If you think your gear runs out of juice at inopportune moments, consider the infantrymen of the world, whose lives depend on their gadgets maintaining a charge. Thus the MetalCell, a magnesium-based battery that charges with salt water. Or urine. More »
Here’s a cool recipe for making your own Pop Tarts at home from SmittenKitchen. Sturdy crust, not soggy filling – the secret is a lil’ thickener – and, according to the author, “the buttery, flaky, no-toaster-required-to-soften-it transcendence the grocery store aisle version can only dream about.” It’s fun, it’s tasty, it’s HFCS-free.
homemade pop tarts [smitten kitchen]
RELATED: Make Your Own Snickers Bars!
It’s been a busy week in the mobile tech industry with the release of the HTC Incredible, HP buying Palm, and Steve Jobs sharing his thoughts on why Flash technology is a thing of the past taking the spotlight. We strive to cover breaking news to bring up to date information on topics that mean the most to you. Here are a few things that didn’t make it to the front page, but still warrant coverage.
It looks like Motorola has been busy pumping out phones latelty. BGR is reporting that the company has three planned devices headed to China. The first device is the Motorola XT810 (or is it the MT810?) clamshell flip device. Not much is known about the device except that it might be headed to China Mobile. The second device, the XT820 (or MT820?) is a slick looking flip phone that is said to be the first 3D capable cell phone. The second phone is also said to be going to China Mobile and to be sporting an Android-based platform. Finally, the XT711 – which has been named the Sholes Tablet refresh) – has been outed and is expected to have 720p HD video full experience, including capture/play back/ output via HDMI to HDTV, 8MP auto focus with Xenon flash, MOTOBLUR, and both WebKit and Flash 10 for superior web browsing.
Via BGR
LG seems to be real busy these days with smartphone rumors popping up everywhere. It looks like some of the rumors are now being confirmed. The LU2300 and SU2300 have just launched in Korea and are pretty much the same device, save the fact that one has a slider keyboard and one does not. They’re both featuring Android 1.6, 3.5 inch AMOLED display, 5MP Camera, and 1GHz Snapdragon processor. LG has also announced the LG SU950/KU950 to be launched in June. There are no official specs on this device, but it looks quite slick!
Via Phandroid
It’s a good time to be living in Asia right now, those guys are getting all the hot handsets. You probably remember the Samsung Galaxy S (of course you do!) from CTIA this year, well it looks like its close relative, the Samsung Galaxy A (living the A life?) will be making its way to SK Telecom very soon. The Galaxy A will be sporting Android Eclair (2.1), a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 720MHz processor (underclocked?), 5MP camera with HD video recording, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The Galaxy A is Korea’s first Samsung branded phone, and not a bad choice for a first if you ask me.
Via Engadget
That’s it for now, but stay tuned for more coverage from your favorite folks here at PhoneDog!
A grande novidade na Linha Golf é a nova versão Sportline 2.0 com transmissão automática TipTronic de seis velocidades. As versões Sportline 1.6 e 2.0 agregam as mesmas novidades e, externamente, inovam pela nova grade, em preto brilhante, faróis com máscara negra e lanternas traseiras na cor preta. Opcionalmente, disponibilizam bancos esportivos em couro preto, também disponíveis na versão Black Edition, e banco traseiro bipartido com três encostos de cabeça.
O Golf 1.6 conta com novas saídas de ar do painel e traz de série como novidades os LED’s vermelhos adicionais no conjunto de iluminação interna. Também tem novo console central, com porta-copos.
As alterações de série do Golf 2.0 GT são mais amplas, incluindo novas saídas de ar no painel, novas rodas de liga leve com 16 polegadas na cor Cinza Cyclone, parachoques dianteiro com apliques em preto nas grades inferiores, grade do radiador na cor preto brilhante, moldura cromada nos faróis de neblina, adesivo preto na região da placa traseira, revestimento da coluna B e carcaça dos retrovisores em preto brilhante, assim como o aerofólio traseiro.
Internamente, destacam-se os novos tecidos dos bancos, com o logo GT nos dianteiros, a iluminação branca dos instrumentos, console central com portacopos e o apoio para o pé esquerdo do motorista em alumínio.
Fonte: Volkswagen
The Department of Justice is reportedly considering whether to bring criminal charges against investment bank Goldman Sachs, based on the Securities and Exchange Commission complaint. Speculation is swirling that Wall Street haters could finally get their wish and see some bankers behind bars. Here are the answers to some key question about a potential criminal investigation:
Could a Criminal Case Succeed?
The fraud statute that the SEC is using for its civil suit could also be used to prosecute Goldman criminally. So in theory, it is possible that criminal charges could stick — if the SEC’s civil case succeeds. Yet, the standard for a criminal case is much higher. The DOJ must present very compelling evidence that a jury would be able to understand well enough to find that, beyond doubt, Goldman and/or some of its bankers are guilty of fraud. Given that there are many people questioning whether even the civil case can succeed under a weaker standard of guilt, it’s relatively doubtful that the criminal charges would stick. Yet, the public doesn’t have all of the information, so it’s too soon to know the fate of a criminal case for sure.
Who Could Be Prosecuted?
The civil case was brought against the firm and a single named banker — Fabrice Tourre. Who might the DOJ choose to prosecute? According to Chicago Law School Professor and securities law expert M. Todd Henderson, the sky is the limit. If the DOJ feels particularly ambitious, they could try to allege a conspiracy and prosecute the heads of the mortgage unit, he says. But he also finds it unfathomable that the DOJ could show that such a conspiracy existed. He further thinks it’s extremely unlikely that the government could indict the firm itself, as this would essentially condemn Goldman as a criminal organization. As a result, it’s more likely prosecutors focus on a few bankers, like Tourre, if they have enough evidence to bring a case.
Where does Settlement Fit In?
Yesterday, reports indicated that Goldman might be considering settling the civil case. If they do, how would that affect a potential criminal case? Henderson thinks that it would likely preempt one. “It’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t strike some deal that would get rid of all these actions simultaneously,” he says. In fact, he notes that there have been many cases where the U.S. attorney’s office was used to add additional leverage to civil cases. So the threat of a criminal investigation could merely serve to pressure Goldman to settle. He speculates that what looks like an escalation could just be an attempt by SEC officials to ensure a quick settlement to get the case behind them.
Consequences for Wall Street on a Whole?
In the eyes of Wall Street haters, the SEC-Goldman case probably looks a little analogous to indicting Al Capone for tax evasion. Government officials are largely displeased with the actions of Goldman and Wall Street, but have trouble identifying any tangible wrongdoing. Many accusations of Goldman breaching its fiduciary duty were thrown around at this week’s marathon Senate committee hearing. So if officials figure out some way to go after the banks connected to the government’s belief that Goldman breached its fiduciary duty to clients, then there could be broader consequences for Wall Street. Otherwise, the government will have to rely on fraud. In the context of sophisticated investing, such one-off cases won’t be easy to win.
South Korea’s president met today with Hu Jintao in hopes of getting the support he needs to accuse North Korea of sinking his ship.
The meeting was staged as a symbol of growing cooperation. But with Lee Myung-bak planning to take evidence of a hostile attack to the Security Council, where China has veto power, the meeting took on new significance.
Although we don’t know what was said in the 30-minute meeting, it seems Lee was rebuffed: Hu publicly expressed condolences for the shipwreck, nothing more.
Lee’s diplomatic campaign will continue and may call in his American allies. JoongAng Daily put it succinctly:
South Korea spent the month of April mourning the loss of lives from the Cheonan sinking. May is scheduled to be about diplomatic efforts to prepare for responses if North Korea is found to be behind the tragedy.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s could be hours away from definitive proof of a North Korean attack. The military has collected metal fragments from the crash site that are not part of the ship (that means they’re part of a mine or torpedo), according to Korea Times.
Join the conversation about this story »
Adobe CTO, Kevin Lynch, wrote a brief blog post on Adobe’s site yesterday as a response to Steve Job’s load of explanation for why they are not using Flash on their mobile devices.
The closing paragraph contains the nugget of information that we are interested in.
We look forward to delivering Flash Player 10.1 for Android smartphones as a public preview at Google I/O in May, and then a general release in June. Kevin Lynch Adobe CTO
So we finally have confirmation of our speculations regarding the big unveiling coming at Google I/O. Pairing this with Andy Rubin’s statements that support for Flash 10.1 comes in Froyo we can reasonably conclude that Froyo will debut alongside Flash at I/O and that the release of both will be coming to some Android users in June. Still up in the air is who those users will be and of course the exact date.
Now as we all know (and as they will proudly tell you) the N1 users are likely to be the first existing users to upgrade to it, with Droid Classic (Yes I just made that up) users possibly being in the mix there as well. But there has to be a launch device to go with it right? The Evo 4G seems like the obvious choice with a release date of June 6th or 13th and features which we already know stack up favorably with Cupertino’s latest, but everything released thus far has it pegged as an Android 2.1 device at launch.
So do you think Google is going to forgo a Flashy (pardon the pun) launch device this time, surprise us with the Evo 4G running Android 2.2 (which would be good news for you Incredible owners), or is there a stealth Android 2.2 device out there that we don’t know about yet?
Buick’s competitive new products—starting with the Enclave and now the LaCrosse and brand-new Regal—far exceed the brand’s former perception of building roly-poly barges for the retiree crowd. Speaking of the age thing, this recent product push has helped; Buick’s average customer in the U.S. is now 65 years old versus 72 just a short while ago. This may sound ancient compared to the usual marketing spiel about appealing to the young, hip, active-lifestyle crowd (never mind that these people don’t tend to have the money to actually buy a new car). But as the director of Buick marketing, Craig Bierley, points out, the average age of any U.S. new-car buyer is 54, due to an aging population of boomers; in fact, this number has steadily increased over the past five years.
By the way, the situation couldn’t be more different than in Buick’s largest market, China, where the brand is perceived as fashionable and the average age of its customers is an enviable 32.
The Buick team wisely acknowledges that product is king—of which substantially more will be coming in the near future—but is also continuing a significant and sustained advertising budget to help people see the light. The plan appears to be working, too, as focus groups are showing a much-improved view of the latest cars. A series of questions that marketers refer to as the “purchase funnel” starts out by asking broad questions such as, “Have you ever heard of Buick?”, followed up with more and more detailed queries leading to “Would you rate the LaCrosse as excellent?” (that is, if they already have first-hand experience with the product). The previous LaCrosse received “excellent” ratings just eight percent of the time versus well over 20 percent for the new car (for reference, the best brands receive “excellent” ratings from about 40 percent of respondents). This tripling in the past year is an all-time record among GM brands.
Interestingly, Bierley says that it was more than simply Buick’s importance in China that kept it alive post-bankruptcy, whereas Pontiac was dropped. He explains that consumer data shows that Buick doesn’t, in fact, have a negative brand perspective. It’s simply that most people believe the brand’s cars are appropriate for their parents or grandparents and not for them. This perception, he says, is far easier to fix than Pontiac’s predicament. It turns out the excitement division often received such glamorous feedback from clinics as being thought of as cars for “white trash.” We’re no marketing experts, but that does sound pretty dire.
Related posts:
[JURIST] The US government on Friday charged two Brooklyn men with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda. The two men allegedly received at least $50,000 for providing al Qaeda with “computer advice and assistance, services, and currency,” among other acts, between November 2007 and March 2010. The charges were filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has been advocating using the criminal justice system as a counter-terrorism tool.
In March, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Martin Scheinin urged the Obama administration to hold civilian trials for accused 9/11 conspirators, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The week before that, lawmakers introduced a bill that would require the military interrogation and trial of those taken into US custody who are suspected of links to terrorism. While the Obama administration is keeping the option of military commissions open, JURIST contributing editor Jordan Paust has discussed the option of courts-martial as another option for prosecuting members of al Qaeda and the Taliban.
by Brad Johnson
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
Cross-posted from Wonk Room.
The catastrophic gusher of oil unleashed by the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig last week is on track to quickly exceed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, an independent expert warns. An explosive burst of oil destroyed the exploratory rig 41 miles off the Louisiana coast on the eve of Earth Day, killing 11 workers. After the shattered hulk of the rig sank to the ocean floor a mile down, the pipeline continues to spew oil that has now reached shore, with an end weeks or months away. John Amos, the president and founder of the nonprofit firm SkyTruth, “which specializes in gathering and analyzing satellite and aerial data to promote environmental conservation,” estimated from satellite photos that the calamity is increasing at a rate of 850,000 gallons (20,000 barrels) a day:
That’s right: more than 6 million gallons spilled into the Gulf of Mexico so far. This, and other radar images that SkyTruth is getting, confirm what we’ve seen on the NASA/MODIS images so far, and support our conservative calculations showing that in the first week of this spill at least 6 million gallons have entered the Gulf. That’s a spill rate of at least 850,000 gallons (20,000 barrels) per day, 20 times larger than the official Goast Guard estimate of 42,000 gallons per day.
By today, about 7 million gallons will have been spilled, taking the Deepwater Horizon disaster more than halfway to the 1989 wreck of the Exxon Valdez, which dumped 11 million gallons into Alaska’s Prince William Sound — one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters. This catastrophe — which occured as Halliburton was cementing the well — will exceed the scale of the Exxon Valdez within a week.
The sea of oil spewing from the mangled pipeline is already larger than 31 nations. After the Montara oil platform blew up in Australia’s Timor Sea last August, it took 10 weeks to stop the flow of oil. If recent history is any guide, it may be months before the sea of oil stops growing.
On April 22, the U.S. Coast Guard estimated the flow rate to be 336,000 gallons of crude a day, but BP officials claimed on Sunday that the rate was only 42,000 gallons a day. By Thursday, officials admitted that the disaster is increasing at least 210,000 gallons a day, much closer to the Coast Guard’s original estimate. Amos called that estimate a “bare-bones limit.”
Update: On ABC’s Good Morning America, White House adviser David Axelrod makes it clear that the White House will not support new domestic drilling until this disaster is resolved:
No additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable here. No domestic drilling in new areas is going to go forward until there is a adequate review of what’s happened here and of what is being proposed elsewhere.
Related Links:
Wake up, Obama. The Gulf spill is our big chance
Big Oil continues to see big profits, pollution while Americans get robbed at the pump
Obama puts offshore drilling on hold as Gulf of Mexico oil slick reaches U.S. coast
EFF will be attending PrivacyCamp SF on Friday May 7th after the end of the Web 2.0 Expo, and we hope you will join us. The topic of the day will be Privacy and Social Networks.
This first annual PrivacyCamp in San Francisco will be a day-long user-generated “unconference” of engineers, privacy advocates, professors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and social network users that will focus on the privacy implications of social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Buzz. If you will be in the Bay Area and want to engage in smart conversation with experts in tech and policy about what social networks mean for privacy and to brainstorm about how social networks can be designed to better protect privacy, register now.
| What: | PrivacyCamp SF 2010 |
| When: | Friday May 7, 2010 from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Where: | UC Hastings, Alumni Reception Center (ARC) |
| 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 |
On the heels of the second annual PrivacyCamp DC and just a week after Facebook rolled out it’s latest changes reducing Facebook users’ privacy, the first annual PrivacyCamp SF will bring together interested parties for smart and topical conversation about what a privacy-respecting social network would look like.
What is an unconference? Well, there’s no pre-planned agenda, no keynotes, no panels, and no “Q&As,” just a space to meet, discuss, debate, and share knowledge with others who are interested in a particular topic–in this case, Privacy and Social Networks. We at EFF certainly have a lot to say on that topic, and we hope you’ll join us to help define the dialogue. Helping us with that will be Craig Newmark of Craigslist, who’s planning to speak with conference participants before lunch, and we hope to see representatives from other Web 2.0 companies participating in the discussion as well.
Since there’s no pre-planned agenda, the topics of discussion will be collaboratively defined the morning of the conference (for example, here‘s the agenda that was settled on for the DC PrivacyCamp, which focused on privacy and government policy). But to give you an idea of possible topics for discussion, here are a few initial ideas and questions suggested by the PrivacyCamp blog:
What would
Filed under: Coupe, Crossover, BMW
Were you, like us, just thinking that BMW‘s U.S. lineup would be fully complete if only it had just one more crossover utility Sports Activity Vehicle that slotted in somewhere between the small X3 and midsize X5? If so, we have good news. Just such a vehicle – logically and tentatively named the X4 – is rumored to be in development. Again.
Just as the X6 was designed as a sportier take on the more traditional SUV-shaped X5, the new X4 would inject a bit more Bavarian flavor into the plain ol’ X3. Citing an unnamed source within the company, Autocar reports, “We haven’t made any firm decision… however, the X6’s success shows there is a continued demand for sporty off-roaders.”
Yes, we’ve heard this rumor before, but not since 2008. Why the possible change of heart? Despite drawing ire from what seems to be a vocal minority, BMW reports that the X6 is handily outpacing its own initial sales projections. In fact, it’s 80,000 sales worldwide is twice what the automaker had expected to sell. And one good turn deserves… something.
[Source: Autocar]
Report: BMW X4 back on the table? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Impact Teen Drivers, a California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives, have partnered with OTTER App, an Android App geared towards curbing the texting while driving habit, to help teen drivers reduce distractions on the road. This comes at the cusp of Oprah launching “No Phone Zone” campaign raising awareness and today April 30th is the national day. Plus the month of May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month.
“The new OTTER app is a tool that will enable teens and parents to easily put their phone into a mode that is safe while driving, without losing the connectivity that teens crave,” said Dr. Kelly Browning, Executive Director of Impact Teen Drivers.
While activated in GPS or Parental Control Mode, OTTER will silence all incoming texting and phone call ringtones while the user is in a moving vehicle, plus initiate a response telling others they are driving. This eliminates the temptation for a teen to read or respond to a text or phone call while driving, therefore removing substantial risk of death or injury that is associated with those distractions.
A unique feature the app has is that it deters the habit in a non-invasive way, it does not lock down the phone and you can still text and make calls if necessary. If you’re a concerned parent and your teen driver has an Android phone, take a look at our Android app review of OTTER to see if it’s suitable for your family.
This is one of many programs and apps geared toward delivering the message, we’ll keep you posted on them.
A bill that would extend the statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases was officially withdrawn Friday – ending an emotional debate at the Capitol for this year.
The measure’s chief proponents were unable to garner enough support in the House of Representatives and the Senate, but they said they will try again in the future.
Sen. Mary Ann Handley, a Manchester Democrat who is not seeking re-election, said she could not say how many votes she had in the 36-member Senate.
“You’re running a marathon, not a sprint,” Handley said. “I’m retiring, but I’ll be back on this issue. I’ll tell you that.”
The bill was directly related to the allegations of child sexual abuse against Dr. George Reardon, who worked at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford from 1963 to 1993. The bill, though, never mentioned either the hospital or Reardon by name.
“I’m happy that it is withdrawn because we thought it was a horrendous bill,” said Michael Culhane, a spokesman for the Connecticut Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops at the state Capitol. “The retroactivity of the bill is just terrible. It would be my hope that an effort would be made to resolve these issues, but I’m not part of that process.”
During a public hearing on March 17, an attorney for the Catholic Church said the bill was unconstitutional.
The bishops had said publicly that the passage of the bill would have had a devastating financial impact on the church and parishes around Connecticut.
“It is a fact that there are seven or eight dioceses across the country that have filed for bankruptcy because of this issue, so that’s a possibility, not a fact going forward,” Culhane said. “Based on the experience of the church dealing with those dioceses, that was a possibility.”
Neither Culhane nor any of the legislators could provide a definitive answer Friday on whether there will be a settlement or resolution of the lawsuits against St. Francis Hospital before they are scheduled to go to trial.
The bill has now failed for two consecutive years at the Capitol. A version last year never made it out of committee, but this year’s version was approved, 23 to 20, by the judiciary committee. But insiders knew that the bill was in trouble because highly controversial bills traditionally need a wider margin of support in the judiciary committee if they are going to be approved by the full legislature.
State Rep. Beth Bye, a co-sponsor of the bill, declined to reveal the exact vote count in the House, where 76 votes are needed for passage,
While some said that the bill had 58 votes in favor about 10 days ago, Bye said she had “certainly more” than 58.
House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk, who has handled zoning cases as an attorney, said the bill was so narrowly written that it would only affect St. Francis Hospital.
“Spot zoning is illegal,” Cafero said Friday. “It was carefully crafted to affect one particular case.”
If a victim had been molested by a doctor at Norwalk Hospital and there were no other pending cases or claims, then “they are shut out from suit” in the bill, Cafero said. “That’s wrong.”
Cafero, who had previously described Reardon as “a piece of garbage,” said Friday that he was “an animal.”
Reardon died in 1998, but the case arose when evidence surfaced in 2007 after a homeowner renovating Reardon’s former West Hartford home discovered a cache of more than 50,000 slides and 100 movie reels of child pornography.
While the case and the bill focused on Reardon and the hospital, other groups that are not directly involved in that case have lobbied against the bill and contributed to its defeat. Among them are the Insurance Association of Connecticut and the American Tort Reform Association, which raised concerns about changing the statute of limitations. The judiciary committee’s influential co-chairman, Sen. Andrew McDonald, voted against the bill at the committee level because of his concern about the statute.
The defeat of the bill does not end the cases of the 56 plaintiffs who are aged 48 or older. Plaintiff attorneys are pursuing various legal theories in an attempt to get around the statute of limitations for those cases, but those arguments could be difficult to win.
Barbara Blaine, President of SNAP, which is the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said lawmakers had made the wrong move by opposing the bill.
“Even if every single person who was sexually assaulted by Reardon in childhood gets some kind of settlement, that doesn’t absolve lawmakers of the duty to protect children by giving victims the chance to warn families about predators through the justice system,” Blaine said in a statement. “We commend the courageous and compassionate abuse victims who have worked so long to safeguard the vulnerable and heal the wounded through this legislative effort and hope they will have the strength and persistence to push even harder next session.”
SNAP notes that, although the word “priest” is mentioned in the group’s title, it includes “members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations,” including rabbis, Protestant ministers and bishops.
For a detailed account of the bill’s problems in an earlier Capitol Watch post, click here.
As Congress continues to negotiate unemployment benefits legislation, Bloomberg has a story this week noting what few others have: that the so-called extension of benefits isn’t really an extension of benefits at all. Rather, it’s an extension of the filing deadline to apply for existing benefits, which have been capped at a maximum 99 weeks since last fall. And Congress has no plans to lengthen that span.
That, Bloomberg writes, spells bad news for a growing group of long-term unemployed workers who have exhausted all available help.
[Lawmakers] are quietly drawing the line at 99 weeks of aid, a mark that hundreds of thousands of Americans have already reached. In coming months, the number of those who will receive their final government check is projected to top 1 million.
As we noted recently, there’s really no group keeping a tally of how many Americans are exhausting their benefits. The Labor Department, for example, defines “long-term unemployment” as anything beyond 27 weeks, meaning that some workers falling into that category could have 18 months of benefits remaining. And a recent study from the Pew Charitable Trusts revealed that roughly 3.4 million people have been out of work for at least a year — which again, does nothing to indicate how many folks have exhausted their government benefits.
Bloomberg, for its part, based its estimates on state figures, which paint a pretty dismal portrait of the long-term unemployment problem.
Interviews with state officials found that in New York, 57,000 people have received their last check. In Florida, 130,000 are no longer eligible as are about 30,000 Ohioans.
Those numbers will grow, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which projects that more than 400,000 may soon begin losing benefits every month.
For all the uncertainty surrounding the economic recovery, this much seems clear: Congress has no plans to extend unemployment benefits beyond their current length.
“You can’t go on forever,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, of Montana, whose panel oversees the benefits program. “I think 99 weeks is sufficient,” he said.
“There’s just been no discussion to go beyond that,” said Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat.
State Rep. Stephen Dargan, a veteran West Haven Democrat who often makes predictions, says the legislature will not reach a budget deal before the General Assembly’s mandated adjournment at midnight May 5.
“I’ve got a better chance of picking the winner of the Kentucky Derby this Saturday than that happening,” said Dargan, a longtime horse-picker who often heads up to the Saratoga Race Course during the hot days in August.
GUANTANAMO BAY — A youthful-looking woman in a gray suit with long brown hair is known only to us as Interrogator Number 11. She was a military interrogator at Guantanamo Bay who interrogated the detainee she refers to as “Omar” from October 28, 2002 until November 14, 2002. The timeline indicates she was the first interrogator, and certainly the first military interrogator, to interrogate Omar Khadr after FBI Special Agent Robert Fuller queried Khadr in Bagram. The thrust of her testimony is simple: Not only did Khadr talk to her voluntarily, he was personally warm to her.
Far from the picture of coercion painted by Khadr’s attorneys, Number 11 testified, “It was a very relaxed, open, very friendly atmosphere. He smiled a lot. Always willing to talk.” As part of what was called a Tier Three interrogation team, she interrogated Omar twelve times, first in a hospital ward and later in one of 20 interrogation rooms in two trailers in the detention facility’s early days. Number 11 said she was specifically assigned to Khadr because she could be “more of a mother figure for him, and he could relate to me.”
In Number 11’s telling, it worked. She said Khadr told her, “I would rather be with you than bored in my cell … anytime, call me.” She said she never heard a thing about Khadr being in any way abused, and specifically talked about seeing what she called the “Rumsfeld Memos” authorizing more abusive treatment for detainees — and said she specifically forswore using any. In return, she said Khadr provided “detailed information” about al-Qaeda’s training camps, guest houses and chain of command. “He would always say to me his father was fourth in command for UBL,” the military acronym for Osama bin Laden. “He’s met Osama bin Laden. He’s met his wives, his children, at the Jalalabad compound. … He played with his children.”
“Omar,” she said, was a cooperative and talkative interlocutor, even correcting spellings, pronunciation and timelines when she misstated them in her notes or mis-recited them to him. On several occasions, Number 11 testified, she would “not even have to ask follow-up information because he [gave] such detailed information. He was very alert.”
Read WRI’s formal comments to the World Bank Group on its Energy Strategy Review.
Download WRI’s Comments >>> (PDF, 12 pages, 162 Kb)
This year, the World Bank Group (WBG) is reviewing its decade-old Energy Strategy, and is expected to develop and finalize a new Energy Strategy in early 2011. As the basis for this discussion, the World Bank Group has authored an “Energy Strategy Approach Paper” outlining the Bank’s planned approach for energy sector lending.
The paper proposes a renewed focus on improving access and reliability of energy supply and facilitating a shift to more environmentally friendly and sustainable energy sector development. At the same time, the Bank hopes to improve their operational and financial performance and strengthen governments in borrowing countries so that they can achieve the twin objectives of greater access to energy and a sustainable energy supply.
As part of the Energy Strategy preparation, the World Bank Group is conducting a comprehensive multi-stakeholder consultation process. The first round of face-to-face and electronic consultations is taking place from January to June 2010. During this consultation phase, civil society has the opportunity to raise concerns over the current policy and the Approach paper, and suggest recommendations for the future strategy.
Based off this first consultation phase, the World Bank staff and the Committee of Development Effectiveness (CODE) will develop a draft energy strategy to be released in September 2010. A second round of web-based multi-stakeholder consultations will then take place from November to December 2010, giving stakeholders an opportunity to provide their reactions and input on the draft strategy. These comments will be addressed and the draft strategy will be presented to and discussed by the Board of Governors in early 2011. A final Energy Strategy is scheduled to be released in April 2011.
The World Resources Institute is actively involved in the consultation process. We participated in the March 5, 2010 Washington, DC face-to face-consultation and submitted comments on the “Energy Strategy Approach Paper” through the World Bank’s electronic system. The World Resources Institute’s comments on the World Bank Energy Strategy review are below:
Download the PDF >>> (PDF, 12 pages, 162 Kb)
Lamar Advertising Co. will start retrofitting all billboards across Florida with wind and solar energy systems. The company intends to complete the operation by 2012 at the cost of about $12.5 million — the Department of Energy will provide $2.5 million while the remaining cost will be borne by Lamar.
The project will cover 1,370 billboards across eight markets throughout Florida with most of the billboards located along interstates and at thoroughfares. Not only will the billboards be powered by wind and solar energy systems, they will also function as small power generating hubs feeding the surplus electricity to the grid. The combined capacity of the billboard energy systems will be about 1 MW. (more…)
Wilma is a domestic violence survivor.
She said she dealt with physical and mental abuse for 15 years. She eventually filed for divorce, and she said her husband had her arrested and thrown in jail on false charges.
Wilma, who declined to reveal her last name or her hometown, said her divorce proceedings were messy and required court appearances because there were children involved.
When she filed for divorce, Wilma said she told her employer about her personal life, asking the human resources department to keep the information confidential. From then on, Wilma said work was difficult.
“Everyone treated me like I had leprosy,” Wilma said, adding that she was eventually fired from her job as a store clerk despite good performance reviews.
Wilma is an example of someone who lives to tell about her experiences, and she shared her story at a press conference Friday. There, however, are many domestic violence victims who don’t live to tell their stories, such as Tiana Notice, who was allegedly stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend last year.
Notice’s father, Alvin Notice, joined Wilma Friday at the press conference.
The high number of domestic violence deaths prompted House Speaker Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, to establish a task force to come up with ways to improve how the state responds to domestic violence incidents. The task force’s work resulted in three sweeping domestic violence bills that touch on everything from education to creating a pilot program for the electronic monitoring of high-risk domestic violence offenders.
Wilma and Notice stood along side Donovan and others Friday to encourage lawmakers to pass the bills. The bills were passed by the House earlier this week and are expected to be approved by the Senate before the legislature adjourns May 5.
“It’s all on the Senate’s shoulders now,” said Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford. “We’ll do it.”
Also at Friday’s press conference was Richard Graziano, president and chief executive officer of The Hartford Courant and Fox 61. Graziano spoke about his assistant, Alice Morrin, who was slain by her husband in June.
“These are troubling times, and it’s really refreshing to see legislation that would make a difference,” Graziano said.
