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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Obama pledges to help double electricity in sub-Saharan Africa

President Obama is casting the $7 billion initiative as part of a new US strategy to move the region forward with development not charity dollars.?

By Mike Pflanz,?Correspondent / June 30, 2013

President Barack Obama gestures during a news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma, not pictured, at the Union Building on Saturday, in Pretoria, South Africa. The president is in South Africa, embarking on the second leg of his three-country African journey.

Evan Vucci/AP

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President Barack Obama is to launch a $7 billion US-funded program to double access to electricity for people in Sub-Saharan Africa, the first new big bucks initiative of his tour of the continent.?

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The Power Africa plan is expected to be announced during Mr. Obama?s visit to Cape Town later?Sunday. It follows announcements of new US funds for food security and leadership mentoring schemes for young Africans.?

Taken together, these all signal a shift in US policy that would leave the world?s poorest continent less ?a dependent? or ?a charity case? and more ?a partner,? to use buzzwords that the president has repeated during his visit.?In these times of austerity and sequestration, this new approach to foreign aid ? ?the least popular part of the federal budget,? Obama concedes ? is also cheaper and makes use of innovative joint public-private cash vehicles. ?

This refreshed focus drew on ?the lessons of Nelson Mandela?s life,? the president told reporters on Air Force One?Friday, evoking the man Obama called ?a personal inspiration for me, and an inspiration for the world.??

Mr. Mandela began his fourth week in the hospital?Sunday, struggling to recover from a recurrent lung infection and still in a ?critical but stable? condition.?
His family, and South African President Jacob Zuma, say he has improved from the worst days of last week.

Mandela?s ailing health has overshadowed Obama?s visit to South Africa, but the US president has regularly spoken of links between his new thinking on how to assist Africa and the example set by the anti-apartheid icon.?

?If we focus on what Africa as a continent can do together and what these countries can do when they?re unified, as opposed to when they?re divided by tribe or race or religion, then Africa?s rise will continue,? he said. ?That?s one of the central lessons of what Nelson Mandela accomplished not just as president, but in the struggle to overcome apartheid and his years in prison.?

Help Africans help themselves

These are grand words. In reality, the message is simple: With a more hands-off approach, the US wants to help African countries help themselves, under umbrella themes of better food, better businesses, and better governments.?

On the first leg of his trip, in Senegal last week, Obama focused on food security, dwelling on ways that small-scale farmers ? ?essentially small businesspeople,? he said ? can grow more crops to earn more money.?

There, and again in South Africa, he applauded his hosts? democratically elected governments and their institutional reform agendas, and praised Nelson Mandela for stepping down after just one term.?

In Tanzania?Monday, at a round-table for local CEOs, he will talk trade, and add details of the new electricity access initiative at a visit to a power station outside Dar es Salaam.?

Trade not aid

Together, the aim of the ?trade not aid? mantra is a goal familiar to many back home in the US: making individuals wealthier and businesses more profitable, in societies that respect laws and thus create confidence for new investors.?

It?s capitalism 101. It opens new markets for American goods, too.?

And ? unlike George W. Bush?s immensely popular but immensely expensive HIV/Aids PEPFAR programme ? Obama?s aid plans come with a relatively cheap price tag for US taxpayers.?

The president is very aware of the dilemmas he faces in winning approval back home to spend dollars overseas.?

?Our foreign aid budget is around 1 percent of our total federal budget. It?s chronically the least popular part of our federal budget,? Obama told reporters.??We?ve got budget constraints back home, which means that we?ve got to come up with new and creative ways to promote development and deliver aid. Every dollar that we?re putting in, we?re getting a huge amount of private-sector dollars.

?If we?re working smarter, the amount of good that we can bring about over the next decade is tremendous.?

Too focused on trade?

There have been some criticisms that Obama?s approach during his week-long African trip, which ends?Wednesday, has been too overtly mercantile.?

Speaking to students in Soweto?Saturday, he drew frowns from some in the audience when he said the US would ?far rather be selling you iPods and planes? then intervening militarily to stop atrocities in Africa.?

In fact, perhaps the area least touched on has been security.?

This is despite US defense engagement in Africa soaring under Obama, with the new United States Africa Command, drones flying over Somalia, Ethiopia, and Mali, and American soldiers on the ground in Uganda.?

Obama has made clear that the ?soft? policies he has been trailing in Senegal and South Africa are, ultimately, designed to lift people out of the kind of poverty and oppression that breeds disenchantment and radicalizes.??

?US-led military engagements in Africa [to combat terrorism] are unsustainable, Obama?s right,? says Andrews Atta-Asamoah, senior researcher at South Africa?s Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.

?In everything ? military, aid spending, lectures on corruption ? the US has to realize its best chance of achieving what it wants is just to support and complement Africa?s own efforts. On this trip, Obama seems to have got that.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/dFlsijhB16Y/Obama-pledges-to-help-double-electricity-in-sub-Saharan-Africa

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Mobile Miscellany: week of June 24th, 2013

If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, the Galaxy S 4 was spotted in purple garb, a new Windows Phone was outed for AT&T and US Cellular officially welcomed a budget handset from ZTE into its ranks. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of June 24th, 2013.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/oJogARE_JAY/

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Oil may be booming in North Dakota, but real estate is slow to follow

While billions of dollars of oil money is flowing freely to North Dakota, investment in new real estate has not followed. With demand far outpacing supply, rents and land prices are sky-high, and residents have few retail options.

By Ernest Scheyder and Ilaina Jonas,?Reuters / June 30, 2013

This billboard stands along Interstate 94 in Moorhead, Minn., and can be seen driving into North Dakota.

Dave Kolpack/AP

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Money and workers are pouring into Williston, the capital of North Dakota's oil boom, but the only department store in town is a JCPenney, with a facade straight out of the 1950s.

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"We desperately need some kind of shopping center or mall here in Williston," said Rev.?Jay Reinke, a 20-year resident and pastor of?Concordia Lutheran Church. "You have to drive hours to find decent shopping."

That drive is not getting shorter anytime soon. Real estate developers are finding loans and investments hard to come by from?Wells Fargo, private equity firm Carlyle Group and other major American financial powerhouses for new department stores and other commercial property, as well as residential developments.

While billions of dollars in oil money may be rushing into?North Dakota, big money has resisted financing large real estate deals there, barring some projects entirely and leading other developers to self-finance.

Many would-be financiers say the?North Dakota?oil patch real estate market is too hot to handle right now, with demand for housing outstripping supply, fueling high prices. The average two-bedroom apartment in the oil patch rents for more than $2,500 per month, helping drive land prices sky-high and sparking concern about a bubble.

National homebuilders such as?Pulte Group, D.R. Horton and Hovnanian Enterprises have yet to enter?North Dakota. Pulte said it was focused on improving its market share on the East and West Coasts, as well as some?Midwest?states. The other two declined to comment.

Part of the hesitancy stems from the reluctance of energy-field workers to move their families full-time to North Dakota, a step that would cause them to spend more money locally. The state's biting winter weather and remoteness have discouraged all but a few families, realtors say.

Data about home-building permits suggests workers are still keen to rent apartments rather than invest in housing and settle down. Only 20 permits were granted in Williston during the first five months of this year, compared to permits to build 482 apartment units, according to the city's building department. As recently as 2010 the number of homebuilding permits in Williston, a city of about 16,000, far outpaced apartment permits.

"At first we thought we really had to run fast to get position in the homebuilding market, and now we see a landscape that frankly isn't running away from us," said Terry Olin, a?North Dakota?native now exploring real estate projects in the state with Switzerland-based investment company?Stropiq LLP.

HISTORY IS A GUIDE

Many banks remain wary of the past repeating itself. North Dakota saw a surge of oil activity in the 1950s and 1980s, only to have the flare-ups burn out, leaving many residents, municipalities and banks in debt after funding large projects. Williston alone had millions in debt from the 1980s oil boom as recently as 2005.

"What we don't want to do is go into a community like Williston and engage in speculative lending and not have an exit strategy," said Dan Murphy,?Wells Fargo's regional president for?North Dakota,?South Dakota?and?western Minnesota. "We're happy to make loans. We want to be repaid."

The hesitancy comes even as?Marathon Oil, Exxon Mobil,?Statoil?and dozens of other energy companies spend billions of dollars to extract?North Dakota's oil and natural gas.

Many bullish geologists say the?North Dakota?oil boom will last for half a century at least, citing technological advances that have made supply easier to reach.

The Peace Garden State has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and the fourth-lowest foreclosure rate on home mortgages. But many of the new jobs are filled by men living in temporary work camps who send chunks of their paychecks back to their families in other states, rather than put money toward longer-term investments locally.

That makes it tough for developers to argue oilfield salaries - many of which exceed $100,000 per year, far higher than the national average of $40,600 - will be spent on permanent housing or at stores that could anchor shopping centers.

"I don't think anybody can clearly articulate how any of this is going to develop," said?Robert Stuckey, head of private equity firm Carlyle Group's U.S. real estate business, which has held off investing in?North Dakota's oil patch. "There is inherently some ambiguity and therefore some risk to it."

WRITING THEIR OWN CHECK

Some developers have decided to write their own checks in the meantime. Private equity firm KKR, which broke ground last month on 330 apartments as part of a 164-acre housing development, has yet to convince a bank to fund a construction loan. Plans for the total project include 810 apartments and lots for more than 300 single-family homes.

"We believe there are financing alternatives available, but we're prepared to build all cash," said?Michael Friedland, a principal with KKR.

KKR and smaller developers acknowledge that spending their own cash now, with the hope a loan will come later, could be considered a risk too large to take. But they feel science is on their side.

The rise of horizontal drilling, a complex process where energy companies drill down two miles then turn right to drill an additional two miles to extract oil, has vastly increased the number of wells tapped in?North Dakota. The U.S. Geological Survey in April doubled its estimates for the amount of crude oil recoverable from the state's energy-fertile plains to 7.4 billion barrels.

Despite that bullishness, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, the largest American banks, don't have retail branches in?North Dakota, which has the distinction of being the least-visited U.S. state.

While a few national retail and restaurant chains, including McDonald's and?Wal-Mart, have opened in Williston, they've found they need to pay workers starting hourly wages around $15 to $16, far higher than their other locations nationwide.

Home Depot Inc plans to open a small satellite store this summer inside an old warehouse in Williston. The location, the company's first in the city, will employ about 25 workers and have only a fraction of the products offered in its big-box stores.

So far, Home Depot said it's holding off on a decision to build a new hardware store in the heart of the oil patch.

Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Williston,?North Dakota, and Ilaina Jonas in New York; Additional reporting by Anna Driver in New York

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/bmGM0fuFyjg/Oil-may-be-booming-in-North-Dakota-but-real-estate-is-slow-to-follow

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Introduction to Ohsas 18001 Management Systems - Replica Watches

Introduction to Ohsas 18001 Management Systems Sooper Articles Your Very best Report Source.. Titles Contents Authors Welcome, Guest Submit Articles Sooper Authors Leading Articles Blog Register Login Widgets RSS Feeds FAQ Make contact with Uncover us on Facebook Comply with us on Twitter Report Categories Art &amp Entertainment Automotive BusinessAdvertisingAgricultureBrandingBusiness IdeasCareer DevelopmentCase StudiesConsultingCorporate FinanceDirect MarketingE-BusinessEntrepreneurshipERPEthicsFinancial ManagementFranchisingFund RaisingFurnishings and SuppliesHome BusinessHuman ResourceIndustrial MechanicalInternational BusinessLicensingManagementManufacturingMarketingNetworkingNon ProfitOnline BusinessOrganizational BehaviorOutsourcingPresentationPress ReleaseProductivityProfessional ServicesProject ManagementPromotionRetailSalesSales ManagementSales TrainingShippingSmall BusinessStorage ServicesStrategic ManagementSupply ChainTeam BuildingVenture CapitalWorkplace Safety Careers Communications Education Finance Food &amp Drinks Gaming Wellness &amp Fitness Hobbies House and Family members House Improvement Internet Law News &amp Society Pets Real Estate Relationship Self Improvement Buying Spirituality Sports Technology Travel Writing Subscribe to Newest Articles

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Helpful Links For Authors Author Guidelines Write-up Writing Suggestions Why Submit Articles HomeBusiness ArticlesManagement ArticlesIntroduction to Ohsas 18001 Management SystemsIntroduction to Ohsas 18001 Management Systems By John Iso on March 26, 2012

Introduction

The industries are required to grow to satisfy the need to have of the society, but at the exact same time they need to do all of this in an occupational wellness and safety acceptable manner. Of late, industries have been reactive towards OHSAS management and the adhere to-up of protected production practices. In this situation, the concept of OHSMS is presented via a planned method of method implementation for occupational well being and safety concerns taking shape.

What an OHSMS System Is

OH&ampS Management Program (OHSMS) refers to a technique utilised by an Organization to handle its activities, item, or services in such a way to lessen or eradicate the adverse dangers on Occupational Health and Security hazards to workers. Much more explicitly, the OHSMS is that component of the overall management system by means of organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes, and resources by which establishing, implementing, reviewing and preserving the organization?s OH&ampS policy occurs.

Evidently, OH&ampS Management System is not a Hi-tech mechanism to address Occupational Wellness and Security concerns of an organization. Generally OHSMS is a manual system consisting of 3 elements, namely:

I. Design or development of components of the OHSMSII. DocumentationIII. Implementation

Of course, the documentation can be supported by software program.

Unlike the Quality Management System, which concentrates only on buyer satisfaction, the OHSMS is essential to satisfy diverse stakeholders- e.g., staff, shareholders, regulatory authorities, buyers, and the basic public as well. Also, since top quality can be defined by technical specification, satisfying consumers is reasonably less complicated than under OHSMS, which is dependent on the diverse interest of these stakeholders. Additionally, OHSMS is needed to make certain compliance with relevant legislation and regulations. Hence, the scope of application and operation of the OHSMS is wider than that of a QMS.

Want for OHSMS

With increasing overall health and safety awareness, compulsions and competitors, it becomes crucial to not only manufacture, but also to source raw components, and sell goods in a manner that takes care of OHSAS issues.

quality manual template

International trade henceforth would reinforce the flow of safer goods and services, in which only OHSAS complying firms shall be able to retain and enhance their share of the expanding international market place.

Whilst all industrial enterprises are needed to comply with a developing quantity of OHSAS regulations, it is only these who proactively seek to demonstrate OHSMS overall performance far beyond compliance, who would be the market leaders.

Credibility comes in only when an independent, effectively-respected, internationally recognized third party speaks of these OHSAS achievements. Then, it not only carries conviction, but also has dangers that the consumer does not mind.

Occupational Overall health and Safety Management Technique (OHSMS) certification is a single such opportunity that can enable the firm to acquire the label of sound enterprise and increase its financial functionality at the same time.

Why implement OHSMS?

* Systematic approach* Enhanced communication* Enhanced compliance* Enhanced profitability* Reduction in liability and danger* Improved internal management* Confidence with stakeholders* Improved employee self-assurance/faith* Market place credibility/image* Enhanced emergency preparedness

Establishing an OHSMS

Any organization could develop its own OHSMS Management Program to address OHSMS concerns arising out of its activities, products, or solutions. The elements of such a technique may be decided by the organization itself based upon the want.

Such a method may be functioning effectively to boost the OHSMS performance still it will lack credibility and conviction. In these situations third party certification of OHSMS is essential. For this objective the organization?s OHSMS has to be developed, created, and implemented as per specification of recognized requirements.

Therefore, OHSMS scope is as outlined:

* Need to be primarily based on manage of causes, not hazards and risks reactive.* Have to address all management components of handle.* Should address Regular/Abnormal/Emergency conditions.* Should have measurable parameters.* Need to be purpose driven.* Have to be relevant to dangers.* Have to involve all.* Must market continual improvement.* Need to be management and not manage/eradication.* OHSMS is managing dangers and hazards.* The essence of hazard management is to stay away from high risks, manage medium dangers, and reside with low dangers

Importance of OHSAS 18000

The requirements are generic, i.e., applicable to both manufacturing and service organizations in public and private sectors. They say what must be carried out by an organization to handle the effect on the OHSAS of its activities, but do not dictate how to do it. As a result, OHSAS 18001 impacts the concerns listed below.

The following concerns for industry are regarded as:

* Occupational concern for the organization* Health issues* Safety of workers* Water use* Other resource use* Hazardous substances* Biological hazards* Radiation* Waste* Noise* Neighborhood issues* Wildlife and habitats* Accidents and emergencies* Preparing problems* Interface with other overall health and safety issues

OHSAS 18000 series of standards can be classified as the specification regular and guidance regular. OHSAS 18001 is the only specification common to which organizations would be registered.

The overall aim of this international regular is to support the OHSMS system. Even so, it is not intended to be utilised to develop non-tariff trade barriers or to enhance or adjust an organization?s legal obligations.

The firm has to set targets and ambitions relating to OHSAS problems for the long run and these should be achievable. top quality manual template Also, provisions for emergencies have to be taken into consideration so that OHSAS will not be impacted. The elements of OHSAS 18001 are listed next.

1. Commitments and Policy:An organization need to define its OH&ampS policy and concentrate on what wants to be completed for ensuring continual OHSMS overall performance. It must also guarantee commitment to the policy.

2. Organizing:An organization should formulate a strategy to fulfill its OH&ampS policy and legal specifications.

3. Implementation:For powerful implementation an organization need to create the capabilities and help mechanisms necessary to attain its OH&ampS policy, objectives, and targets.

four. Measurements and Evaluation:An organization must measure, monitor, and evaluate its OHSMS overall performance.

five. Testimonials and Improvement:An organization need to review and continually enhance its OHSMS management system, with the objective of enhancing its general OHSMS functionality.

Purpose and Benefits of OHSMS (18001):

Organizations certified to OHSAS 18000 would obtain considerable competitive edge more than organizations engaged in similar operations (activities, goods, and solutions), as certification reflects the proactiveness of an organization to defend the atmosphere via OHSAS by a preventive mechanism rather than a corrective or reactive a single.

Again, a well-functioning OHSMS offers self-confidence to the organization and its numerous stakeholders. Some of the advantages are listed under:

1. Increases the acceptance from financial institutions, banks, the public, insurance, etc.two. Improves business-government relations3. Improves OHSAS functionality, which in turn increases productivity of man and machine4. Meets customer?s OHSAS expectations and maintains excellent public relations5. Government benefits6. Ability to meet:* National/International legislation* Regional variation in legislation7. Well being and safety of workers8. Public image* Customer opinion* Inter-company/International trade9. Increases employee self-assurance

Global Manager Group stands with mission and purpose to assist occupation wellness and safety for achieving organization excellence with assist of the ohsas 18001 common certification consultancy. Also supplies ready to use ohsas 18001 manual and other iso quaility manual and sample formats.

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MacNN | iPhone News: Apple seeds iOS 7 beta 2 to developers [U]

Any new feature additions yet to be discovered

[Update: Xcode 5 beta 2 released as well] Apple has begun seeding a second beta of iOS 7 to developers. Because the release is so new, any feature additions or removals have yet to be discovered. The software should, however, concentrate mainly on improving the speed and stability of iOS 7, which only emerged in beta form two weeks ago, at WWDC 2013.

iOS 7 represents a major reworking of Apple's mobile operating system, including a new aesthetic focusing on "flat" icons and translucent layers. Several new features have been incorporated, such as AirDrop filesharing, iTunes Radio, and the Control Center, while others have been improved. Siri for example has gained new voices and commands, and Apple is deepening car integration beyond just hands-free use.

Update: In addition to the iOS 7 second beta, Apple has updated its beta of its software development kit Xcode 5 to beta 2 as well. The unreleased Xcode version is intended to maintain compatibility with the OS X 10.9 and iOS 7 betas, and can only be downloaded from the Mac App Store through a developer account.

by MacNN Staff

Source: http://feeds.smartphonemag.com/~r/iPhoneLife_News/~3/dPFGJc8F0ic/story01.htm

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Tour de France perseveres through 100 years of wars, doping, and hooliganism

The century-old cycling race remains popular in France, even after the Lance Armstrong era.

By Sara Miller Llana,?Staff writer / June 29, 2013

A combination photo shows four stained-glass windows by artist and former French cyclist Henry Anglade inside the Notre-Dame des Cyclistes (Our Lady of Cyclists) chapel near the village of Labastide-d'Armagnac in Landes, southwestern France Thursday. The Tour de France begins today, offering a unique window into the country.

Regis Duvignau/Reuters

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As the Tour de France opens for the 100th time today, it would be logical to believe it?s in a fight for its survival.

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The 100th edition happens to be the first since disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong finally admitted ? after years of lawyer-defended denials ? that he?s doped, including for each of the consecutive seven years he won the Tour de France. The race?s official victory list has gaping holes where he and others? titles have been stripped over doping.

But the race is just as popular as ever. Networks around the world will be broadcasting the full nine stages into 190 countries, while some 12 million people are expected to crowd the route, in tiny picturesque villages and dramatic mountain passes across France, to catch a glimpse of British rider Chris Froome or Spaniard Alberto Contador whizzing by. Most of the revelers will be French, as the Tour de France has been firmly stitched into the fabric of a French summer.

In fact, if the 100th edition shows anything, says Bill McGann, co-author of "The Story of the Tour de France," it?s the staying power of a sporting event that, from its inception, was a wild success but has overcome, also from its outset, chronic cases of cheating, bad sportsmanship, and questionable ethics.

?It seems to have an extraordinary resilience,? says Mr. McGann, "which at its core is about the adaptability of the Tour de France."

A long, checkered history

The Tour was born of a publicity gimmick. In 1903, in an effort to boost circulation of the sports newspaper L?Auto, journalist Geo Lefevre proposed an idea to his editor Henri Desgrange that many bosses would have dismissed outright: to create a cycling race from Paris to Lyon, to Marseille to Toulouse, to Bordeaux to Nantes, and back to Paris.

Cycling at the time was like soccer in Europe today, having many avid fans. But a week before the proposed race, only 15 people had signed up. So Mr. Desgrange made last minute changes to the itinerary and prize money and finally garnered 60 starters. On July 1, 1903, at 3:16 p.m., they started off on a 2,428-kilometer (1,500-mile) course that wound its way around France and has since become the greatest stage race in the world.

Held every year since (except during the two World Wars), it was, from its start, the ultimate litmus test of strength and endurance. But it has also, from the very beginning, always been marred by scandal and events that nearly put it under.

In just the second year of the race, which drew 88 starters, it was already so popular that it provoked the kind of hooliganism that plays out in soccer stadiums today. Spectators spread nails across the roadway and physically attacked riders, who themselves sought advantage in any number of ways, including jumping on trains and cars to get ahead.

In November 1904, the French Cycling Union disqualified the first four riders who finished the Tour, according to the history amassed by McGann, amid a chronicle of antics that would have undermined the race?s credibility from the outset if it hadn?t been so compelling to spectators.

It is, of course, doping that has dogged the legitimacy of the race for the past quarter century, though the problem is not so new. As far back as 1924, two brothers, Henri and Francis Pelissier, told a journalist that they regularly took cocaine, chloroform, and many pills to get an edge. ?We run on dynamite," Francis famously said.

But doping has come to be forever epitomized by Mr. Armstrong?s fall from the king of the Tour to its ultimate rebel. He admitted in August to using performance-enhancing drugs in what he described as a cycling culture where ambition and cutting edge chemicals made this the status quo. He admitted on Oprah Winfrey in January that doping was as routine as "air in our tires or water in our bottles.?

The scandals, which persist today with questions over how clean cycling really is, have turned some fans forever off ? those who feel that it?s not genuine sportsmanship but more akin to the trickery of professional wrestling that?s now playing out on the back roads and mountains of Europe.

And the Tour de France has acknowledged the taint. Still, ?The Tour will be stronger than doping and cheating,? said Jean-Etienne Amaury, president of the company that owns the Tour, at the unveiling of the 2013 itinerary last October in Paris.

A window onto France

Many, like McGann, agree with that statement. For millions of fans, doping is not the main plot line, just part of a story that?s bigger than any one rider or team or scandal. It?s part of the ritual of France that has spanned generations. If in the beginning whole villages, from the butcher to schoolchildren, to the priest and postman, came out to watch, today some 12 million follow in their footsteps ? 80 percent of whom are French ? drawn to the roadsides each summer for a free, three-week affair. They spend on average six hours watching the race, according to Tour de France statistics, many of them with picnics in hand.

Spectators were once drawn to the Tour de France for very different reasons, says Christopher Thompson, the author of "The Tour de France: A Cultural History."

In 1903, France was still reeling from military defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Over time, organizers and journalists used the Tour de France as a vehicle to create role models of toughness and resilience for young French men that endured through the World Wars.

?They generated the image of [the riders] as heroic, tough? people who could overcome terrible difficulties,? says Mr. Thompson, a professor of French history at Ball State University. ?It came to be experienced by the public as an extraordinary epic, where racers struggled over bad roads, in terrible weather conditions, up extraordinarily high mountains, and down dangerous descents.?

After World War II, and more recently because of the doping scandal, the riders themselves are no longer national role models. And the Tour has grown into a huge international sporting event, with broadcasters, racers, and sponsors from across the globe. But it's still a window onto the geography, cuisine, and diversity of France. ?Many French people watch the Tour, though they are casual cycling fans at best, for the extraordinary images of various parts of France, the beautiful castles, valleys, towns way up in mountains, and the extraordinary vistas,? says Thompson.

And of course there are the many million who tune in because they are fans who are in awe of the brute force or subtle intellect that the Tour demands, says McGann. Most know that doping still goes on, but they are willing to employ the "suspension of disbelief.?

?I think sports spectators are in general very forgiving,? he says. ?We groan and gnash our teeth, and then the first of July get the TV turned on, and can?t wait to sit down.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/tLMVZ6fuxz4/Tour-de-France-perseveres-through-100-years-of-wars-doping-and-hooliganism

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Vanderbilt University football players suspended in sex crimes investigation (+video)

Four Vanderbilt University football players have been dismissed from the team during an investigation of alleged sex crimes at a university dormitory. This follows other recent instances of sex crimes tied to football players.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / June 29, 2013

Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville, Tennessee. The university announced that four football player have been dismissed from the team and temporarily suspended during an investigation of sex crimes alleged to have taken place in a dormitory.

Vanderbilt University

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Vanderbilt University has dismissed four football players from the team and suspended them from the university as the result of a sex crimes investigation.

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A statement on the school?s web site says only that the four were dismissed from the team and suspended ?for violation of team rules.?

?The well-being of our students is of paramount concern to us, and we will not tolerate any actions that threaten student safety and security,? Beth Fortune, Vanderbilt vice chancellor for public affairs, said in a statement Saturday.

In its brief statement, the school noted that ?Vanderbilt first reported the matter that led to the dismissals to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and is fully cooperating with the Metro Police investigation.?

?They may not return to campus for any purpose without explicit permission from the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity,? according to the statement.

The Tennessean?newspaper in Nashville reported Saturday that ?Metro police and Vanderbilt?s administration were keeping a tight lid on details of the incident and no arrests had been made as of Friday night.?

?I can confirm that the Metropolitan Police Department?s Sex Crimes Unit began an investigation on Wednesday in regard to a matter that was alleged to have occurred at a Vanderbilt University dormitory,? Don Aaron, spokesman for Metro police, told The Tennessean. ?Our sex crimes detectives became involved as the result of a notification to us on Wednesday from Vanderbilt University police. The investigation remains very much in progress.?

Named for shipping?and?rail?magnate?"Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt,?the private university in Nashville has about 12,000 students.

?Under head coach James Franklin, the Commodores enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in recent history in 2012,? writes columnist Tyler Conway on the ?Bleacher Report? sports web site. ?In his second season, the 41-year-old Franklin led a renaissance in a program that has historically struggled. After starting the campaign off 2-4, the Commodores reeled off seven consecutive wins?. Vanderbilt defeated North Carolina State 38-24 in the?Music City Bowl?to cap off the late-season run, just their third bowl win in school history.?

?Franklin returns next season with expectations high for a repeat performance,? writes Conway. ?While there is still plenty to be investigated in this matter, the Commodores will certainly feel the blow of losing four players should the suspensions last into the 2013 season.? So far, Coach Franklin has not commented on the matter.

The news from Vanderbilt follows several other recent instances of football players charged with sexual misconduct.

The US Naval Academy last week charged three Navy football players with sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus house last year. The academy said in a news release that the male midshipmen are being charged with rape, sexual assault or other sexual misconduct, and making a false official statement.

?We teach our guys more than blocking and tackling, trying to do what?s right,? Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said this week, as reported by the Washington Post. ?All we want is the truth to come out. We believe in the judicial system. We believe in our country and its judicial system. Our main concern is that the truth comes out, and whatever it is, that justice is served.?

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports, two Connecticut high school football players have been charged in sexual assault cases that, like a recent high-profile Ohio rape case, have led to online taunts directed at an accuser.

The two 18-year-old Torrington High School players were charged with felony second-degree sexual assault and other crimes last month in cases involving different 13-year-old girls.

In the Ohio case, two Steubenville High School football players were sentenced to at least a year in juvenile jail after being found guilty of assaulting a drunken 16-year-old girl. The case bitterly divided the city and led to accusations of a cover-up to protect the athletes.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/v9PQDaPGHqc/Vanderbilt-University-football-players-suspended-in-sex-crimes-investigation-video

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Facebook to pull ads from pages with sex, violence

16 hours ago

Facebook says it will no longer allow ads to appear on pages with sexual or violent content, as the online social network moves to appease marketers being associated with objectionable material.

The announcement on Friday came a month after several businesses pulled their ads from Facebook amid reports of pages on the site that promoted violence against women.

Facebook said at the time that it needed to improve its system for flagging and removing content that violated its community standards, which forbid users from posting content about hate-speech, threats and pornography, among other things.

Ads account for roughly 85 percent of revenue at Facebook, the world's largest social network with 1.1 billion users. Facebook said the changes would not have a meaningful impact on its business.

On Friday, Facebook said it also needed to do more to prevent situations in which ads are displayed alongside material that may not run afoul of its community standards but are deemed controversial nonetheless.

A Facebook page for a business that sells adult products, for example, will no longer feature ads. Previously such a page could feature ads along the right-hand side of the page so long as the page did not violate Facebook's prohibition on depicting nudity.

The move underscores the delicate balance for social media companies, which features a variety of unpredictable and sometimes unsavory content shared by users, but which rely on advertising to underpin their business.

"Our goal is to both preserve the freedoms of sharing on Facebook but also protect people and brands from certain types of content," Facebook said in a post on its website on Friday.

Facebook said that it would expand the scope of pages and groups on its website that should be ad-restricted and promised to remove ads from the flagged areas of the website by the end of the coming week.

Pages and groups that reference violence will also be off limits to ads, the company said. A Facebook spokeswoman noted that the policy would not apply to the pages of news organizations on Facebook.

Facebook said the process of flagging objectionable pages and removing ads would initially be done manually, but that the company will build an automated system to do the job in the coming weeks.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2df24cca/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cfacebook0Epull0Eads0Epages0Esex0Eviolence0E6C10A486984/story01.htm

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Lawmaker Seeks to Regulate Men's Reproductive Health (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315911144?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Free dance class, free food and drink specials ? Haven Austin ...

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Win an Android tablet ... from CrackBerry.com?

Our pals at CrackBerry.com have had a tough day. Their beloved PlayBook tablet — you know, the only BlackBerry Tablet in existence — won't be upgraded to BB10. Not exactly a shock, especially to those of us who are used to seeing 2-year-old devices be put out to pasture with even less fanfare. At least these guys got a warning.

Anyhoo. CB's giving away a tablet — anything other than a PlayBook, we s'pose — with a contest running through the end of July 1. Seeing as how so many of you fine Android Central readers jumped ship way back when (and we know who you are), might as well lend a hand here.

Good luck!

Enter CrackBerry's PlayBook Black Friday Contest

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/_h1f_HPAkYA/story01.htm

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Supreme Court, in Voting Rights Act follow-up, wipes out key Texas rulings

The Supreme Court voided two rulings affected by a now invalidated section of the Voting Rights Act. One blocked a Texas voter ID law, the other required more generous minority election districts in the state.

By Warren Richey,?Staff writer / June 27, 2013

Sen. Juan 'Chuy' Hinojosa looks at maps on display prior to a recent Senate Redistricting committee hearing in Austin, Texas. The Supreme Court on Thursday wiped out a ruling requiring more generous minority election districts in Texas, sending the case back to a lower court.

Eric Gay/AP/File

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Two days after invalidating a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the US Supreme Court wiped out two important rulings under that now-vanquished section that had blocked a new voter ID law and required more generous minority election districts in Texas.

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The high court took the action Thursday in two brief orders in the pending cases of Texas v. US (12-496), challenging state-wide redistricting plans, and Texas v. Holder (12-1028), challenging a new law requiring voters to show photo ID before casting a ballot. Latinos had challenged the redistricting plans as attempts to weaken their political influence, and Attorney General Eric Holder had criticized the voter ID laws as a "poll tax."

Both measures, backed by Republican lawmakers, had been blocked by judicial panels in Washington acting pursuant to their authority under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Until Tuesday, that section of the law had required certain states and jurisdictions that had histories of discrimination ? including Texas ? to submit proposed changes in election rules and procedures to Washington for pre-approval.

On Tuesday, in a 5-to-4 vote, the high court invalidated a closely related portion of the VRA in a ruling that effectively ended all coverage under Section 5.

That set the stage for Thursday?s orders. After vacating the earlier decisions, the Supreme Court remanded both cases to the lower courts for further consideration in light of the VRA ruling.

What happens next is unclear.

Shortly after the decision on Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced that the state?s new voter ID law would immediately take effect. He also said that the state?s challenged redistricting maps ?may? also take effect without prior approval from Washington.

Last week, Texas lawmakers approved voting districts used in the 2012 election that had been authorized by the three-judge panel. So any action by state officials to resurrect the old 2011 districts (struck down by the court in August) would be a controversial move.

In its order Thursday, the Supreme Court noted that at least one of the parties to that case had suggested that the redistricting case was now moot.

The court?s action does not insulate Texas and the earlier challenged provisions from judicial review. Anyone seeking to invalidate the voter ID law plan or a redistricting plan will be required to rely on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

That section allows individuals, organizations, and the government to file suit to fight discrimination or discriminatory voting changes. It also provides for federal injunctions to block discriminatory provisions prior to an election.

How these provisions play out in Texas in the weeks and months ahead may provide the first test of what the future looks like under the new stripped-down version of the Voting Rights Act.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vSWD8_LooLs/Supreme-Court-in-Voting-Rights-Act-follow-up-wipes-out-key-Texas-rulings

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Why Was Channing Tatum Picked To Save America In 'White House Down'?

Director Roland Emmerich tells MTV News Tatum is 'totally down-to-earth, super smart and he looks like a million dollars.'
By Todd Gilchrist, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Channing Tatum in "White House Down"
Photo: Columbia Pictures

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709799/white-house-down-channing-tatum-roland-emmerich.jhtml

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Judge: Determining size of BP spill no 'easy task' (Providence Journal)

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Windows 8.1 RT looks just like regular Windows 8.1, performance hasn't changed

When we got hands-on with the Windows 8.1 preview earlier this week, it was on a Surface Pro -- i.e., an x86 system running full Windows. Until today, though, we hadn't had a chance to try the software on a device running Windows RT. Well, fortunately for us, Microsoft has a row full of freshly updated Surface RT units on display here at Build, so we took the opportunity poke around a little. As you'd expect, Windows RT 8.1 has all the trappings of the full Windows version, including an always-there Start button and new apps like Food & Drink and Health & Fitness. What's sort of interesting is that you can boot to the desktop here as well, just as you would on Windows 8.1. (We say "interesting" because, well, how urgently do you need the desktop on RT anyway?) The desktop also still comes with Office apps pinned to the Taskbar, in case you were wondering.

Performance seems much the same as before, particularly because we were handling last year's Surface RT, which still ships with a Tegra 3 SoC. Browsing and loading tabs in IE11 feels snappy but then again, IE11 was supposed to be a tick faster than IE10. Overall, navigating the OS can still feel slightly sluggish, but the build we tried is at least stable. Other than that, it looks like we'll have to wait for some new ARM chips before we can revisit performance in Windows RT. We'll also be back to take a look at the forthcoming RT Outlook app, which we haven't seen yet. Until then, don't expect us to write another 4,000 words on the subject.

Gallery: Windows 8.1 RT Preview hands-on

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aTwjN1yVLxw/

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Immigration legislation faces obstacles in House

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The focus of hotly contested immigration legislation swung Friday from the Senate to the House, where conservative Republicans hold power, there is no bipartisan template to serve as a starting point and the two parties stress widely different priorities.

"It's a very long and winding road to immigration reform," said Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who said it could be late this year or perhaps early in 2014 before the outcome is known. His own constituents are "very skeptical, mostly opposed," he said.

Supporters of the Senate's approach sought to rally support for its promise of citizenship for those who have lived in the United States unlawfully, a key provision alongside steps to reduce future illegal immigration.

"The Republican Party still doesn't understand the depth...of this movement and just how much the American people want comprehensive immigration reform," Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said on Friday. "We need to make sure they come to this understanding."

But Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., said in an interview that any bill that results in citizenship was a nonstarter. He called the approach "patently unfair" to those trying to "do it the legal way."

Within hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate approved its bill Thursday on a 68-32 vote, President Barack Obama telephoned with congratulations for several members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight who negotiated an early draft of the bill that passed.

Traveling in Africa, he also called House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California from Africa, urging them to pass an immigration bill.

Yet not even a firm timetable has been set.

The House Republican rank and file is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on the issue shortly after returning from a July 4 vacation, and Boehner has said previously he hopes legislation on the topic can be passed by the end of the month. Aides also say it is possible the issue wouldn't come to the floor until the leadership had successfully resurrected a farm bill that was defeated last week.

In contrast to the all-in-one approach favored by the Senate, the House Judiciary Committee has approved a series of single-issue bills in recent days, none including a path to citizenship that Obama and Democrats have set as a top priority.

One, harshly condemned by Democrats, provides for a crackdown on immigrants living in the United States illegally. Another sets up a temporary program for farm workers to come to the United States, but without the opportunity for citizenship the Senate-passed measure includes.

A third, which drew several Democratic votes, requires establishment of a mandatory program within two years for companies to verify the legal status of their workers. The Senate bill sets a four-year phase-in, although supporters of the legislation have also signaled they are agreeable to tighter requirements. A fourth increases the number of visas for highly-skilled workers.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., criticized the approach followed so far by House Republicans. "We have taken up a series of small-bore partisan bills that are in some cases bizarre," she said at a panel discussion hosted by Bloomberg Government and the National Restaurant Association. "We have not touched the whole issue of how you get 11 million people right with the law."

Also appearing on the panel, Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said the House must find a solution for the estimated 11 million immigrants now living in the United States unlawfully. "Ignoring that reality does not make it go away," he said.

Lofgren and Diaz-Balart are part of a bipartisan group that has tried to struggled unsuccessfully so far to produce legislation roughly comparable to the one drafted by the Gang of Eight in the Senate.

In their discussions to date, the lawmakers have agreed to a pathway to citizenship over 15 years, two years longer than the Senate legislation provides. Their efforts at an overall compromise have stumbled over details of a guest worker program and other issues.

The situation was far different in the Senate, where the Gang of Eight drafted legislation, shepherded it through the Senate Judiciary Committee and then helped negotiate tough border security requirements that helped swell Republican support.

As the measure was passing the Senate on Thursday, members of the Gang of Eight were urging the House to be ready to compromise.

"You may have different views on different aspects of this issue, but all of us share the same goal, and that is to take 11 million people out of the shadows, secure our borders and make sure that this is the nation of opportunity and freedom," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The bill passed by the Senate devotes $46 billion to border security improvements, including calling for a doubling of the border patrol stationed on the U.S.-Mexico border and the completion of 700 miles of fencing. No immigrant currently in the United States illegally could qualify for a permanent resident green card until those border enhancements and others were in place.

___

Associated Press reporters Luis Alonso Lugo, Donna Cassata and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-legislation-faces-obstacles-house-190820534.html

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Boomerang Android app tames Gmail inboxes with reminders

The previously web-only Boomerang app for Gmail is now in open beta on Android. Just another mail app, right? Not quite -- Boomerang's hook is that it can bring unanswered messages back to your inbox. More than a clever reminder system, the app uses gesture controls (swipe right to archive, left for snooze and other options) and can schedule outgoing emails, too. According to TechCrunch, developer Baydin is also working on support for non-Gmail services and a tablet-optimized app. Jump to the Google Play link below to get your hands dirty for free.

Filed under: Mobile

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google Play, Boomerang