The 25 Most Overpaid Player In Major League Baseball - Business ...

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There are 251 players in Major League Baseball making at least $4.0 million this season and 98 of them are making at least $10 million.

Many of those players are severely overpaid and on the next few pages we will take a look at the most overpaid in baseball.

To do this, we will look at a player's overall production based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and translate that to a dollar value. We will then compare that value to what the player is actually making.

In many cases, teams would be better off not playing these guys at all.

#25 B.J. Upton, Atlanta Braves

Position: CF

2013 salary: $12.5 million

Stats: .174, 8 HR, 6 SB, .269 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.1

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$1.4 million

VALUE**: -$13.9 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million which is roughly what a team would have to spend on average in free agency for a win. Players who are worse than a Replacement-Level player will have a negative WAR and a negative WAR Value suggesting the team is actually losing money by having them on the field. For?WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary. Think of this as the amount a player is overpaid. In some cases it will actually be greater than the player's salary since that player's production is actually negative.

#24 Martin Prado, Arizona Diamondbacks

Position: 3B

2013 salary: $7.0 million

Stats: .241, 6 HR, .292 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.7

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$7.2 million

VALUE**: -$14.2 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#23 Jeff Francoeur, Kansas City Royals

Position: RF

2013 salary: $6.8 million

Stats: .209, 3 HR, .250 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.8

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$7.8 million

VALUE**: -$-14.6 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#22 Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs

Position: SS

2013 salary: $5.0 million

Stats: .234, 3 HR, .268 OBP, 14 errors

2013 WAR: -1.0

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$9.8 million

VALUE**: -$14.8 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#21 Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies

Position: 1B

2013 salary: $5.0 million

Stats: .240, 6 HR, .293 OBP

2013 WAR: -1.0

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$10.0 million

VALUE**: -$15.0 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#19t Adam Dunn, Chicago White Sox

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Position: DH

2013 salary: $15.0 million

Stats: .194, 20 HR, .303 OBP

2013 WAR: 0.0

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$0.4 million

VALUE**: -$15.4 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#18 Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

Position: 1B

2013 salary: $23.0 million

Stats: .277, 12 HR, .373 OBP

2013 WAR: 0.7

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: $7.4 million

VALUE**: -$15.6 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#14t Kevin Youkilis, New York Yankees

Position: 3B

2013 salary: $12.0 million

Stats: .219, 2 HR, .305 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.4

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$4.4 million

VALUE**: -$16.4 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#14t Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

Position: 1B

2013 salary: $20.0 million

Stats: .268, 10 HR, .321 OBP

2013 WAR: 0.4

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: $3.6 million

VALUE**: -$16.4 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#14t Josh Hamilton, Los Angeles Angels

Position: OF

2013 salary: $15.0 million

Stats: .215, 10 HR, .268 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.1

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$1.4 million

VALUE**: -$16.4 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#12t Jayson Werth, Washington Nationals

Position: OF

2013 salary: $16.0 million

Stats: .266, 7 HR, .324 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.1

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$0.6 million

VALUE**: -$16.6 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#11 Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs

Position: OF

2013 salary: $18.0 million

Stats: .245, 7 HR, 8 stolen bases

2013 WAR: 0.1

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: $1.2 million

VALUE**: -$16.8 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#10 Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Position: SS

2013 salary: $17.0 million

Stats: Has not played in 2013

2013 WAR: 0.0

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$0.0 million

VALUE**: -$17.0 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#8 Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox

Position: 1B

2013 salary: $13.5 million

Stats: .253, 7 HR, .319 OBP

2013 WAR: -0.9

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$9.0 million

VALUE**: -$22.5 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#7 Huston Street, San Diego Padres

Position: RP

2013 salary: $7.0 million

Stats: 0-4, 15 Saves, 4.61 ERA

2013 WAR: -1.7

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$16.8 million

VALUE**: -$23.8 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#6 Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees

Position: 1B

2013 salary: $22.5 million

Stats: .151, 3 HR, 15 games played

2013 WAR: -0.2

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$2.0 million

VALUE**: -$24.5 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#5 Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers

Position: 1B

2013 salary: $13.0 million

Stats: .228, 6 HR, .286 OBP

2013 WAR: -1.2

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$11.8 million

VALUE**: -$24.8 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#3 Johan Santana, New York Mets

Position: SP

2013 salary: $25.5 million

Stats: Has not played in 2013

2013 WAR: 0.0

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$0.0 million

VALUE**: -$25.5 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary. Think of this as how much the player is being overpaid.

#2 Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

Position: 3B

2013 salary: $28.0 million

Stats: Has not played in 2013

2013 WAR: 0.0

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$0.0 million

VALUE**: -$28.0 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

#1 Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers

Position: OF

2013 salary: $20.0 million

Stats: .256, 2 HR, .307 OBP, 9 stolen bases

2013 WAR: -1.1

2013 WAR Value (Projected)*: -$11.4 million

VALUE**: -$31.4 million

* One win in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is valued at $4.8 million. For WAR Value we projected each player's WAR over a full season.

** VALUE is equal to WAR Value minus Salary.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-25-most-overpaid-player-in-major-league-baseball-2013-6?op=1

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China official in sex case gets prison for bribery

BEIJING (AP) ? A former Chinese official at the center of a sex tape scandal was convicted of taking more than 3.1 million yuan ($500,000) in bribes and sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday, at a time when China's new generation of leadership has vowed to crack down on widespread graft.

Lei Zhengfu, former party chief of a district in the south-central metropolis of Chongqing, did not say whether he would appeal the verdict by the city's No. 1 Intermediate Court, according to state media. The punishment meted out to him also includes confiscation of personal assets of 300,000 yuan ($48,000).

Lei's case has riveted the public since video clips went viral of the portly 55-year-old having sex with a woman hired by property developers, allegedly in an elaborate extortion scheme. The scandal has exposed in lurid detail the shady intertwining of sex, money and power in Chinese society.

Beijing Institute of Technology law professor Xu Xin said the sentence was more severe than those in earlier corruption cases involving similar amounts of bribes.

"Maybe because of the case's social impact, the court has chosen to be on the harsh end with its sentence," he said.

Lei asked another property developer who had benefited from his patronage to pay hush money of 3 million yuan to the blackmailers. Lei argued that the money was a loan, but prosecutors said the money ? which was not fully repaid ? amounted to a bribe.

Prosecutors also said Lei took two other bribes ? one of $10,000 and another of 100,000 yuan ($16,000) ? in return for favors granted through his government position, but it is Lei's sex scandal and the scheme behind it that have captivated member of the Chinese public, who are disgusted by what they see as the moral degradation of those in power.

Verdicts were expected to be announced later Friday in a separate case against the woman and the men behind the alleged extortion scheme.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-official-sex-case-gets-prison-bribery-040755134.html

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AP Interview: Moniz sees coal's 'significant role'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Thursday that coal will continue to play a major role in meeting America's energy needs even as the Obama administration seeks to reduce carbon emissions and combat global warming.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Moniz dismissed claims from Republicans and some coal-state Democrats that President Barack Obama's climate plan amounted to a war on coal. He said he and the president "strongly support an all-of-the above energy policy" that embraces traditional energy sources such as coal, oil and nuclear power, as well as renewables such as solar, wind and hydro.

"The president made clear that we anticipate that coal and other fossil fuels are going to play a significant role for quite some time on the way to a very low carbon economy," he said.

Specifically, the administration plans to offer up to $8 billion in loan guarantees for technologies that can keep carbon dioxide produced by power plants from being released into the atmosphere, Moniz said. Several "carbon capture" demonstration projects are now underway, including a large plant in Port Arthur, Texas, that began operations in December.

"It's not going to happen tomorrow, but I believe in this decade we will have demonstrated the viability of large-scale storage" of carbon-dioxide from industrial operations, Moniz said.

Obama's far-reaching plan would for the first time put limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants, while expanding development of renewable energy on public lands.

Forty percent of U.S. carbon emissions, and one-third of greenhouse gases overall, come from electric power plants, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by coal.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that the plan "will shutter power plants, destroy good-paying American jobs and raise electricity bills for families that can scarcely afford it. "

And Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has called Obama's proposals "irresponsible" and said they would result in significant job losses in his coal-heavy state.

"The regulations the president wants to force on coal are not feasible," Manchin said.

He said the proposed regulations on coal cannot be met with existing technology.

Moniz said he was sympathetic to that point of view, saying a key part of the president's strategy is to push technical innovations such as carbon storage. "We have an aggressive technology department program that will lower the cost of doing that," he said.

He cited a study by the U.S. Geological Survey showing that the United States has the potential to store about 3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in geologic basins throughout the country. The study, released this week, said the largest potential for storage is in Texas and the Southeast. Alaska and the Rocky Mountain states also have significant storage capacity.

The administration also will move more aggressively to make factories and appliances more energy efficient, Moniz said. Obama said he wants to avoid the equivalent of 3 billion tons of carbon pollution by 2030 through increased efficiency.

Environmental groups and congressional Democrats have complained that the White House was holding up a host of Energy Department regulations that would require appliances, lighting and buildings to use less energy. Many of the regulations, including proposed efficiency standards for commercial walk-in coolers and freezers, have been delayed for more than a year.

Moniz acknowledged the delay, but said, "The president's plan gives us a strong motivation to move these out quickly."

Moniz also pledged quick action on a slew of proposals to export liquefied natural gas. Just two projects have been approved in the past two years, a pace that energy companies call glacial.

"I have said, and I repeat, that we expect to have significant action this year on a case by case basis," Moniz said. "We understand there are lots of people waiting with capital ready to come off the sidelines and start investing in projects."

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-moniz-sees-coals-significant-role-201052527.html

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Windows Store recommendations could one day reflect your usage patterns

Yesterday was the day Microsoft made Windows 8.1 available as a public download; today's the day we ask "what's next?" Here at the company's annual Build developer conference, we sat down with Ted Dworkin, the man who oversees the Windows Store, to do a deeper dive on the store's latest redesign. In particular, we were curious about that new Bing-powered recommendaton engine, and how it might become smarter over time. What ensued was a Pandora's box of a brainstorming session. Naturally, Dworkin wouldn't make any promises about what we'll see in future updates, but he did offer some compelling ideas about how Microsoft could take people's usage patterns into account when recommending apps. For instance, while Windows already knows which applications you've downloaded, a future version of the store might also be aware of which apps you use most frequently, which ones you've uninstalled, which ones you've shared, which ones you've pinned, which ones you've unpinned, et cetera. On a privacy note, the recommendation engine is already optional, so there's no reason why you couldn't disable this kind of data collection too.

For starters, this an interesting idea for the developers attending Build this week -- there are definitely people out there who download apps because they're testing them (or reviewing them) and not because they plan on using them every day. Even more broadly, though, who among us hasn't gone on a downloading spree, just to see what they liked? With usage patterns taken into account, you might get more useful picks, ones that ignore that random Twitter client or Angry Birds game you installed. Again, Dworkin wouldn't say for sure if Microsoft plans on implementing any of this, but our vote would be "yes" if it leads to more recommendations we'd actually use.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/27/microsoft-could-improve-windows-store-recommendations-usage-patterns/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Snowden mystery deepens: All eyes on airport

Transit passengers eat at a cafe with a TV screen with a news program showing a report on Edward Snowden, in the background, at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Transit passengers eat at a cafe with a TV screen with a news program showing a report on Edward Snowden, in the background, at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Transit passengers check into a hotel at the transit zone in Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

An airport worker passes a TV screen with a news program showing a report on Edward Snowden at Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

A transit passenger takes a photo with a mobile phone in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Transit passengers rest in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo,airport in Moscow Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Russia?s President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but media that descended on the airport in the search for him couldn?t locate him there.(AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

MOSCOW (AP) ? Moscow's main airport swarmed with journalists from around the globe Wednesday, but the man they were looking for ? National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden ? was nowhere to be seen. The mystery of his whereabouts only deepened a day after President Vladimir Putin said that Snowden was in the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport.

An Associated Press reporter entered the area Wednesday by flying in from Kiev, Ukraine, and found ordinary scenes of duty free shopping, snoozing travelers and tourists sipping coffee, but no trace of America's most famous fugitive. If Putin's statement is true, it means that Snowden has effectively lived a life of airport limbo since his weekend flight from Hong Kong, especially with his American passport now revoked by U.S. authorities.

Adding to the uncertainty, Ecuador's foreign minister said Wednesday it could take months to decide whether to grant asylum to Snowden and that the Latin American nation would take into consideration its relations with the U.S. when doing so. Speaking during a visit to Malaysia's main city, Kuala Lumpur, Ricardo Patino compared Snowden's case to that of Julian Assange, the founder of anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, who has been given asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

"It took us two months to make a decision in the case of Assange, so do not expect us to make a decision sooner this time," Patino told reporters.

Snowden, who is charged with violating American espionage laws, fled Hong Kong over the weekend and flew to Russia. He booked a seat on a Havana-bound flight Monday en route to Venezuela, but didn't board the plane. His ultimate destination was believed to be Ecuador.

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa shot back at critics on Wednesday, taking special aim at a Washington Post editorial that described him as "the autocratic leader of tiny, impoverished Ecuador" and accused him of a double standard for considering asylum for Snowden while stifling critics at home.

"The shamelessness of the century: Washington Post accuses Ecuador of double standard," Correa said on his Twitter page.

As a contractor for the NSA, Snowden gained access to documents that he gave to the Post and the Guardian to expose what he contends are privacy violations by an authoritarian government.

Correa complained that the international press "has managed to focus attention on Snowden and on those 'wicked' countries that 'aid' him, making us forget the terrible things against the U.S. people and the whole world that he denounced."

The airport zone where Snowden is purportedly staying serves both connecting passengers traveling via Moscow to onward destinations and passengers departing from Moscow who have passed border and security checks.

The huge area unites three terminals: the modern, recently built D and E, and the older, less comfortable F, which dates to the Soviet era. The transit and departure area is essentially a long corridor, with boarding gates on one side and gleaming duty free shops, luxury clothing boutiques and souvenir stores selling Russian Matryoshka dolls on the other. About a dozen restaurants owned by local and foreign chains serve various tastes.

Hundreds of Russian and foreign tourists awaited flights here, some stretched out on rows of gray chairs, others sipping hot drinks at coffee shops or looking out through giant windows as silver-blue Aeroflot planes land and take off.

Business ran as usual at the terminals on Wednesday morning. An Asian girl, about 10 years old, slept peacefully on her father's lap. A middle-aged mother and her teenage daughter tried out perfume samples at a duty free store, while nearby a woman in a green dress picked out a pair of designer sunglasses. A pilot was buying lunch at Burger King.

Putin insisted Tuesday that Snowden has stayed in the transit zone without passing through Russian immigration and is free to travel wherever he likes. But the U.S. move to annul Snowden's passport may have severely complicated his travel plans. Exiting the transit area would either require boarding a plane or passing through border control. Both require a valid passport or other documentation.

Hordes of journalists armed with laptops and photo and video cameras have camped in and around the airport, looking for Snowden or anyone who may have seen or talked to him. But after talking to passengers, airport personnel, waiters and shop clerks, the press corps has discovered no sign of the leaker.

Russian news agencies, citing unidentified sources, reported that Snowden was staying at a hotel in the transit terminal, but he was not seen at the zone's only hotel, called Air Express. It offers several dozen capsule-style spaces that passengers can rent for a few hours to catch some sleep. Hotel staff refused to say whether Snowden was staying there or had stayed there in the past.

"We only saw lots of journalists, that's for sure," said Maxim, a waiter at the Shokoladnitsa diner not far from Air Express. He declined to give his last name because he wasn't allowed to talk to reporters.

The departure and transit area is huge and has dozens of small rooms, some labeled "authorized personnel only," where someone could potentially seek refuge with support from airport staff or security personnel. And security forces or police patrolling the area can easily whisk a person out of sight through back doors or corridors.

There are also a few VIP lounge areas, accessible to business-class passengers or people willing to pay some $20 per hour. Snowden was not seen in those areas.

Sheremetyevo's press service declined to comment on Snowden's whereabouts. A policeman at the airport laughed off a question from an AP reporter about where he might be. "Journalists have searched this place for three days and have found nothing. Was he ever here in the first place?" the policeman asked. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Hong Kong officials said they allowed Snowden to leave for Moscow because the U.S. government got his middle name wrong in documents it submitted seeking his arrest. Hong Kong immigration records listed Snowden's middle name as Joseph, but the U.S. government used the name James in some documents and referred to him only as Edward J. Snowden in others, Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen said. The U.S. also did not provide his passport number and did not respond to requests for clarification, Yuen said.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks gave a terse update on Snowden earlier on Wednesday, saying in a statement posted to Twitter that he was "well."

WikiLeaks says that one of its staffers, Sarah Harrison, was traveling with Snowden, but the statement gave no indication if the update came from her, from Snowden, or from some other source. WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson did not immediately return a call and a text seeking further comment.

In a conference call with reporters on Monday, Assange said he was limited in what he could say about Snowden due to security concerns. He denied reports that Snowden was spending his time at the airport being debriefed by Russian intelligence officers.

_____

Yoong reported from Kuala Lumpur. Lynn Berry in Moscow and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-26-NSA-Surveillance/id-d0f1ecbdb3944b33a4e38474c6458f55

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Teenage physical fitness reduces the risk of suicidal behavior later in life

Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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Contact: Maria ?berg
mab@neuro.gu.se
46-709-668-274
University of Gothenburg

Being in good physical shape at 18 years of age can be linked with a reduced risk of attempted suicide later in life. So says a study of over one million Swedish men conducted by researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

A new, extensive report from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare on child and adolescent health shows that teenagers and young adults in Sweden have worse mental health than their age cohorts in other western countries.

Another report that is part of a new social welfare study shows that the number of serious suicide attempts among 19-23 year olds with activity compensation has increased from 115 per year to 460 per year in Sweden between 1995-2010.

At the same time, the number of suicides in the 10 to 45 age group increased. Even the percentage of young people with no activity compensation who attempted to take their life increased.

In order to break this trend, research has now focused on the factors that can prevent mental illness and the risk of suicidal behavior.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have been able to use a study of 1,136,527 Swedish men to show that there is a link between exercising as a young person and a reduced risk of suicidal behavior later in life.

"Being in poor physical shape at 18 years of age, measured as the test results on an exercise bike during their medical exam for compulsory military service, can be linked to a risk of suicidal behavior as an adult that is 1.8 times greater," says Margda Waern, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

The study shows that the increased risk was evident even 42 years after the exam for military service.

It has previously been shown that physical exercise has a highly positive effect on brain function, e.g. more nerve cells are developed with physical exercise.

"The teenage years are a critical period in terms of brain development since this is when social and emotional faculties are established. Therefore, it was important to do a larger study on the importance of physical fitness in terms of suicidal behavior in this age group," says Maria berg, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy who led the study together with Professor Margda Waern.

In the study, which covers all Swedish men born between 1950 and 1987 who completed the previously mandatory exam, researchers compared the results from physical tests during the exam with the national registers of disease and death.

By carefully examining the roughly 340,000 brothers who took part in the study, researchers were able to study how hereditary factors and the home environment affect this relationship.

In a much discussed study published in 2012, the researcher group showed that good physical fitness as a teenager can also be linked to decreased risk of severe depression later in life.

"But even when we exclude individuals who suffer from severe depression in connection with suicide or attempted suicide, the link between poor physical shape and an increased risk of suicidal behavior remains," says Margda Waern.

While depression is a particularly strong predictor of suicidal behavior in later life, the picture among younger people is complex and many factors are involved. "One theory is that the brain becomes more resistant to different types of stress if you are physically active," says Maria berg.

Researchers think that physical exercise should be considered in suicide prevention projects aimed at young people.

The new findings are supported by earlier cross-sectional studies where teenagers are interviewed about their physical fitness connected with the risk for suicidal thoughts.

The article Cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood and future suicidal behavior in men followed up to 42 years was published in Psychological Medicine.

Contact:

Maria berg
researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy
University of Gothenburg and physician at by district health center in Mlndal
+4610-47 33 960
+46709-668274
mab@neuro.gu.se,

Margda Waern
psychiatrist and professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy
University of Gothenburg
+4631-342 21 64
+46702-272205
margda.Waern@neuro.gu.se

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Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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Contact: Maria ?berg
mab@neuro.gu.se
46-709-668-274
University of Gothenburg

Being in good physical shape at 18 years of age can be linked with a reduced risk of attempted suicide later in life. So says a study of over one million Swedish men conducted by researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

A new, extensive report from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare on child and adolescent health shows that teenagers and young adults in Sweden have worse mental health than their age cohorts in other western countries.

Another report that is part of a new social welfare study shows that the number of serious suicide attempts among 19-23 year olds with activity compensation has increased from 115 per year to 460 per year in Sweden between 1995-2010.

At the same time, the number of suicides in the 10 to 45 age group increased. Even the percentage of young people with no activity compensation who attempted to take their life increased.

In order to break this trend, research has now focused on the factors that can prevent mental illness and the risk of suicidal behavior.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have been able to use a study of 1,136,527 Swedish men to show that there is a link between exercising as a young person and a reduced risk of suicidal behavior later in life.

"Being in poor physical shape at 18 years of age, measured as the test results on an exercise bike during their medical exam for compulsory military service, can be linked to a risk of suicidal behavior as an adult that is 1.8 times greater," says Margda Waern, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

The study shows that the increased risk was evident even 42 years after the exam for military service.

It has previously been shown that physical exercise has a highly positive effect on brain function, e.g. more nerve cells are developed with physical exercise.

"The teenage years are a critical period in terms of brain development since this is when social and emotional faculties are established. Therefore, it was important to do a larger study on the importance of physical fitness in terms of suicidal behavior in this age group," says Maria berg, researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy who led the study together with Professor Margda Waern.

In the study, which covers all Swedish men born between 1950 and 1987 who completed the previously mandatory exam, researchers compared the results from physical tests during the exam with the national registers of disease and death.

By carefully examining the roughly 340,000 brothers who took part in the study, researchers were able to study how hereditary factors and the home environment affect this relationship.

In a much discussed study published in 2012, the researcher group showed that good physical fitness as a teenager can also be linked to decreased risk of severe depression later in life.

"But even when we exclude individuals who suffer from severe depression in connection with suicide or attempted suicide, the link between poor physical shape and an increased risk of suicidal behavior remains," says Margda Waern.

While depression is a particularly strong predictor of suicidal behavior in later life, the picture among younger people is complex and many factors are involved. "One theory is that the brain becomes more resistant to different types of stress if you are physically active," says Maria berg.

Researchers think that physical exercise should be considered in suicide prevention projects aimed at young people.

The new findings are supported by earlier cross-sectional studies where teenagers are interviewed about their physical fitness connected with the risk for suicidal thoughts.

The article Cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood and future suicidal behavior in men followed up to 42 years was published in Psychological Medicine.

Contact:

Maria berg
researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy
University of Gothenburg and physician at by district health center in Mlndal
+4610-47 33 960
+46709-668274
mab@neuro.gu.se,

Margda Waern
psychiatrist and professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy
University of Gothenburg
+4631-342 21 64
+46702-272205
margda.Waern@neuro.gu.se

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/uog-tpf062613.php

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Qatar's new emir: No major change in policies

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? Qatar's new ruler emphasized his commitment to the Gulf nation's policies Wednesday, suggesting no major changes in its role as a leading backer for Syrian rebels, even as activists say the civil war's death has surpassed 100,000.

In his first public address since taking a day earlier, the 33-year-old emir, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said the shift in leadership "doesn't mean the challenges and the tests at hand have changed."

Sheik Tamim's decisions will be closely watched for any signs of new priorities in a country that has used vast energy riches to surge on the world stage as a regional political powerhouse. It provided key support for rebel forces in Libya in 2011 and is now a main sponsor of Syrian rebel forces seeking to topple the regime of Bashar Assad.

The new emir mentioned Qatar's support for Palestinians ? whose rival factions opened reconciliation talks brokered by Qatar last year ? while giving indirect but clear signals that its Syria policies will remain in force by saying Qatar backs the "aspirations of Arab people to live in freedom."

Qatar last week hosted a Syrian opposition conference whose participants included U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Qatar is a hub for the anti-Assad political leadership and played a central role in March in crafting an Arab League decision to transfer Syria's seat to opposition forces.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that has been tracking the death toll over 27 months of conflict, said it has now tallied more than 100,000 dead in the fighting. The group's count includes 36,661 civilians and 25,407 members of Assad's armed forces.

Sheik Tamim took power Tuesday with the abdication of his 61-year-old father, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, in a stunning transition that thrust a new generation into the forefront of Middle Eastern affairs.

The new emir is now expected to move quickly to name his inner circle, possibly putting his own stamp on the top political and diplomatic posts.

The Doha-based Al-Jazeera television ? which was founded by Qatar's government ? reported that Sheik Tamim will select the country's top domestic affairs official for the powerful prime minister role. The possible choice of Sheik Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani could hint at a greater emphasis on internal issues, such as development projects, after aggressive outward-looking policies and investments.

Al-Jazeera also reported that the emir's choice for foreign minister is likely Khaled al-Attiyah, now the minister of state for foreign affairs.

Qatar has made no official announcements on appointments, but Al-Jazeera is close to the country's leadership and often reflects internal decisions.

Such moves would mark the departure of one of Qatar's most prominent figures, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, who served in the dual roles as prime minister and foreign minister and was one of the architects of the country's surge onto the world stage over the past decade.

Sheik Hamad and the former emir are expected to retain important roles behind the scenes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/qatars-emir-no-major-change-policies-170819324.html

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'70s Show' star parks on freeway, is arrested

Celebs

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper TODAY

22 hours ago

Handout via AP

Lisa Robin Kelly is shown in the mug shot from her November 2012 assault arrest.

Sometimes cars must stand still on the freeway -- but only when traffic forces the issue. In the case of former "That '70s Show" star Lisa Robin Kelly, it was purposeful parking in a lane of Interstate 5 near Burbank, Calif., that caused problems.

The actress, who played Eric's older sister, Laurie, on the sitcom, was arrested after apparently parking on the freeway Saturday night, E! has confirmed.

The California Highway Patrol responded to calls about Kelly's car blocking the lane. She reportedly failed a field sobriety test and was arrested for driving under the influence.

Kelly, 43, has been in trouble with the law several times recently. She pled guilty to DUI in 2010 in North Carolina. In March of 2012, she was arrested on a felony charge of corporal injury upon a spouse and released on bail. The L.A. County district attorney declined to file charges in that case.

In November 2012, Kelly and her husband were both arrested for assault after a disturbance at their North Carolina home. They were later released on bond.

After the 2010 DUI arrest, which included the release of a wild-haired mug shot of Kelly, the actress said she was embarrassed, but was not abusing drugs or alcohol at the time. "My poor mother has to look at that picture of me," she told ABC News in 2012. "That doesn't look like me. That's not me."

Kelly left her regular role on the sitcom in 2003, made a few appearances later, and was eventually replaced. She told ABC News that she lost a baby during her time on the show and as a result, " I lost everything and I was abusing alcohol."

She also said she hoped for an acting comeback.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/70s-show-star-arrested-after-parking-l-freeway-6C10424016

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Tim O'Brien wins $100,000 military writing prize

NEW YORK (AP) ? A $100,000 prize for military writing has been awarded to an author of fiction.

Tim O'Brien, known for books such as "The Things They Carried" and "In the Lake of the Woods," has received the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award.

The honor, announced Tuesday, has previously been given to acclaimed historians such as James McPherson and Rick Atkinson. O'Brien is the first fiction writer to win.

The 66-year-old O'Brien served in the Vietnam War from 1968-70 and often draws directly on his experiences as a soldier.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tim-obrien-wins-100-000-military-writing-prize-131612933.html

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Brian Shaw gets first crack at head coaching job

DENVER (AP) ? At long last, Brian Shaw is getting his first chance to coach an NBA team.

The former guard for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson pupil has agreed to succeed George Karl as coach of the Denver Nuggets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday night because the deal hadn't been officially announced.

Still, it was the buzz of the basketball world.

"I think the Nuggets are going to benefit from his tenure," Jackson tweeted.

"So great to see Brian Shaw rewarded with this long overdue opportunity," Pacers coach Frank Vogel told The AP in a text. "Congrats to Brian and the Nuggets. Denver just got one of the best head coaches this league will see for years to come."

The Denver Post first announced the agreement with Shaw, the Indiana Pacers assistant who told the newspaper he's been "prepared by the best of the best" for his first NBA head coaching job, adding "I feel like I've waited and paid my dues."

Shaw is a longtime assistant who has interviewed about a dozen times for head coaching positions but kept coming up short until Monday.

He beat out Lionel Hollins, the former Memphis Grizzlies coach.

The Nuggets called a news conference for Tuesday afternoon, where team president Josh Kroenke and newly hired general manager Tim Connelly will introduce their new coach.

Shaw replaces Karl, who was ousted June 6 just weeks after winning the league's Coach of the Year award.

Shaw inherits a young team loaded with talent that won a franchise-record 57 games but lost Danilo Gallinari to a knee injury down the stretch and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years.

Gallinari recently underwent surgery and is expected back in December.

The Nuggets have been a state of flux all summer after they were knocked off by the Golden State Warriors in six games in the first round of the playoffs.

First, Masai Ujiri, who engineered the win-win trade of Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks, left the Nuggets' front office for the GM job in Toronto. Ujiri was the league's Executive of the Year.

Less than a week later, Kroenke fired Karl.

Ujiri's right-hand man, Pete D'Allesandro, then took the Sacramento Kings' GM job and took Denver executive Mike Bratz with him.

Also, the Nuggets' top perimeter defender, Andre Iguodala, decided to opt out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, although he could return to Denver on a five-year deal while the most he could get elsewhere is a four-year contract.

Shaw, 47, owns five NBA championship rings as a player and assistant coach. A first-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics in 1988, Shaw played for eight teams in his 14 NBA seasons.

As Vogel's top assistant, Shaw drew praise for his work with rising star Paul George last season. The Pacers forward was an All-Star and helped lead Indiana to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took the eventual champion Miami Heat to seven games.

Although he has deep roots with the triangle offense that Jackson featured with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers, Shaw told the Denver Post he won't use that system with the Nuggets, who thrived in a fast-paced, free-flowing system under Karl.

Shaw played at St. Mary's and UC Santa Barbara before an NBA career that lasted from 1988 to 2003. He was a member of the Lakers' three championship teams in the early 2000s and Jackson hired him as an assistant after he retired.

He won two more titles with L.A. as an assistant coach and when Jackson retired from the Lakers in 2011, Kobe Bryant voiced his support for Shaw becoming Jackson's successor, but he was passed over for that promotion.

___

AP Sports Writer Michael Marot contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brian-shaw-gets-first-crack-head-coaching-job-020807878.html

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Which bathroom should transgendered students use? | The Daily ...

• 

Maine?s highest court will soon decide which restroom Nicole Maines, a 15-year-old transgendered student, should use.

Last week the state supreme court heard oral arguments about whether a school district violated her civil rights when it forbid her from using the girl?s restroom. She was in fifth grade at the time.

Maines is biologically male but has identified as female since she was very young. As such, she wished to use the girl?s restroom. State law, however, mandates that boys and girls use separate facilities. Her school told her to use the staff restroom instead.

These requirements violate the Maine Human Rights Act, which bars gender discrimination in schools, claim the Maines family and their supporters, including the Maine Human Rights Commission and various LGBT groups.

?At the core of this case is whether the promise of equal educational opportunities for transgender students is realized,? said Jennifer Levi, director of the Transgender Rights Project for the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, in a statement.

Maines said that she felt singled out and embarrassed because of the restroom policy.

?I hope they understood how important it is for students to be able to go to school and get an education and have fun and make friends, and not have to worry about being bullied by students or administration, and be accepted for who they are,? she said in a statement.

Maines enjoys the full support of her family, including her twin brother, who is not transgendered.

Her father was hopeful that the court would side with them.

?It has been extremely difficult, but I?m pleased to be here and to have our case heard, and I?m very hopeful for a good outcome,? said Wayne Maines in a statement.

The state supreme court is the next step for the Maines family, who lost in superior court earlier this year. The court sided with district administrators, who maintain that they are only upholding state law. To properly resolve the restroom issue for trangendered students, legislative action is required, they argued.

Reconciling transgendered students with school policies has become a thorny issue as of late. The family of a transgendered first-grader in Colorado is also suing the school district over restroom usage.

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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact?licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Source: http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/16/which-bathroom-should-transgendered-students-use/

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'Curb Your Enthusiasm' actor Jeff Garlin arrested

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Los Angeles police say "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actor and comedian Jeff Garlin has been arrested on a felony vandalism charge after a dispute with another motorist over a parking space.

Police Sgt. Harry Rosenfeld says the 51-year-old actor was arrested for allegedly smashing the windows of the other person's car. Rosenfeld says officers arrested Garlin in Studio City on Saturday.

Garlin was jailed on $20,000 bail. It wasn't clear from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's website if he had been released. Garlin's publicists didn't immediately respond to phone and email messages Sunday.

Garlin played Larry David's friend and manager on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and was the show's co-executive producer. He's also appeared frequently on "Arrested Development" and numerous other television shows.

TMZ first reported his arrest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-16-US-People-Jeff-Garlin/id-0fe8b5ccafa9468fb2117862d47706ee

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Riot police clear out Istanbul park protest

ISTANBUL (AP) ? Protesters set up barricades and plumes of tear gas rose in Istanbul's streets into the early hours Sunday after Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannons cleared out the occupation of a park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure.

For more than two weeks, protesters had flouted Erdogan's warnings to vacate the area around the city's Taksim Square. On Saturday evening, he ran out of patience. As dusk fell, hundreds of white-helmeted riot police swept through Taksim Square and Gezi Park, firing canisters of the acrid, stinging gas as they stormed through the tents set up throughout the park.

Thousands of peaceful protesters, choking on the fumes and stumbling among the tents, put up little physical resistance, even as plain-clothes police manhandled many to drive them from the park.

The protests began as an environmental sit-in to prevent a development project at Gezi Park, but have quickly spread to dozens of cities and spiraled into a broader expression of discontent about what many say is Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian decision-making. He vehemently denies the charge, pointing to his strong support base which allowed him to win his third consecutive term with 50 percent of the vote in 2011.

As police cleared the square, many ran into nearby hotels for shelter. A stand-off developed at one hotel on the edge of the park, where police opened up with water cannons against protesters and journalists outside before throwing tear gas at the entrance, filling the lobby with white smoke. At other hotels, plain-clothes policemen turned up outside, demanding the protesters come out.

Some protesters ran off into nearby streets, setting up makeshift barricades and running from water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets into Sunday. Plumes of white tear gas rose from the streets.

As news of the raid broke, thousands of people from other parts of Istanbul gathered and were attempting to reach Taksim. Television showed footage of riot police firing tear gas on a highway and bridge across the Bosphorus to prevent protesters from heading to the area.

Demonstrations also erupted in other cities. In Ankara, at least 3,000 people swarmed into John F. Kennedy street, where opposition party legislators sat down at the front of the crowd facing the riot police ? not far from Parliament. In Izmir, thousands converged at a seafront square.

Near Gezi, ambulances ferried the injured to hospitals as police set up cordons and roadblocks around the park, preventing anyone from getting close.

Tayfun Kahraman, a member of Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest movements, said an untold number of people in the park had been injured ? some from rubber bullets.

"Let them keep the park, we don't care anymore. Let it all be theirs. This crackdown has to stop. The people are in a terrible state," he told The Associated Press by phone.

Taksim Solidarity, on its Web site, called the incursion "atrocious" and counted hundreds of injured ? which it called a provisional estimate ? as well as an undetermined number of arrests. Istanbul governor's office said at least 44 people were taken to hospitals for treatment. None of them were in serious condition, it said in a statement.

Huseyin Celik, the spokesman for Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, told NTV that the sit-in had to end.

"They had made their voice heard ... Our government could not have allowed such an occupation to go on until the end," he said.

As the tear gas settled, bulldozers moved into the park, scooping up debris and loading it into trucks. Crews of workmen in fluorescent yellow vests and plain-clothes police went through the abandoned belongings, opening bags and searching their contents before tearing down the tents, food centers and library the protesters had set up in what had become a bustling tent city.

It was a violent police raid on May 31 against a small sit-in in Gezi Park that sparked the initial outrage and spiraled into a much broader protest. While those in the park have now fled, it was unclear whether their fervor had been doused, whether they would take their movement to other places, or try to return to the park at a later time.

The protests, which left at least four people dead and more than 5,000 injured, have dented Erdogan's international reputation and infuriated him with a previously unseen defiance to his rule.

Saturday's raid came less than two hours after Erdogan threatened protesters in a boisterous speech in Sincan, an Ankara suburb that is a stronghold of his party.

"I say this very clearly: either Taksim Square is cleared, or if it isn't cleared then the security forces of this country will know how to clear it," he told tens of thousands of supporters at a political rally.

A second pro-government rally is planned in Istanbul Sunday. Erdogan has said the rallies were not designed as "an alternative" to the demonstrations at Gezi Park, but part of early campaigning for local elections next March ? though he used the occasion to both criticize the protesters and praise his supporters.

"You are here, and you are spoiling the treacherous plot, the treacherous attack!" he told the cheering crowd, insisting unspecified groups both inside and outside Turkey had conspired to mount the protests ? and that he had the documents to prove it.

The crowd chanted in response: "Stand straight, don't bow, the people are with you!"

According to the government's redevelopment plan for Taksim Square that caused the sit-in, the park would be replaced with a replica Ottoman-era barracks. Under initial plans, the construction would have housed a shopping mall, though that has since been amended to the possibility of an opera house, a theater and a museum with cafes.

On Friday, Erdogan offered to defer to a court ruling on the legality of the government's contested park redevelopment plan, and floated the possibility of a referendum on it. The protesters felt those concessions were not enough, however, and vowed to press on. But that was before the raid ousted them.

___

Keaten reported from Ankara, Turkey. Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/riot-police-clear-istanbul-park-protest-064712497.html

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Koge Looks To Shake Up The Vitamin Industry With Subscription Service, Personalized Combinations

Vitamin sales is big business: in the U.S. alone in 2012, it was worth $9.3 billion in sales, and the opportunity is only growing, as more consumers turn to preventative medicine and health strategies in the face of tightening budgets and less access to health care. Toronto startup Koge wants to revolutionize the process of vitamin sales, using the recently-popular subscription goods model, along with leveraging data analytics for personalization.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/foYpArUHYDI/

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EU investigating Google over Android licensing

Android Licensing Dispute

European officials are investigating Google over allegations that it has anti-competitive deals in place with various smartphone vendors, the Financial Times reported. Microsoft and Nokia?reportedly claim that Google is forcing Android vendors to delay the launch of smartphones based on competing operating systems. The commission will also investigate whether the company has agreements in place that require its manufacturing partners to preload?Google?s services on their devices. A Google spokesperson denied the allegations, citing the open source philosophy of Android. A company spokesperson explained to the Financial Times that ?handset makers, carriers and consumers can decide how to use Android, including which applications they want to use.?

[More from BGR: Design expert on iOS 7: The critics just don?t get it]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-investigating-google-over-android-licensing-003038089.html

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IMF: US economy improving but tax increases a drag

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The International Monetary Fund says the U.S. economy is on sounder footing than it was a year ago but is still being restrained by government spending cuts and tax increases.

The IMF's annual report on the U.S. economy says the underlying fundamentals are gradually improving: Home prices and construction are rising, household finances have strengthened and employers are steadily adding jobs.

Still, the IMF forecasts growth of just 1.9 percent this year, the same as in its report in April. That would be down from 2.2 percent in 2012. And it's below many private economists' expectations that the U.S. economy will grow more than 2 percent this year.

The IMF says the tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in this year will shave about 1.5 percentage points from growth.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/imf-us-economy-improving-tax-increases-drag-150103368.html

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Does the PRISM leak expose the NSA's surveillance program to ...

Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old NSA contractor behind the PRISM leak, broke his long silence last week because he wanted Americans to know just how completely their privacy has been eviscerated in the name of security. "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them," he told the Guardian in an interview. "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon, and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."

But by detailing the mammoth electronic surveillance program that, as he told the Washington Post, "quite literally" allows the NSA to "watch your ideas form as you type," Snowden also hoped to make possible a legal challenge to the surveillance state -- one that had previously been hampered by the thorny question of standing. In that, however, Snowden may ultimately come up short.

On Feb. 26, the Supreme Court ruled in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA that Americans lacked standing to challenge an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that authorized electronic surveillance of non-U.S. citizens abroad -- but which inevitably resulted in the surveillance of persons inside the United States -- because, in essence, the snooping was classified and therefore couldn't be proven to exist. As Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion, "respondents fail to offer any evidence that their communications have been monitored" under the expanded version of FISA. Theirs, according to Alito, was a "highly speculative fear."

The decision split the court 5 to 4, with Justice Stephen Breyer, joined by the remainder of the court's liberal wing, dissenting. In Breyer's view, the standard adopted by the majority -- that the harm to respondents (being snooped on) must be "certainly impending" -- "is not, and never has been, the touchstone of standing." And even if it was, he writes, "this harm is not 'speculative.' Indeed it is as likely to take place as are most future events that commonsense inference and ordinary knowledge of human nature tell us will happen." ?

Snowden's revelations would seem to remove all doubt that Americans have been swept up in the NSA's colossal dragnet. Even if we accept the vigorous protestations of both the Obama administration and the tech companies allegedly participating in PRISM, the surveillance program has at least been partially declassified and acknowledged to impact at least some unsuspecting citizens.

According to the fact sheet released by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the relevant provisions of FISA contain "minimization procedures" that "govern how the Intelligence Community (IC) treats the information concerning any U.S. persons whose communications might be incidentally intercepted and regulate the handling of any nonpublic information concerning U.S. persons that is acquired, including whether information concerning a U.S. person can be disseminated."

"Significantly," the fact sheet continues, "the dissemination of information about U.S. persons is expressly prohibited unless it is necessary to understand foreign intelligence or assess its importance, is evidence of a crime, or indicates a threat of death or serious bodily harm." In other words, the government can, without an individual warrant, disseminate intelligence "incidentally" intercepted about American citizens living within U.S. borders so long as that intelligence implicates them in a crime, informs foreign intelligence, or represents a serious threat.

Yet despite such revelations, future plaintiffs seeking to challenge the NSA's surveillance program on First or Fourth Amendment grounds will still likely run up against the problem of standing, according to legal experts. As Lyle Denniston, a legal journalist and constitutional advisor to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, told FP in an email: "The near-universality of the surveillance here does not count as evidence of who was monitored, in a factual sense.?These new revelations are not sufficiently different from the program at issue in the Clapper decision, so that decision very likely dooms any challenge."

"The Clapper decision rules out any reliance upon probability of being overheard, so it is difficult, given the secrecy of the program, to imagine that anyone can show they actually were monitored," writes Denniston. ?

Stephen Vladeck, a law professor and the dean for scholarship at American University, had a similar take: "I don't think that the PRISM leaks will directly bear on the standing issue identified by the Supreme Court in Clapper, because even with what is now publicly known about the program, individual plaintiffs will still have the same problem -- proving that their communications, in particular, have been, or will be, intercepted," he wrote in an email. ?

Still, Vladeck cautions, judges "don't live in a vacuum." Even if individual plaintiffs will still face an uphill battle, "courts going forward may not be nearly as skeptical of the possibility that this kind of systematic interception of communications is really going on." At the same time, he writes, the revelations "certainly makes it that much harder ... to buy into Justice Alito's rather rose-colored vision of the scope of governmental surveillance."

While Snowden's big leaks may not turn the legal tables on the NSA, we can be virtually certain that they will be at the center of future lawsuits seeking to rein in the surveillance state. Already, Larry Klayman, a former Justice Department prosecutor and the founder of Judicial Watch, has expanded his lawsuit against the Obama administration to cover the NSA's monitoring of Verizon call logs, disclosed by the Guardian last week. It's only a matter of time before PRISM is at the heart of a similar suit. ??

Source: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/06/10/does_edward_snowden_leak_expose_nsa_s_surveillance_program_to_legal_challenge

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How is Your Home Performing? - County Living Magazine

There Is a Solution for High Energy Bills and Comfort Problems

Home performance is a whole-house approach to identifying and fixing comfort and energy efficiency problems in a home. For a home to perform correctly, all systems including furnaces, air conditioners, windows, insulation, bathroom fans and more must work together in harmony. Furnaces depend on insulation to retain the heat they generate. Insulation needs air sealing to allow it to work properly. If one link in the chain is broken, everything works less effectively.

Building Science Testing is a process to identify the causes of comfort and energy use problems. A Home Energy Audit assesses these home comfort and efficiency factors:

Air Sealing
The average home leaks enough air in a day to fill a Goodyear blimp. Your home is probably leaking air, reducing efficiency of your heating and cooling system. Air sealing is the first step to an energy-efficient home.

Insulation
Properly installed insulation is also important to an energy-efficient home. Find out how much insulation you have, how it?s performing and whether you need more.

Duct Sealing
The average duct system leaks up to 30% of the air that passes through it. Leaking ducts in hot attics or cool crawlspaces not only waste energy, but reduce comfort and are also a chief cause of poor air quality.

Crawlspace Sealing
Cold floors can be caused by unsealed crawlspaces below. They can also lead to poor air quality, comfort and energy efficiency in your home. Sealing your crawlspace prevents moisture and air infiltration.

Furnace and Air Conditioning Systems
A right-sized heating and cooling system makes a huge difference in your home ? too small or too large can reduce your comfort, and your bills could skyrocket.

Solving the Problems
So, who do you call to make your home more efficient or solve comfort problems??A roofer will probably sell you a new roof. A window company will sell you new windows and a heating company a new furnace. A company that only performs home energy audits might be able to identify problems, but most likely would not be expert in providing solutions.

SmartHouse is a St. Louis company that eliminates the guesswork. They use Building Science Testing to provide actionable information to create the best plan for your home. A SmartHouse Home Energy Audit is the first step to help you find the exact causes of common comfort problems or high utility bills. SmartHouse will also create an actionable and cost effective plan to fix the problems, rather than bandage the symptoms. And, they have on-staff expertise in each area for improving your home comfort and energy use: heating and cooling systems, air sealing, insulation, duct and crawlspace sealing.

How a Home Energy Audit Works
Using state-of-the-art technology and specialized equipment, a SmartHouse Certified Building Analyst pinpoints exactly where your home is losing energy. Then you are presented with a detailed list of improvement suggestions. They will help you prioritize improvements based on your comfort and efficiency goals. You select the improvements you want in your home, and their expert crews will perform the upgrades.

??Because SmartHouse looks at your entire home, they give you a more accurate view of your energy use. As your whole-home energy consultant, they don?t just ?sell? something, they show you exactly what you need and why you need it.

Two Money Saving Offers
Right now SmartHouse has two offers to help you get started. First, they will conduct a whole-house energy audit for just $199. This thorough analysis normally costs $249.

And they are partnering with Ameren to provide an annual maintenance on your air conditioning system to help improve your system?s energy efficiency, comfort and service life. Their licensed technicians will do a thorough cleaning, testing and maintenance of your systems. SmartHouse is offering this precision tune-up for $75 (normally $129), making this service free after the $75 rebate Ameren is now offering. To schedule your annual maintenance, you can email info@callsmarthouse.com or call 314-644-1570. You can lean more by visiting www.callsmarthouse.com/Air-Conditioner-Tune-Up.

Source: http://countylivingmag.com/county-living/how-is-your-home-performing

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