and Perry.

Four hundred miles to the south, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, a second couple who were plaintiffs in the case, wed at City Hall in Los Angeles.

"You are just as in love today as you were when you met 12 years ago," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who conducted the ceremony, told the two men, who wore suits with boutonnieres.

The California marriages capped a historic week for gay rights in the United States. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued two key rulings - one that extended federal benefits to married gay couples and another that allowed a federal court's order striking down the California marriage ban to stand.

TAKEN BY SURPRISE

On Friday, a panel of three federal appellate court judges responded by formally lifting an injunction against the marriages. That move took brides, grooms and public officials by surprise. They had expected the judges to wait for a more formal ruling from the Supreme Court due in about three weeks.

Within minutes, couples were descending upon San Francisco City Hall, and California Governor Jerry Brown had ordered county clerks throughout the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Cassie Coleman and Rosa Sanchez were at work when the ruling came down. They agreed via text message to meet at City Hall, and called their mothers to ask permission. They got some roses - red and pink.

"That was it," Sanchez said. "We just jumped in."

The impromptu weddings and the jubilant participation by public officials prompted angry responses from some opponents of gay marriage.

"This outrage tops off a chronic pattern of lawlessness, throughout this case, by judges and politicians hell-bent on thwarting the vote of the people to redefine marriage by any means, even outright corruption," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for the ProtectMarriage.com Coalition.

But he did not, however, actively threaten to fight on.

"It remains to be seen whether the fight can go on, but either way, it's a disgraceful day for California," he said.

John Eastman, a constitutional law professor at Chapman University who was a key backer of the ban, said the appellate court judges should have waited for a 25-day "reconsideration" period to elapse, in which opponents would have had one last chance to ask the Supreme Court to change its mind.

California briefly allowed gay marriages in 2008, before the ballot initiative was enacted. It now becomes the 13th state, and the largest, to allow same-sex marriage - just in time, advocates point out, for Gay Pride weekend.

"On my way to S.F. City Hall," tweeted Harris minutes after the injunction was lifted. "Let the wedding bells ring!"

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Dana Feldman in Los Angeles, Tim Gaynor in Phoenix and Ronnie Cohen in San Francisco; writing by Sharon Bernstein; editing by Mary Milliken and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-lifts-ban-gay-marriage-california-001242022.html

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Real Estate Rebound - Memphis Daily News

VOL. 6 | NO. 27 | Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Business of Law

By Michael Waddell

Updated 2:41PM

The residential and commercial real estate markets are slowly coming back, and residential and commercial real estate attorneys are seeing increased activity thanks to the surge.

Michael Hewgley, chief executive manager and attorney of Mid-South Title, and son Taylor Hewgley talk with Pryor Lott while signing closing documents on her Memphis home. Companies like Mid-South Title have seen business improve along with real estate.

(Daily News/Brian Johnson)

Mid-South Title handles both residential and commercial matters, and the company is seeing a spike in activity, especially in residential, over the past 18 months.

?In February 2012 our orders picked up, and they have not dropped off since,? said Taylor Hewgley, owner and chief operations manager of Mid-South Title. ?In fact, 2012 turned out to be one of the best years we?ve had, even when compared to the bonanza of 2004 through 2006.?

Last year the company opened nearly 1,300 files for an increase of 30 percent to 40 percent over two years prior. The increased activity was due in part to refinancing brought on by interest rates falling to historic lows.

?As the rates fell, we actually refinanced some people three times. Typically if you can improve your rate by a point to a point and a quarter, people are encouraged to refinance,? said Hewgley, who expects some of that activity to lessen as rates begin to creep back up.

To accommodate some of the new business, the company opened a new satellite closing office at the renovated Candy Factory building Downtown in January.

?It?s showing some healthy signs and healthy returns,? Hewgley said. ?It?s a minimal investment, and it?s working out well for us so far.?

The company last opened a new office in Fayette County in October 2006 as business was booming. The anticipation was for its builder clients to head into the submarket.

?Unfortunately, October 2006 is the exact time that our orders began to tail off from a really high volume,? he said. Demand began to drop off, and many builders were left holding lots and unable to secure spec loans.

The downturn forced Mid-South Title to be more nimble in its marketing approach.

?During the downturn, the power that the buyer had over the seller was tremendous, almost to an unhealthy stage.?

?Taylor Hewgley, Owner, Mid-South Title

?At the end of 2007, we had 30 to 35 builders and developers as clients and now we only have five to 10,? he said. ?As those orders dwindled, we had to readjust our efforts to attract more Realtors and mortgage origination lenders.?

Over the past five years after the abruptness of the economic downturn, the cyclical nature of the business has been ?off? thanks to falling interest rates and other factors like the first-time homebuyer credit, according to Hewgley. The drastic drop in home values in 2009 and 2010 diminished the value of the falling rates for some sellers.

?People were afraid to jump into the market or they couldn?t put their house onto the market because they did not want to have to bring money to closing,? Hewgley said. ?It was a very strange, herky-jerky environment. For about 36 months, we really had no idea what the next month was going to bring us.?

Now he thinks buyers who have been on the sidelines for the past few years might have a nest egg saved up to put down significant money for the purchase of a new home.

?During the downturn, the power that the buyer had over the seller was tremendous, almost to an unhealthy stage,? he said. ?We are starting to see that pendulum come back to the middle.?

Jim Warner of Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston PC has represented commercial lenders, landlords and tenants over the past several years and throughout his career. He works primarily with national companies that have a presence in Memphis, particularly in retail shopping centers.

?We?ve seen some large expansions continuing to happen,? said Warner, who cites the redevelopment of the space for anchor tenant Kroger in the Poplar Plaza Shopping Center. ?So selectively there have been projects happening that make great economic sense.?

Martin Tate did have to make some adjustment when the economy went in the tank a few years ago.

?The level of real estate activity dropped off, but our business picked up in other areas,? said Warner, who has been with the firm for 51 years and has specialized in commercial real estate for the past 30 years.

To make up for the constriction in the market, Warner supplemented his workload with general corporate work, including some nonprofit cases. He feels his firm was fortunate to not have to reduce staff during the downturn.

?The types of things we were dealing with several years ago were reflective of the recession, including tenants that were having difficulty staying current on their leases and the refinancing of loans,? Warner said. ?While activity has not come back to the levels prior to 2007, it is beginning to turn, and we are very optimistic about the future.?

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/jun/29/real-estate-rebound/

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Hawaii hiking trails to be on Google Street View

HONOLULU (AP) ? Hawaii's volcanoes, rainforests and beaches will soon be visible on Google Street View.

Google Inc. said Thursday it was lending its backpack cameras to a Hawaii trail guide company to capture panoramic images of Big Island hiking trails.

Photos will be loaded to Google Maps and the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau website, gohawaii.com.

"The most magical places that we all know and love in Hawaii need to be reached on foot ? they need to be explored that way," said Evan Rapoport, Street View project manager.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has already taken Street View images of the Grand Canyon and other places popular with travelers.

This is the first time the Silicon Valley company has handed over its "Street View Trekker" to another party to have someone else take the images.

Rapoport said Google will offer the technology to other organizations around the world who want to sign up for similar partnerships. Groups like tourism boards, government agencies, universities and nonprofit organizations might be among those to use the device, he said.

Having people who know a given place best take Street View images will make Google Maps more interesting and useful, he said.

On the Big Island, Hawaii Forest & Trail guides carrying the trekker device will walk along more than 20 state and national park trails by the end of September.

Hawaii Forest & Trail will mail memory cards with the images to Google, which will process the data. Photos from 15 cameras in the trekker will be stitched together for a 360-degree panorama, Rapoport said.

The images should be online by the end of the year or early next year, said Jay Talwar, chief marketing officer of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.

The project is a partnership between Google and the visitors bureau, which promotes the state to North American markets. The agency plans to expand the effort to the rest of the state. It's currently looking for partners who will take Street View images of trails on other Hawaii islands.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hawaii-hiking-trails-google-street-view-212256004.html

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Britain's Cameron in thwarted Afghan peace talks push

By Andrew Osborn

KABUL (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron flew into Afghanistan on Saturday to try to inject momentum into stalled peace talks, but left empty-handed after the Afghan president said his country could break up if a deal was done with the Taliban.

Cameron, who hosted President Hamid Karzai for talks in February about Afghanistan's future, has cast himself as an honest broker able to use Britain's relations with Afghanistan's influential neighbor, Pakistan, to get the Taliban to talk peace.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Kabul after a visit to British troops in the southern province of Helmand, he said the moment to pursue peace had come.

"There is a window of opportunity and I would urge all those who renounce violence, who respect the constitution, who want to have a voice in the future prosperity of this country to seize it," he said.

His comments come barely a week after the United States revealed the Taliban were to open a long-anticipated office in Qatar, making a meeting with the Afghan state and the Taliban a possibility. Those talks collapsed within days after Karzai objected to the manner in which the office was opened, however, and Taliban militants later attacked central Kabul.

On Saturday, Karzai said he hoped peace talks could begin as soon as possible. But he complained about foreign peace plans, sounded a defiant note against the United States, and warned of the dangers of doing a deal with the Taliban.

SCEPTICAL OF PAKISTAN

He also made it clear he was skeptical of Pakistan's motives in the peace process.

"Any system that is imposed on us ... the Afghan people will reject," he told a news conference inside his palace. "Delivering a province or two to the Taliban will be seen by the Afghan people as an invasion of Afghanistan, as an effort from outside to weaken and splinter this country."

When a reporter asked Cameron why he was willing to talk to the Taliban at the same time as British soldiers were fighting the insurgents, Karzai praised the question.

A British source told Reuters Karzai remained "furious" about the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar this month replete with its own flag and plaque, symbols that he felt accorded the Taliban a degree of global legitimacy.

The Afghan leader suspended talks on a long-term security deal to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 Washington said it was ready to talk to the Taliban and the Qatar flap. Karzai accused the Americans of duplicity.

On Saturday, he said he had held a video conference with President Barack Obama to discuss the matter, and that the U.S. leader had told him he hoped a deal could be struck by October.

Karzai's response was ambiguous. "I noted and reminded him (Obama) that Afghanistan continues to hold its unchangeable principles. If these conditions are met, the nation of Afghanistan will definitely be ready to agree to a security agreement with the U.S.," he said.

Karzai's stance underlines a dilemma for the West.

As it prepares to pull its troops out next year, it is caught between wanting to safeguard its legacy in Afghanistan - improved women's rights and access to education among other things - and allowing the Karzai government to roll back some changes to pave the way for talks with the insurgents.

SEEKING STABILITY

Britain is trying to magnify its diplomatic clout at the very moment it is reducing its contingent of some 7,000 troops.

Aides said Cameron was keen to boost political stability ahead of next year's presidential election, which he hopes will result in the first peaceful transition of power since 1901.

Karzai is not eligible to stand under the constitution and Cameron said he welcomed Karzai's "commitment to a democratic succession" after his second term expires.

Cameron flew on to Islamabad on Saturday evening for talks about Afghanistan with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistan could play a major role in any peace process. Its security forces backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and continue to serve as gatekeepers to insurgent commanders living on its territory.

Cameron said he was working to try to persuade both countries they needed to cooperate, but said only "some" progress had been made.

Cameron also used his Afghan visit to reinforce the message that British troops really would be pulling out next year and that only limited financial and other aid would be made available to Afghan forces after that time.

Four hundred and forty-four British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

A senior military source had said earlier that Western troops would have to undertake follow-on missions after 2014 that could last up to five years.

But Cameron suggested no British soldiers would be involved.

"There will be no (British) combat troops after the end of 2014. British troops are coming home," he said.

(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Dylan Welch; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-cameron-afghanistan-push-peace-talks-112358416.html

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Obama tells Egyptians to talk, not fight

By Maggie Fick and Alexander Dziadosz

CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama called on Egypt's government and opposition on Saturday to engage each other in constructive dialogue and prevent violence spilling out across the region.

Bloodshed on Friday killed three people, including an American student, and mass rallies are planned for Sunday aimed at unseating Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Obama said he was "looking at the situation with concern".

Hundreds have been wounded and at least eight killed in street fighting for over a week as political deadlock deepens. On Friday, a bomb killed a protester at a rally by the Suez Canal. Washington is pulling non-essential staff out of Egypt.

"Every party has to denounce violence," Obama said at the other end of Africa, in Pretoria. "We'd like to see the opposition and President Mursi engage in a more constructive conversation about how they move their country forward because nobody is benefiting from the current stalemate."

He added that it was "challenging, given there is not a tradition of democracy in Egypt".

Mursi's critics hope millions will march on Sunday when he marks a year in power to demand new elections. They accuse his Muslim Brotherhood of hijacking the revolution of 2011 and using its electoral majorities to monopolize power.

"Egypt is the largest country in the Arab world," Obama said. "The entire region is concerned that, if Egypt continues with this constant instability, that has adverse effects more broadly." U.S. missions would be protected, he said. Last year, a consulate in Libya was overrun and Americans killed.

The Egyptian army, heavily funded by Washington since before Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, is on alert. It warned politicians it may step in if they lose control of the streets - an outcome some in the diffuse opposition coalition may quietly welcome, but to which Mursi's Islamist allies might respond with force.

It is unclear how big the rallies will be or when they may start. Protest organizers said on Saturday a petition calling on Mursi to quit had 22 million signatures - over 40 percent of the electorate and 7 million more than they announced 10 days ago.

The figure could not be verified, but independent analysts say there is a real prospect of very large demonstrations. Organizers have called for rallies in Cairo in the afternoon.

A few thousand activists were camping out at rival centers in the capital on Saturday. There was no sign of trouble.

VIOLENCE, CAMPING

Several offices of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood were attacked on Friday, including in Alexandria where two men died, including 21-year-old American Andrew Pochter. In Port Said on the Suez Canal, a home-made hand grenade killed a protester.

The Health Ministry said 236 people were injured on Friday. The state news agency said 40 were hurt on Saturday in scuffles between rival factions in Beni Suef, south of Cairo.

The U.S. embassy evacuated non-essential staff and warned citizens to avoid Egypt. An airport source said dozens of U.S. personnel and their families left Cairo for Germany on Saturday.

The U.S. ambassador has angered liberals by saying Mursi was legitimately elected and that protests may be counter-productive for an economy crippled by unrest that has cut tourism revenues.

In the capital, Islamist supporters were still camped outside a suburban mosque where they had gathered in the many thousands on Friday to vent anger and fear over a return of army-backed rule. Some speakers also urged reconciliation.

They had their own security men, carrying staves and wearing protective gear, frisking visitors. One activist, Abdelhakim Abdelfattah, 47, said he hoped to avoid violence but that many Islamists would take to the streets if Mursi was under pressure.

"They'll come down to defend his legitimacy, not with weapons, but with their bodies," Abdelfattah said. "What's the nature of this legitimacy? The ballot box."

On Tahrir Square, seat of the uprising of early 2011, flags and tents form a base camp from where protesters plan to march to Mursi's office. Amr Riad, 26, said: "We're peaceful. But if those who come at us are violent we'll defend ourselves."

Liberal opposition leaders dismissed an offer of cooperation from Mursi this week as too little too late. The Brotherhood, which says at least five of its supporters have been killed in days of street fighting, accuses liberals of allying with those loyal to Mubarak to mount a coup against the electoral process.

The opposition says the Brotherhood are trying to hoard power, Islamize a diverse society and throttle dissent. They cite as evidence Mursi's broadsides against critical media and legal proceedings launched against journalists and satirists.

"CIVIL WAR"

With long lines for fuel adding to economic woes, activists hope millions of the less politically engaged will protest out of disappointment that the uprising has not brought prosperity.

"Mursi is no longer the legitimate president of Egypt," Mohamed Abdelaziz, a protest organizer, told a news conference where others called for peaceful sit-ins to last until Mursi made way for an interim administration led by a senior judge.

"Come June 30, the people will run Egypt!" chanted people attending the event. The opposition, which has lost a series of elections, wants to reset the rules that emerged in a messy process of army and then Islamist rule since early 2011.

Egypt's leading religious authority warned of the risk of "civil war" after the violence of the past week. The clerics backed Mursi's offer to talk to opposition groups before Sunday's protests.

A senior figure at Cairo's Al-Azhar institute said Sunday should be a day of "community dialogue and civilized expression of opinion", a "catalyst" for political leaders to understand their national duty - and the "dangerous alternative".

The head of the Coptic Church also called for dialogue and peace. Millions of Christians worry about new Islamic laws.

Senior Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian was dismissive of middle-class protest organizers in a Facebook post: "Millions of farmers will wake early, perform their morning prayers and go to their fields to harvest food for the people," he wrote.

Medical and security officials in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, said the American was fatally stabbed as he filmed events at the Brotherhood office in the Mediterranean port during an attack by anti-Mursi protesters, who eventually ransacked it.

Kenyon College in Ohio said Pochter was one of its students and came from Chevy Chase, Maryland. A Facebook post apparently from his family said Pochter had been teaching English to 7- and 8-year-olds and improving his Arabic. "He cared profoundly about the Middle East," the post read. "And he planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding."

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Alexander Dziadosz, Omar Fahmy, Tom Perry, Patrick Werr, Shaimaa Fayed and Alastair Macdonald in Cairo and Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-violence-builds-american-among-dead-054530510.html

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New Jersey's Christie vetoes Medicaid expansion bill

(Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday vetoed a bill that attempted to make the state's expansion of Medicaid eligibility permanent under the healthcare law known as Obamacare, his office said on Friday.

Christie's office announced he vetoed eight bills that "would add potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to state and local budgets." He also signed a $32.9 billion budget and three other bills, his office said in a statement.

Among the bills he vetoed was one dealing with Medicaid expansion under the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare.

Christie, a critic of Obamacare, said in February he would accept federal money to expand Medicaid in New Jersey, and the state budget he signed on Friday included $227 million in such funds.

Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly had passed a bill seeking to make that Medicaid expansion permanent, but Christie vetoed it, a spokesman for the governor said.

The vetoed bill would have removed the flexibility to opt out of the Medicaid expansion if the federal government changed the terms of the current favorable matching rate, the spokesman said. The governor had discussed publicly his intention to maintain this flexibility when he signed onto the expansion, the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Eric Walsh)

(This story was corrected to show Christie vetoed bill trying to make Medicaid expansion permanent, but did not veto Medicaid expansion for this year)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jerseys-christie-vetoes-medicaid-expansion-bill-015145686.html

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Breakthrough in Internet bandwidth: New fiber optic technology could ease Internet congestion, video streaming

June 27, 2013 ? As rapidly increasing demand for bandwidth strains the Internet's capacity, a team of engineers has devised a new fiber optic technology that promises to increase bandwidth dramatically. The new technology could enable Internet providers to offer much greater connectivity -- from decreased network congestion to on-demand video streaming.

Described in the June 28 issue of the journal Science, the technology centers on donut-shaped laser light beams called optical vortices, in which the light twists like a tornado as it moves along the beam path, rather than in a straight line.

Widely studied in molecular biology, atomic physics and quantum optics, optical vortices (also known as orbital angular momentum, or OAM, beams) were thought to be unstable in fiber, until BU Engineering Professor Siddharth Ramachandran recently designed an optical fiber that can propagate them. In the paper, he and Alan Willner of USC demonstrate not only the stability of the beams in optical fiber but also their potential to boost Internet bandwidth.

"For several decades since optical fibers were deployed, the conventional assumption has been that OAM-carrying beams are inherently unstable in fibers," said Ramachandran. "Our discovery, of design classes in which they are stable, has profound implications for a variety of scientific and technological fields that have exploited the unique properties of OAM-carrying light, including the use of such beams for enhancing data capacity in fibers."

The reported research represents a close collaboration between optical fiber experts at BU and optical communication systems experts at USC. "Siddharth's fiber represents a very unique and valuable innovation. It was great to work together to demonstrate a terabit-per-second capacity transmission link," said Willner, electrical engineering professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Ramachandran and Willner collaborated with OFS-Fitel, a fiber optics company in Denmark, and Tel Aviv University.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the technology could not come at a better time, as one of the main strategies to boost Internet bandwidth is running into roadblocks just as mobile devices fuel rapidly growing demands on the Internet. Traditionally, bandwidth has been enhanced by increasing the number of colors, or wavelengths of data-carrying laser signals -- essentially streams of 1s and 0s -- sent down an optical fiber, where the signals are processed according to color. Increasing the number of colors has worked well since the 1990s when the method was introduced, but now that number is reaching physical limits.

An emerging strategy to boost bandwidth is to send the light through a fiber along distinctive paths, or modes, each carrying a cache of data from one end of the fiber to the other. Unlike the colors, however, data streams of 1s and 0s from different modes mix together; determining which data stream came from which source requires computationally intensive and energy-hungry digital signal processing algorithms.

Ramachandran's and Willner's approach combines both strategies, packing several colors into each mode, and using multiple modes. Unlike in conventional fibers, OAM modes in these specially designed fibers can carry data streams across an optical fiber while remaining separate at the receiving end. In experiments appearing in the Science paper, Ramachandran created an OAM fiber with four modes (an optical fiber typically has two), and he and Willner showed that for each OAM mode, they could send data through a one-kilometer fiber in 10 different colors, resulting in a transmission capacity of 1.6 terabits per second, the equivalent of transmitting eight Blu-RayTM DVDs every second.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/zoBY3cb6fMU/130627142406.htm

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Hawaii homeless preschool graduates 35 children

Five-year-old Leomomi Dew, front center, poses for a portrait with her sister Leolani Dew and her father, Leo Dew, after a graduation ceremony for Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool in Honolulu on Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

Five-year-old Leomomi Dew, front center, poses for a portrait with her sister Leolani Dew and her father, Leo Dew, after a graduation ceremony for Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool in Honolulu on Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

Five-year-old Gregory Williams, front left, and 5-year-old Enaia Carrisales play with playdough after a graduation ceremony for Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool in Honolulu on Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

Five-year-old Leomomi Dew, right, receives a diploma and crayon lei during a graduation ceremony for Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool in Honolulu on Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

From left, 4-year-old Aulii Malia Kanuha, 3-year-old Lisa Langidrik and 5-year-old Andrike Langidrik eat shaved ice after a graduation ceremony for Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool in Honolulu on Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

HONOLULU (AP) ? Homeless and living on a Hawaii beach, Sarah Kanuha never imagined being able to provide preschool for her youngest daughter.

But on Thursday, the mother of five watched 4-year-old Aulii Malia Kanuha receive a preschool diploma. She was one of 35 students to graduate from Ka Paalana Traveling Preschool, which educates about 700 homeless children each year.

Kanuha found out about the program last year while living at Keaau Beach Park, on Oahu's Waianae Coast. The family has since moved to a shelter.

"Socially, she has grown so much," she said. "They blossomed her into this social little butterfly."

Kanuha's oldest child, now 18, received free preschool in Michigan. But when the family moved back to the islands, her three other children never got any preschool. Hawaii, one of the country's most expensive places to live, is one of 10 states with no state-funded pre-kindergarten program, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.

The Kanuha family is one of many in the country trying to raise children in the face of joblessness and homelessness.

An annual survey released this week says 16.4 million children in the United States ? nearly one-fourth ? were living in poverty in 2011, more than a year after the Great Recession officially ended. That's an increase of 3 million children since 2005, according to the survey from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The report showed that nearly half of Hawaii's children didn't attend preschool from 2009 to 2011.

Hawaii's governor this week signed a bill that expands the state's existing Preschool Open Doors program to fund subsidies for 900 children. The more than $7 million package is seen as a step toward eventually providing state-funded public preschool, but is less than half of what Gov. Neil Abercrombie originally proposed. Thousands of kids will lose services when the state's junior kindergarten program for late-born 4-year-olds expires in mid-2015.

Educating children at homeless shelters and tents on the beach, Ka Paalana is funded mostly through federal programs, including the Administration for Native Americans.

Because Hawaii's circumstances prevent many families from being able to afford preschool, Ka Paalana Director Danny Goya wanted his school to provide quality learning. So he sought to be accredited by the National Association for Education of Young Children, which he calls the "creme de la creme of accreditation." The association rejected his application when he first applied in 2007. It normally accredits programs with a permanent, physical center, so the preschool set up a tent at a shelter, complete with a playground that now meets the association's standards.

Ninety-five percent of the preschool's families are Native Hawaiian and the program strives to perpetuate Hawaiian culture. Teachers use the culture to teach skills, such as learning to count in English and Hawaiian. The graduation ceremony closed with a Hawaiian prayer, or pule, led by two graduates.

Seeing Enaia Carrisales, 5, play with blocks under the shade of a tent on the beach or run around with other children her age has helped ease the stress of losing the family's Makaha home to foreclosure, said her father, Albert.

"It means a lot to us," he said. "She's able to learn and get together with kids."

The preschool incorporates parents and caregivers, with the adults spending time with the children for several hours and then spending the rest of the day receiving skills such as vocational training and GED preparation.

The classes have helped homeless single father Leo Dew with his two daughters, Leolani, 6, and Leomomi, 5.

"We're blessed to have this program," he said after watching Leomomi graduate, wearing a lei he made with plumeria picked from trees at a Waianae homeless shelter.

___

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jenhapa

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-28-Homeless%20Preschool/id-c00ef840cda8496db615128decb1e9d3

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Pats cut Hernandez after arrest

AP

In most NFL stadiums, which have modern seats or decent weather, the league?s new bag policy represents an inconvenience for the sake of security.

In Buffalo, long-time fans are worried about freezing their butts off, literally.

Seat cushions fall under the league?s ban, and for those in Ralph Wilson Stadium (particularly those in the bleachers) that?s a huge factor.

?I think it?s terrible,? 96-year-old Bills fan Ray Deibel said, via Gene Warner of the Buffalo News. ?The seats are cold, and the cushion gives you some insulation. I can?t imagine them banning cushions for the seats.?

Informed that the seat cushions were now prohibited because of terrorist concerns, Deibel responded exactly the way you?d expect a 96-year-old Bills fan to respond.

?Oh jeepers,? he said. ?I?m all for the inspections, including the body scanning, and the delay in getting into the stadium is worthwhile for safety. But I think that?s ridiculous to ban seat cushions.?

Bills fans can still bring their own foam pads or portable seat backs, but nothing with covers or pockets.

?I don?t like it,? said Doug Pagano, apparently a counter-terrorism expert. ?I don?t think these terrorists are going to put their bombs in seat cushions.

?There are a lot of risks involved in life. You can?t prevent everything. Just because one guy has a bomb in his shoes, why should millions of people have to take off their shoes at airports? You can?t prevent all risks. I think the NFL is going a little bit overboard.?

While that might be true ? and the teams would certainly be happy to sell you a brand new seat cushion on each visit ? it?s also the kind of change that?s not turning around.

Bills fans will just have to brace themselves and their backsides, or just watch the game on their warm, soft couches.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/26/patriots-dump-aaron-hernandez/related/

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Family holds wake for James Gandolfini | Stuff.co.nz

JIM BECKERMAN, SACHI FUJIMORI AND VIRGINIA ROHAN

Reuters Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Reuters Reuters Reuters Reuters

A mourner wipes her eyes on the porch as she attends the wake of actor James Gandolfini at a funeral home in Park Ridge, New Jersey

Friends and family gather for the late actor.

Friends and family gather for the late actor.

The Robert Spearing Funeral Home was blocked off to only those close to Gandolfini for the first part of the day.

Flowers are pictured on the ground outside as family members gather for the wake of actor James Gandolfini.

Mourners gather on the porch as they attend the wake of actor James Gandolfini at a funeral home in Park Ridge, New Jersey.

Mourners gather on the porch as they attend the wake of actor James Gandolfini at a funeral home in Park Ridge, New Jersey.

Mourners arrive for the wake of actor James Gandolfini at a funeral home in Park Ridge, New Jersey.

0?of?0 ? Previous? PreviousNext ?Next ?

Tomorrow, thousands of people, celebrities to average fans, are expected at the public funeral for James Gandolfini at The Cathedral Church of St John the Divine in Manhattan.

But today, the family of the Park Ridge-bred actor held a wake in his hometown that drew primarily close family and friends, many of whom knew Gandolfini before he became famous.

During the first hour, designated for the immediate family, a large black van was moved to diagonally block off one part of the driveway, to shield those arriving from view of the public and media gathered outside the Robert Spearing Funeral Home in Park Ridge.

Men in black suits provided further protection, using opened black umbrellas to escort the mourners to the front door.

This was so effective that most of the photographers set up on the street outside the home did not get a clear shot of the arrivals of Gandolfini's ex-wife, Marcy Wudarski; their 13-year-old son, Michael; his widow, Deborah Lin; or their 8-month-old daughter, Liliana.

Some 18 police officers from the borough Police Department, the reserves and the Bergen County Police Department were dispatched to keep order, said Captain Joseph Rampolla of the Park Ridge police.

For the most part, the media and the public respected the boundaries, Rampolla said.

Among the few guests departing the funeral home who spoke to reporters outside were friends Dan Katz of West Orange, New Jersey, and Gloria Lowell of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

As they left the wake around 6:15pm, they described the mood inside - where the coffin was closed - as subdued. The crowd, they said, was all friends and family, with no "Sopranos" cast members or other celebrities present, at least up to that point.

The modest actor, Katz said, "would probably be incredulous at the fuss being made over him in death. ... He would be laughing at the flag (at the state government buildings) flying half-staff. He was a very private person. He didn't like the limelight."

Bob Sottolano, from Westwood, New Jersey, a friend of James' sister Leta Gandolfini, also spoke briefly to reporters on his way out of the wake.

"It's like a roller coaster. The emotions are flying, like when anyone dies suddenly," Sottolano said, adding that with Gandolfini's son Michael, "All I can do to a kid that (young) is shake his hand and pat him on the back."

The traffic cones and a road closed sign that blocked off Berthoud Street at one end of the home's driveway caused a little rubbernecking. Occasionally, people snapped photos as they drove by. One man beeped his horn and shouted, "Goodbye, Tony," as he passed.

Across the street, people gathered at tables in front of the as-yet-unopened Dairy Queen hoping to catch the procession.

"I'm retired. It wasn't out of my way," said Pat Murphy of Pearl River, New York, who arrived around 2pm. "I wanted to see what was happening."

The Tangelosi family from Garfield, New Jersey, had been staked out inside their air-conditioned Kia in the Burger King parking lot across the street, hoping for some celebrity sightings. "Maybe I'll see Robert De Niro," Angie Tangelosi said.

Across the road, in a little strip mall, Paul Herdemian, a guy who bears such a striking resemblance to Gandolfini that his friends "bust" him about it, sat behind the counter of his store, The Jeweler's Workbench, which created the faux bling worn by the gaudy mobsters and mobster wives on "The Sopranos." In a glass case on the counter, you can see Paulie Walnuts' black onyx ring, Carmela's sapphire earrings, and a synthetic ruby ring worn by Gandolfini, whose photo with Herdemian is in a frame on the counter.

"(The Sopranos) was a great thing for this area," Herdemian said.

So was Gandolfini, whose funeral will no doubt reflect his star status. But on Wednesday, his hometown wake was intentionally small - probably the closest thing to a regular-guy send-off Gandolfini could have ever asked for.

-MCT

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv/8850178/Family-holds-wake-for-James-Gandolfini

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PFT: Browns cut LB facing attempted murder charge

Reuters

A stunning, surreal day has taken yet another stunning, surreal turn.

Aaron Hernandez has been charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd.

It?s one of several charges filed today against Hernandez, arising directly from the June 17 discovery of Odin Lloyd?s body less than a mile from Hernandez?s home.

Lloyd, according to the prosecutor, was shot multiple times.

The prosecutor also explained that there was no evidence of a robbery, and that Lloyd?s phone showed communications with Hernandez in the hours preceding his death.? Lloyd?s sister told authorities that Lloyd left his home that morning at 2:30 a.m. in a car believed to belong to Hernandez.

The prosecutor told the court that roughly six to eight hours of footage were missing from Hernandez?s surveillance system after the murder.? The prosecutor likewise outlined a series of text messages indicating a desire by Hernandez to meet with Lloyd, along with instructions that one or more others urging them to return to the area, presumably for the meeting with Lloyd.

Text messages and public surveillance cameras, per the prosecutor, indicate that Hernandez picked up Lloyd at 2:30 a.m. ET and drove back to North Attleboro.? The prosecutor claims that Hernandez then told Lloyd he was upset that Lloyd had said certain things to others, making it hard for Hernandez to trust him.

Likewise, the prosecutor explained that Lloyd sent text messages while in the car with Hernandez, making others aware that he was with Hernandez.

The prosecutor said that workers at the industrial park heard gunshots, and that surveillance cameras allow prosecutors to piece together that the car Hernandez was driving was at the industrial park, and within minutes thereafter at Hernandez?s home.

The prosecutor said that Hernandez?s surveillance system shows a person getting out of the car with a gun after the shooting, and walking through the house with the gun.? Shortly after that, the surveillance system shuts down.

Perhaps most importantly, the prosecutor said a shell casing was found in the car rented by Hernandez.? It matches the shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, according to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor called it an ?execution,? and he characterized Hernandez as the person who orchestrated the crime, had the motive and means to kill Lloyd, and engaged in efforts to cover up the crime, including telling his fianc?e to stop talking to police.

The prosecutor concluded his remarks by asking that Hernandez be jailed without bail.

Hernandez?s lawyer, Michael Fee, then called the case ?weak? and ?circumstantial.?? He argued that Hernandez is not a flight risk, and that it would be impractical for him to flee.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/26/browns-cut-ausar-walcott-hours-after-attempted-murder-charge/related/

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Zimmerman trial: Joke by defense is a bust

Zimmerman trial joke: A defense attorney for George Zimmerman started the trial with a 'knock, knock' joke. It didn't go so well.

By Kyle Hightower and Mich Schneider,?Associated Press / June 26, 2013

George Zimmerman (2nd from r.) stands with his defense team, Mark O'Mara (l.), Don West, and Lorna Truett, during his trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla., on Tuesday. Mr. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel/AP

Enlarge

George Zimmerman was fed up with "punks" getting away with crime and shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin "because he wanted to," not because he had to, prosecutors argued Monday, while the neighborhood watch volunteer's attorney said the killing was self-defense against a young man who was slamming Zimmerman's head against the pavement.

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The prosecution began opening statements in the long-awaited murder trial with shocking language, repeating obscenities Zimmerman uttered while talking to a police dispatcher moments before the deadly confrontation.

The defense opened with a knock-knock joke about the difficulty of picking a jury for a case that stirred nationwide debate over racial profiling, vigilantism and Florida's expansive laws on the use of deadly force.

"Knock. Knock," said defense attorney Don West.

"Who is there?"

"George Zimmerman."

"George Zimmerman who?"

"All right, good. You're on the jury."

The courtroom was silent. He later apologized for the poor delivery.

Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder for gunning down Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, as the unarmed black teenager, wearing a hoodie on a dark, rainy night, walked from a convenience store through the gated townhouse community where he was staying.

The case took on racial dimensions after Martin's family claimed that Zimmerman had racially profiled Martin and that police were dragging their feet in bringing charges. Zimmerman, whose mother is Hispanic and whose father is white, has denied the confrontation had anything to do with race.

Prosecutor John Guy's first words to the jury recounted what Zimmerman told a dispatcher in a call shortly after spotting Martin: "F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away."

Zimmerman was profiling Martin as he followed him, Guy said. He said Zimmerman viewed the teen "as someone about to a commit a crime in his neighborhood."

"And he acted on it. That's why we're here," the prosecutor said.

Zimmerman didn't have to shoot Martin, Guy said. "He shot him for the worst of all reasons: because he wanted to," he said.

The prosecutor portrayed the watch captain as a vigilante, saying, "Zimmerman thought it was his right to rid his neighborhood of anyone who did not belong."

West told jurors a different story: Martin sucker-punched Zimmerman and then pounded the neighborhood watch volunteer's head against the concrete sidewalk, and that's when Zimmerman opened fire.

Showing the jury photos of a bloodied and bruised Zimmerman, the defense attorney said, "He had just taken tremendous blows to his face, tremendous blows to his head."

West said the story that Martin was unarmed is untrue: "Trayvon Martin armed himself with a concrete sidewalk and used it to smash George Zimmerman's head."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/yJY2OHb8ODM/Zimmerman-trial-Joke-by-defense-is-a-bust

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Missing red panda from National Zoo found in DC

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Twitter photo and phone tip from a resident helped animal keepers track down a red panda in a Washington neighborhood after it went missing from the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

The male named Rusty was captured Monday in a tree near a home in the Adams Morgan neighborhood Monday afternoon, said National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson. It had traveled across the leafy Rock Creek Park, perhaps crossing a road or under a creek bridge to reach a residential area nearly ? of a mile from the zoo.

Senior curator Brandie Smith said animal keepers surrounded the area where he was found and called Rusty's name to calm him before capturing him in a net.

"We just had to approach him carefully," she said. "We are surprised by the distance he was able to cover."

The animal was taken to the zoo's animal hospital for a checkup and will remain there for several days.

How Rusty escaped is still a mystery, though. Zoo officials began reviewing security footage Monday morning to see if there is any evidence of how he escaped or whether he may have been taken by a human and then set loose. No security cameras are pointed directly at the red panda exhibit, though, and the zoo plans to add more cameras.

Curators have cut back several long tree limbs that may have aided the skilled climber with the escape.

"There is no obvious point that Rusty could have gotten out of the enclosure," Smith said, adding that it had held red pandas for years. "We all know that young males like to test boundaries."

Unlike giant pandas, red pandas are not members of the bear family. Red pandas are slightly bigger than a domestic cat and look similar to a raccoon. They are listed as vulnerable in the wild and native to China. Scientists believe about 10,000 of the animals remain.

Rusty arrived at the zoo in April from a zoo in Lincoln, Neb., and was in quarantine for several weeks until he went on exhibit in early June. He will turn 1 year old in July.

Red pandas are highly territorial, so zoo officials did not believe he would have traveled far. Rusty, it seems, wanted to explore his new city.

Animal keepers discovered he was missing Monday morning and started searching at 8 a.m. The zoo began sending out messages about his disappearance Monday morning on Twitter and Facebook in case someone saw him.

A spokeswoman said the zoo was "incredibly grateful" to Ashley Foughty who lives nearby, saw Rusty, tweeted a picture and called the zoo. She apparently had to leave town on a trip Monday, so zoo officials couldn't thank her in person.

Zoo Director Dennis Kelly said officials will thoroughly review the incident and said it's rare for any animal to escape.

"We will not let this happen again," he said. "Before we put Rusty back, we'll go back over this exhibit with a fine tooth comb."

Animal escapes are very rare among accredited zoos, said Steve Feldman of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They have primary and secondary containment systems for animals. The most frequent escape is when a bird flies away.

National Zoo officials could not recall another such escape in Washington in recent decades. In 1983, a teenager was bitten by one of two viper snakes he was suspected of stealing from the zoo's reptile house. The boy carried away the snakes in a plastic garbage bag on a city bus after hiding in the zoo after it closed, officials said.

The female red panda, Shama, remained on view in the leafy exhibit Monday, despite the hoopla over her mate.

___

Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/missing-red-panda-national-zoo-124910685.html

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Chris Brown charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Los Angeles city attorney's office has charged singer Chris Brown with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a valid license.

City attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says the charges filed Tuesday involve a minor accident on May 21 in the San Fernando Valley.

If convicted, Brown would face up to one year in jail.

Arraignment is scheduled for July 15 at the Van Nuys courthouse, but an attorney can appear on Brown's behalf.

Mateljan says the county district attorney's office will be notified of the charges and it will be up to that office and the courts to determine if the case will have any effect on Brown's felony probation in the 2009 beating of singer Rihanna.

A call seeking comment from a Brown representative was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chris-brown-charged-misdemeanor-hit-run-181636948.html

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Republicans blast Obama over Snowden as case turns partisan

By Patricia Zengerle and Rachelle Younglai

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican lawmakers criticized the Obama administration's handling of the Edward Snowden case on Tuesday, calling President Barack Obama weak for failing to persuade Russia and China to return the fugitive intelligence contractor to the United States.

Snowden's weekend departure from Hong Kong to Moscow angered and frustrated members of Congress, especially after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Tuesday that Snowden was at a Moscow airport. He ruled out handing him over, dismissing U.S. criticism as "ravings and rubbish."

"I'm one who likes the president, but they know that he's weak," Republican Senator Orrin Hatch told reporters at the Capitol. "They know that he's so fearful about getting involved in balance of power foreign affairs and they're playing on it and they're enjoying it very, very much, Putin in particular. And it really irritates the heck out of me."

Republican Senator John McCain, a frequent critic of Obama's foreign and military policy, also criticized him as weak and said the administration must reassess its relationship with Moscow.

"It should cause a profound reevaluation on our relationship with Russia and with Vladimir Putin, something that a lot of us have been saying for a long time," McCain said, calling Putin a "KGB colonel that has no interest in the same values and principles that we hold dear."

The critical comments marked a shift from the initial reaction to the disclosure of the secret U.S. surveillance programs. Even many of Obama's toughest critics had focused their anger only on Snowden, labeling the former employee at intelligence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton a traitor and calling for stiff punishment.

PUSHING FOR CONTRACTING CHANGES

The State Department said on Tuesday it put the thorny task of persuading Russia to hand over Snowden in the hands of Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, a decorated diplomat with deep contacts in Moscow, and the White House urged Russia to expel Snowden "without delay.

After criticism that the administration had waited too long to revoke Snowden's passport, Obama on Monday had referred detailed questions about the case to the Justice Department.

Democrats reserved their criticism for Moscow. "I am very disappointed by the actions of the Russian government," Democratic Senator Mark Warner said.

On a related matter, Republicans and Obama's fellow Democrats both called for an uncompromising look at the use of outside contractors by intelligence agencies.

"There should be congressional oversight," said Democratic Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Congressional oversight can be very effective, and it's essential."

But Republican Representative Paul Ryan, a likely 2016 presidential contender, blamed the Obama administration as he questioned how a low-level private National Security Agency contractor like Snowden was allowed access to vast amounts of top-secret U.S. intelligence.

"It just reveals an administration that seems more and more incompetent by the day," Ryan, who ran for vice president in 2012 on the Republican ticket defeated by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, told CBS's "This Morning" program.

"Once we've discovered that this person has stolen our secrets, has leaked them, you think we'd do a better job of following up with them in China and these other countries," Ryan said.

(Additional reporting by Matt Haldane and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Trott, Fred Barbash and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-blast-obama-over-snowden-case-turns-partisan-225507174.html

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WikiLeaks: Snowden going to Ecuador

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Admitted leaker Edward Snowden took flight Sunday in evasion of U.S. authorities, seeking asylum in Ecuador and leaving the Obama administration scrambling to determine its next step in what became a game of diplomatic cat-and-mouse.

The former National Security Agency contractor and CIA technician fled Hong Kong and arrived at the Moscow airport, where he planned to spend the night before boarding an Aeroflot flight to Cuba. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his government received an asylum request from Snowden, and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said it would help him.

"He goes to the very countries that have, at best, very tense relationships with the United States," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., adding that she feared Snowden would trade more U.S. secrets for asylum. "This is not going to play out well for the national security interests of the United States."

The move left the U.S. with limited options as Snowden's itinerary took him on a tour of what many see as anti-American capitals. Ecuador in particular has rejected the United States' previous efforts at cooperation, and has been helping WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.

Snowden gave The Guardian and The Washington Post documents disclosing U.S. surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and online data in the name of foreign intelligence, but often sweep up information on American citizens. Officials have the ability to collect phone and Internet information broadly but need a warrant to examine specific cases where they believe terrorism is involved.

Snowden had been in hiding for several weeks in Hong Kong, a former British colony with a high degree of autonomy from mainland China. The United States formally sought Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong but was rebuffed; Hong Kong officials said the U.S. request did not fully comply with their laws.

The Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Hong Kong.

During conversations last week, including a phone call Wednesday between Attorney General Eric Holder and Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen, Hong Kong officials never raised any issues regarding sufficiency of the U.S. request, a Justice spokesperson said.

A State Department official said the United States was in touch through diplomatic and law enforcement channels with countries that Snowden could travel through or to, reminding them that Snowden is wanted on criminal charges and reiterating Washington's position that Snowden should only be permitted to travel back to the U.S.

Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.

The Justice Department said it would "pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel."

Russia's state ITAR-Tass news agency and Interfax cited an unnamed Aeroflot airline official as saying Snowden was on the plane that landed Sunday afternoon in Moscow.

Upon his arrival, Snowden did not leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. One explanation could be that he wasn't allowed; a U.S. official said Snowden's passport had been revoked, and special permission from Russian authorities would have been needed.

Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House's National Security Council, said, "Given our intensified cooperation after the Boston marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters ? including returning numerous high-level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government ? we expect the Russian government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged."

The Russian media report said Snowden intended to fly to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela.

U.S. lawmakers scoffed. "The freedom trail is not exactly China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela, so I hope we'll chase him to the ends of the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there'll be consequences if they harbor this guy," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

With each suspected flight, efforts to secure Snowden's return to the United States appeared more complicated if not impossible. The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, but does with Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. Even with an extradition agreement though, any country could give Snowden a political exemption.

The likelihood that any of these countries would stop Snowden from traveling on to Ecuador seemed remote. While diplomatic tensions have thawed in recent years, Cuba and the United States are hardly allies after a half century of distrust.

Venezuela, too, could prove difficult. Former President Hugo Chavez was a sworn enemy of the United States and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, earlier this year called Obama "grand chief of devils." The two countries do not exchange ambassadors.

U.S. pressure on Caracas also might be problematic given its energy exports. The U.S. Energy Information Agency reports Venezuela sent the United States 900,000 barrels of crude oil each day in 2012, making it the fourth-largest foreign source of U.S. oil.

"I think 10 percent of Snowden's issues are now legal, and 90 percent political," said Douglas McNabb, an expert in international extradition and a senior principal at international criminal defense firm McNabb Associates.

Assange's lawyer, Michael Ratner, said Snowden's options aren't numerous.

"You have to have a country that's going to stand up to the United States," Ratner said. "You're not talking about a huge range of countries here."

That is perhaps why Snowden first stopped in Russia, a nation with complicated relations with Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "aiding and abetting Snowden's escape," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

"Allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways, and Putin always seems almost eager to put a finger in the eye of the United States," Schumer said. "That's not how allies should treat one another, and I think it will have serious consequences for the United States-Russia relationship."

It also wasn't clear Snowden was finished with disclosing highly classified information.

"I am very worried about what else he has," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she had been told Snowden had perhaps more than 200 sensitive documents.

Ros-Lehtinen spoke with CNN. Graham spoke to "Fox News Sunday." Schumer was on CNN's "State of the Union." Sanchez appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Feinstein was on CBS' "Face the Nation."

___

Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace and Associated Press writers Matthew V. Lee and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington, Lynn Berry in Moscow, Kevin Chan in Hong Kong and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wikileaks-snowden-going-ecuador-seek-asylum-170935684.html

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Draghi defends ECB crisis measures

BERLIN (AP) ? European Central Bank head Mario Draghi again defended the ECB's bond-buying program Tuesday, saying the crisis backstop was more important now following recent market turbulence sparked by other central banks around the world.

Draghi said in a speech in Berlin that the offer to buy bonds issued by indebted countries "is even more essential now as we see potential changes in the monetary policy stance, with associated uncertainty, in other jurisdictions of the global economy."

The U.S. Federal Reserve has roiled markets by indicating it could taper off its emergency stimulus measures next year. The Fed has been buying longer-term bonds in the open market, which drove down long-term interest rates and sent stocks and bonds higher.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have tried to rein in excessive lending, leading to a spike last week in interbank borrowing rates. Japan has also said it will add large monetary stimulus. Draghi did not mention any central bank by name.

Draghi said that the ECB's exit from its own stimulus measures "is still distant, since inflation is low and unemployment is high."

The ECB's steps have included the bond offer; cheap, unlimited loans to banks; and a record low benchmark rate of 0.5 percent. The 17-country eurozone remains in recession with an unemployment rate of 12.2 percent.

The ECB hasn't bought any bonds since announcing its plan last year. But the mere offer has pushed up government bond prices and taken financial pressure off indebted governments by lowering their borrowing costs. The bond-buying help would only be available to countries that sign a bailout agreement with the eurozone's financial rescue fund and promise in writing to take steps to reduce their debts and deficits.

Germany, where Draghi was speaking Tuesday, is home to some of the ECB president's biggest critics. Skepticism toward rescue measures for indebted countries is widespread among Germans, who would be the biggest financial backers of any bailout because of the size of their economy.

The ECB bond-buying plan is also currently being challenged in Germany's Federal Constitutional Court and was also opposed by Germany's central bank.

Bundesbank head Jens Weidmann says such purchases would risk distributing any losses on purchased bonds to taxpayers in other countries. He has also said they could take pressure off governments to take tough steps to reform their economies and finances.

However the support of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the votes of the other members of the ECB governing council left Weidmann as a minority voice. Draghi was speaking at an event organized by a group linked to Merkel's conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union

Draghi on Tuesday rejected the argument that the program would transfer risk of loss from indebted countries to better-off ones, "over and beyond risks that are inevitable and inherent" in running one monetary policy for 17 countries.

He stressed that troubled countries could not get help from the bond purchase without committing to reforms. Because of the program, "the euro area is a more stable and resilient place to invest in than it was a year ago."

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AP Business Writer McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/draghi-defends-ecb-crisis-measures-122601880.html

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