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Thursday, January 31, 2013

After Hadiya's death, Chicago to add 200 street cops

Two days after a teen who performed at President Obama's inauguration weekend was gunned down, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to yank 200 cops from desk jobs and make them fight crime on the streets. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

The reassignment was recommended by city officials last week,?according to NBC Chicago, but it took on new significance Thursday as 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton became the face of Chicago's stubbornly high murder rate.

The sophomore was shot dead Tuesday while sheltering from the rain with fellow members of the volleyball team in a park near her well-regarded high-school, in an upscale section of Chicago's South Side less than a mile from President Obama's home.

The bullet that struck her upper back was meant for someone else, police said. No arrests have been made, and police increased the reward in the case to $24,000.

?When any young person in our city is gunned down without reason, it demands action from all of us,? Emanuel said at a press conference.

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, shown here at a conference on gun violence, is set to announce he will put 200 more cops on the street.

?As we grieve for Hadiya, we need to work together to protect our greatest resource, the children of the city of Chicago.?

Emanuel said when he took office he redeployed 570 officers who were on desk duty and credited that with reducing Chicago?s overall crime rate by 8.5%, even as its murder rate increased.

There were more than 500 slayings in Chicago last year. That's about half the number there were in 1974, but still represented an increase over the previous year at a time when other cities are reporting steady decreases in homicides.

Hopes that 2013 would be less bloody were dashed by a grim statistic: 42 people were killed in Chicago this month, making it the deadliest January in more than a decade,?according to the Chicago Tribune.

The death of Pendleton -- a majorette with the King College Prep marching band who traveled to Washington to take part in inauguration festivities -- sparked outrage across the nation.

At the White House, a spokesman said the Obamas were praying for her family. On Capitol Hill, her name was invoked during debate over gun control.

Emanuel said the police have been getting tips about who might have killed Pendleton and wounded a 16-year-old friend ? both innocent victims caught in what investigators suspect was a gang-related turf war.

The mayor had a message for anyone with information: ?Please step forward. That is what a good neighbor does.?

Hadiya Pendleton, center, with her school marching band in Washington a week before she was shot dead in Chicago.

Related:

Friend: Slain Chicago teen said, 'I think I got shot,' then 'she just fell'

Gunned down after 'the happiest day of her life'

Chicago shooting victim Hadiya Pendleton starred in anti-gang video

Scott Olson / Getty Images

Nate Pendleton comforts his son Nathaniel, 10, and his wife Cleopatra in a neighborhood park where his daughter Hadiya was killed.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/31/16790901-after-hadiyas-death-chicago-to-put-200-more-cops-on-the-street?lite

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Ozone thinning has changed ocean circulation

Jan. 31, 2013 ? A hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has changed the way that waters in the southern oceans mix, a situation that has the potential to alter the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere and eventually could have an impact on global climate change, a Johns Hopkins earth scientist says.

In a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Science, Darryn W. Waugh and his team show that subtropical intermediate waters in the southern oceans have become "younger" as the upwelling, circumpolar waters have gotten "older" -- changes that are consistent with the fact that surface winds have strengthened as the ozone layer has thinned.

"This may sound entirely academic, but believe me, it's not," said Waugh, of the Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins' Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. "This matters because the southern oceans play an important role in the uptake of heat and carbon dioxide, so any changes in southern ocean circulation have the potential to change the global climate."

Waugh's team used measurements taken from the early 1990s to the mid-to-late 2000s of the amount of a chemical compound known as "chlorofluorocarbon-12," or CFC-12, in the southern oceans. CFC-12 was first produced commercially in the 1930s and its concentration in the atmosphere increased rapidly until the 1990s when it was phased out by the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. (Prior to the Montreal Protocol, CFC-12 was used in products such as aerosol hairsprays and refrigerants and in air conditioning systems.)

From those ocean measurements, Waugh's team was able to infer changes in how rapidly surface waters have mixed into the depths of the southern oceans. Because they knew that concentrations of CFCs at the ocean surface increased in tandem with those in the atmosphere, they were able to surmise that the higher the concentration of CFC-12 deeper in the ocean, the more recently those waters were at the surface.

The inferred age changes -- "younger" in the subtropics, "older" nearer the South Pole -- are consistent with the observed intensification of surface westerly winds, which have occurred primarily because of the Antarctic ozone hole, suggesting that stratospheric ozone depletion is the primary cause of the changes in ocean ventilation. As stratospheric ozone recovers over the next 50 years, the changes in ventilation may slow or reverse. The impact of continued increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will also need to be considered, however. The combined impact of the two factors on the southern oceans' ventilation and uptake of heat and carbon is an open question.

Also on the research team were collaborators Francois Primeau of the University of California, Irvine; Tim Devries of the University of California, Los Angeles; and Mark Holzer of the University of New South Wales and Columbia University. Funding for the study was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Australian Research Council.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins. The original article was written by Lisa De Nike.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/GOy7aZMxdAQ/130131144106.htm

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Expansion costs hit H&M earnings

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hennes & Mauritz , the world's No.2 fashion retailer, posted an unexpected drop in quarterly earnings, hit by competition in tough European markets and the cost of its expansion drive to take on bigger rival Inditex.

The Swedish group does the bulk of its business in Europe, where the region's debt crisis and rising unemployment have dampened consumer spending.

At the same time, it has been making long-term investments in online shopping and new chains of stores, such as the recently-launched "& Other Stories," in a bid to catch up with the broader offering of Spanish rival Inditex , which runs the Zara chain and a string of other brands.

"These long-term investments have created cost increases and to a great extent have not yet generated any revenue," chief executive Karl-Johan Persson said on Wednesday.

"However, we consider these investments to be both necessary and wise as they aim to secure future expansion and profits and thereby further strengthen H&M's position," he added.

Pretax earnings in the September-November period fell to 6.6 billion Swedish crowns from a year-earlier 6.8 billion, hit also by a strong crown. Analysts had on average forecast an unchanged profit.

WEAK SALES

H&M said a tough economic backdrop led to widespread price promotions and markdowns in the fashion industry, although its own level of markdowns in relation to sales was the same as in the fourth quarter of the year before.

Stocks were somewhat higher than planned at the end of the period, although the group said markdowns in the first quarter would also be around the same level as the year earlier.

Bernstein analysts said this would be a challenge, particularly given the likely disruption to sales from snow.

"These are disappointing results, as management continues to step up investment in both the product and longer term initiatives, yet sales performance has not rebounded," they said.

H&M predicted local-currency sales growth in January, the second month of its fiscal year, of 5 percent, the weakest figure since October, due to cold weather.

Its shares were down 2.8 percent to 228.5 crowns by 0945 GMT, within a European retail index <.sxrp> down 0.2 percent.

H&M, present in 48 markets, said it would open a net 325 stores this year, with most planned in China and the United States. It would also launch online sales in the United States.

It saw expansion opportunities in big European markets like Russia, Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland and France as well.

"For the medium term, they're trying to develop more brands, they're entering five new countries this year, they're laying down 12 percent more space ... So in terms of their own strategy, I actually think that they are sticking to it, and it makes long-term sense," said UBS analyst Adam Cochrane.

H&M said its gross profit margin, which disappointed in the third quarter, shrank to 61.6 percent from 61.9 percent, matching forecasts. It proposed an unchanged dividend, as expected, of 9.50 crowns per share.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom. Editing by Patrick Lannin and Mark Potter)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/expansion-costs-hit-h-m-earnings-084149035--finance.html

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Rocking Out! Most Memorable Super Bowl Halftime Shows

Nipplegate! Britney & J.T.! Before Beyonce takes the stage, take a look back at halftime performances that are hard to forget

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/most-memorable-super-bowl-halftime-shows/1-b-419914?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Amost-memorable-super-bowl-halftime-shows-419914

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Google Dashboard stealing so much from us.

XDA Developers was founded by developers, for developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality. Are you a developer?

Download the XDA Android App

Get the XDA forums on your Android Device.

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Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2125056&goto=newpost

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In big push for Hagel, no leading from behind from White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon, prepared to meet with senior New York Senator Chuck Schumer in mid-January, the White House stepped in and ensured that the get-together would take place quickly - and in the West Wing.

Some of the loudest objections to Obama's choice of Hagel for secretary of defense stemmed from lawmakers' concerns about his past comments on Israel and Iran.

And with Schumer, the leading Jewish Democrat in Congress, among those expressing doubts, the administration wanted to make absolutely clear that it expected his support. Hosting the meeting in the White House wing housing the president's official offices was a symbol of its importance to the administration.

The West Wing session - followed by Schumer's effusive endorsement of Hagel - was part of an all-out offensive Obama's White House has launched to secure Hagel's nomination, administration officials and congressional aides said. The campaign has included a Pentagon task force, hours of meetings and, at times, some judicious direct intervention.

Hagel, 66, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and former two-term Republican senator, emerged as a leading candidate to replace Leon Panetta almost as quickly as the defense secretary announced his retirement.

Hagel's Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning, and his approval is less than a sure bet.

To battle a well-financed firestorm of objections from neoconservative and gay rights groups, the White House lined up a large team to work with Hagel and make the former Nebraska senator's case to his former colleagues.

The group included Obama allies like Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who pushed Schumer and other balky Democrats to back Hagel, White House officials and Hagel aides from his two terms in the Senate.

Administration officials have reached out to Jewish groups and reassured gay rights activists. Hagel met with leaders of some of the largest Jewish-American groups at the White House on Friday, where he was joined by Vice President Joe Biden.

And they have enlisted an array of luminaries to serve as Hagel ambassadors. Thirteen former secretaries of defense and state and national security advisers from both parties sent a letter to senators last week strongly backing his nomination.

Hagel will be introduced at his hearing by two former Senate Armed Services committee chairmen, Democrat Sam Nunn and Republican John Warner, who both - like Hagel - were known for breaking from party doctrine on a range of issues.

'MURDER BOARDS'

Hagel has set up a Pentagon office and has a transition team helping him to prepare. He has met with Panetta, deputy defense secretary Ashton Carter and other military leaders, including Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The nominee has had two "murder board" sessions, panels to grill him to prepare for questions from skeptical - and hostile - senators.

A source close to the confirmation process said Hagel may squeeze in a third "murder board" session before Thursday.

Carter, who will stay on as deputy secretary of defense during Obama's second term, told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday that Obama had called him to tell him about the Hagel nomination and asked him to remain, which would provide a measure of stability.

Critics have questioned Hagel's past statements over the power of the "Jewish lobby" in Washington, and what they say is his resistance to sanctions on Iran and eagerness to further cut defense spending. No Republican has yet publicly endorsed him.

Hagel is expected to have a tougher time with the Armed Services Committee, which must clear his nomination, than in the full 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 45 seats.

There are 12 Republicans on the 26-member panel, but many are among the Senate's most conservative members. At least three, including the panel's top Republican, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, said they would oppose Hagel even before hearing his testimony.

But others, including fellow Vietnam War veteran John McCain, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Utah's Mike Lee and Deb Fischer of Nebraska, said they would reserve judgment until after Hagel's testimony.

McCain's vote is considered key. He campaigned for Hagel in 1996, and Hagel was national co-chairman of the Arizona Republican's unsuccessful 2000 presidential bid. On Tuesday, McCain said he would wait to make up his mind until he hears Hagel's testimony.

TRAITOR TO THE RIGHT, WORRY TO THE LEFT

Some Republicans view Hagel as a traitor for questioning the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq War, which he initially supported.

Some Democrats and moderate Republicans, meanwhile, question Hagel's social conservatism, saying it raises concerns about how strongly he would support equal rights for women or homosexuals in the military.

"Hagel annoyed people on both the right and left with some of his comments," said Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan.

"My guess is in the committee, he's going to get out, but not by a lot," Korb said.

Controlling 55 seats in the Senate, Democrats have enough votes to confirm Hagel by a simple majority. They would need five Republican votes to overcome Senate procedural hurdles, although an effort to block Hagel would infuriate Democrats as the two parties try to negotiate delicate issues like spending cuts and a bipartisan immigration plan.

Hagel has held dozens of meetings with senators to address their concerns and appeal for their support, staying on Capitol Hill from early morning well into the evening repeatedly in the weeks leading up to his confirmation hearing.

He was due to have 10 more meetings on Tuesday, cramming for his make-or-break appearance before the panel. Aides have said they expect he will have met with at least 50 of the 100 senators before Thursday morning.

Despite a grueling schedule, Hagel has shown glimpses of humor.

He accidentally wandered into the Senate press gallery last week while looking for a men's room and gamely fielded a few questions - saying little - when he emerged.

And the Omaha World Herald newspaper reported that Hagel ran into Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts' new senator, in the Capitol basement while hurrying between meetings one day last week.

"We were just talking about you," Warren said.

To which Hagel replied, "Everybody's been talking about me."

(Additional reporting by David Alexander and Phil Stewart; Editing by Warren Strobel and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/big-push-hagel-no-leading-behind-white-house-060912084.html

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90% Lincoln

All Critics (218) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (197) | Rotten (21)

It's the most remarkable movie Steven Spielberg has made in quite a spell, and one of the things that makes it remarkable is how it fulfills those expectations by simultaneously ignoring and transcending them.

Lincoln paints a powerful and compelling portrait of the man who has become an icon. We don't need to see more of his life to understand how rare a figure he was - this window is more than sufficient.

Lincoln offers proof of what magic can happen when an actor falls in love with his character. Because as great as Day-Lewis has been in his many parts, he has never seemed quite so smitten.

The film masterfully captures the dual dilemmas facing the president in the final months of his life: how to bring the war between the states to an end, and how to eradicate slavery, once and for all.

Lincoln is a stirring reminder that politics can be noble. Might there be a lesson here for today's shrill D.C. discourse? 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

Day-Lewis' voice is thin and reedy, which jibes with historical accounts but subverts our expectations. His attitude makes listeners lean in, and so do we, magnetized by his kindly reserve.

It's an impeccably crafted history lesson that, unusually for a Spielberg film, tells us why its subject matter is important, instead of engaging with it on an emotional level.

Daniel Day-Lewis gives a towering performance in Steven Spielberg's bravest picture to date.

N?o ? um retrato multidimensional de um indiv?duo complexo, mas uma f?bula. Um letreiro de "Era uma vez..." em seu in?cio n?o ficaria deslocado.

Against the odds, Spielberg makes something genuinely exciting of the backstage wheedling.

A historic epic from Steven Spielberg carries a lot of baggage, but he surprises us with a remarkably contained approach to an iconic figure. What's most unexpected is that this is a political drama, not a biopic.

[Spielberg is] a man on a mission. And his not so secret weapon is Day-Lewis, an actor so charismatic it's hard to think clearly while he's on screen.

Perhaps this is a rose-tinted view of Lincoln - he comes across as more living saint than man - but as cinema, it is powerful, gripping and thoroughly entertaining.

Spielberg is always a professional, and the film is never less than well-crafted.

By stepping into history without fear, favour or any overfamiliar biopic folly, Lincoln, handsome, often thrilling, and movingly human, goes into history as a major movie achievement.

A rousing, rigorous and morally complex legal procedural more than a trad biopic. And all the better for it.

his is a warm, celebratory film, handsomely shot, with a subtle, sympathetic central performance from Day-Lewis, and tremendous support from Tommy Lee Jones ...

Spielberg's plodding camera endlessly tracks and circles Day-Lewis in complete reverence, while veteran composer John Williams delivers yet another repetitive Jurassic Extra-Terrestrial score.

What a feat from Day-Lewis: the nearest thing a 21st-century biopic can get to a seance.

It's tiresome to describe Day-Lewis as brilliant, so let's push the boat out: his Lincoln is absolutely wonderful.

A thoughtful and thought-proving picture.

Lincoln reminds you how little has actually changed in one-and-a-half centuries - presidents still have to worry about the war dead while trying to create a better life for the fractured living.

Impressively directed and superbly written, this is an absorbing and enjoyable political drama with an Oscar-worthy central performance from Daniel Day-Lewis.

Daniel Day-Lewis gives yet another performance for the ages in Steven Spielberg's admirably literate, thoroughly charming biopic.

Lincoln has been dismissed by some as merely 'people in rooms talking'. That may be true, but what people. And what talking.

Fans of great writing, superb acting, beautiful photography and the rousing scores of John Williams are going to lap this one up.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lincoln_2011/

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