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Gillmor Gang - John Borthwick, Kevin Marks, Robert Scoble, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor. Recording live today at 1pm Pacific.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Bz-3usazY-Q/
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Hobby Lobby and a sister company will not be subject to $1.3 million in daily fines beginning Monday for failing to provide access to certain forms of birth control through its employees' health care plans, a judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton set a hearing for July 19 to address claims by the owners of Hobby Lobby and the Mardel Christian bookstore chains that their religious beliefs are so deeply rooted that having to provide every form of birth control would violate their conscience.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had said Thursday the companies were likely to prevail, comparing the companies to a kosher butcher unwilling to adopt non-kosher practices as part of a government order.
Until the hearing, the government cannot impose fines against Hobby Lobby or Mardel for failing to comply with all of the Affordable Care Act. The companies' owners oppose birth control methods that can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus, such as an intrauterine device or the morning-after pill, but are willing to offer the 16 other forms of birth control mentioned in the federal health care law.
"The opinion makes it very clear what is a valid religious belief and what is not," said Emily Hardman, spokeswoman for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The group is representing the companies and their owners, the Green family.
Heaton asked the government and companies to seek some sort of solution before the hearing, given that the 10th Circuit has already cleared the way for the companies to challenge the law on religious grounds. While not binding beyond the states in the 10th Circuit, Thursday's ruling could benefit others that oppose all forms of birth control, Hardman said, such as Catholic hospitals.
"We got a fantastic opinion from the 10th Circuit, which will impact all the cases," she said.
The companies had faced fines totaling $1.3 million daily beginning Monday. Had they dropped its health care plan altogether, they could have been fined $26 million. The only alternative would be to pay for birth control that violates its religious beliefs, the companies' owners said.
The appeals court on Thursday had suggested the companies shouldn't have to pay the fines, but there were unaddressed questions pending at the lower court. Heaton resolved those Friday in the companies' favor: Hobby Lobby had shown they would suffer financial or spiritual consequences, and that an injunction was in the public interest.
In fighting Hobby Lobby and other companies that oppose some or all forms of birth control, government lawyers had said companies cannot pick which portions of the Affordable Care Act with which they will comply.
Spokesmen for the Department of Health and Human Services have repeatedly declined to comment on pending lawsuits over birth control coverage.
Electronic court filings did not show any response from the government to Hobby Lobby's latest injunction request, but Heaton said in his order that lawyers from both sides had weighed in.
Hobby Lobby's lawyers have said the U.S. Department of Human Services has granted exemptions from portions of the health care law for plans that cover tens of millions of people and that allowing the companies an injunction would be no great burden to the government at the expense of the Greens' religious freedoms.
The companies' lawyers calculated potential losses at $475 million in a year ? $100 per day for 13,000 workers ? while harms to the government are "minimal and temporary."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-hobby-lobby-wont-pay-fines-205227917.html
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June 28, 2013 ? To prevent coral reefs around the world from dying off, deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions are required, says a new study from Carnegie's Katharine Ricke and Ken Caldeira. They find that all existing coral reefs will be engulfed in inhospitable ocean chemistry conditions by the end of the century if civilization continues along its current emissions trajectory.
Their work will be published July 3 by Environmental Research Letters.
Coral reefs are havens for marine biodiversity and underpin the economies of many coastal communities. But they are very sensitive to changes in ocean chemistry resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to coastal pollution, warming waters, overdevelopment, and overfishing.
Ricke and Caldeira, along with colleagues from Institut Pierre Simon Laplace and Stanford University, focused on the acidification of open ocean water surrounding coral reefs and how it affects a reef's ability to survive.
Coral reefs use a mineral called aragonite to make their skeletons. It is a naturally occurring form of calcium carbonate, CaCO3. When carbon dioxide, CO2, from the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, it forms carbonic acid (the same thing that makes soda fizz), making the ocean more acidic and decreasing the ocean's pH. This increase in acidity makes it more difficult for many marine organisms to grow their shells and skeletons, and threatens coral reefs the world over.
Using results from simulations conducted using an ensemble of sophisticated models, Ricke, Caldeira, and their co-authors calculated ocean chemical conditions that would occur under different future scenarios and determined whether these chemical conditions could sustain coral reef growth.
Ricke said: "Our results show that if we continue on our current emissions path, by the end of the century there will be no water left in the ocean with the chemical properties that have supported coral reef growth in the past. We can't say with 100% certainty that all shallow-water coral reefs will die, but it is a pretty good bet."
Deep cuts in emissions are necessary in order to save even a fraction of existing reefs, according to the team's results. Chemical conditions that can support coral reef growth can be sustained only with very aggressive cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
"To save coral reefs, we need to transform our energy system into one that does not use the atmosphere and oceans as waste dumps for carbon dioxide pollution. The decisions we make in the next years and decades are likely to determine whether or not coral reefs survive the rest of this century," Caldeira said.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/vYe4Rj2O_NE/130628131023.htm
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In the underground world of the deep web there are few places as nefarious as Silk Road. The site, hidden on the Tor network has long been one of the primary venues for buying and selling contraband using Bitcoin. Now, it seems, the DEA has caught on. On June 23, the organization posted in their standard forfeiture announcements that it had seized 11.02 Bitcoins from a Silk Road user named Eric Daniel Hughes aka Casey Jones after charging him with intent to distribute drugs.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UdjFsGK7XgY/
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By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) - With cheers, tears and kisses, gays and lesbians across the United States celebrated Wednesday's historic Supreme Court decision in support of same-sex marriage, which provided cause for joy after years of protest.
Crowds turned out in gay capitals such as West Hollywood in California, San Francisco, South Miami Beach in Florida and the New York gay bar called the Stonewall Inn, seen as the birthplace of the gay rights movement.
"It's so wonderful being down here celebrating and not protesting for a change," Roger Silva, 69, said outside the Stonewall, grateful that a New York law allowed him to marry his partner of 11 years in April. "I never thought this would be possible in New York, much less the country."
In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court forced the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages in states where it is legal and in a separate ruling it cleared the way for same-sex marriages in California.
Stonewall has become synonymous with gay rights since a police raid there on June 28, 1969, triggered a spontaneous and violent demonstration that popularized the slogan "Out of the closet and into the streets."
A jubilant crowd of several hundred gathered on Wednesday afternoon, many carrying U.S. flags and the rainbow flags that have been adopted by the movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.
At least one man had mixed emotions.
"There's a bit of wistfulness - if I was younger, at the bottom rung, to enjoy all those benefits. But yes it is a great day," said Bruce Ward, 55, a writer.
In San Francisco, where an outspoken movement carried the flag for gay rights after Stonewall, about 100 clergy members from all faiths celebrated the two Supreme Court decisions outside Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill.
Across town in The Castro, a neighborhood at the center of gay life in the city, more than 2,000 people gathered in the street, many waving rainbow flags and equal signs. Dance music blared from loudspeakers and children bounced on the shoulders of their parents.
Down the California coast in West Hollywood, more than 1,000 attended a rally in which same-sex couples brought their children, joining young celebrants including a woman in a rainbow-colored ballet tutu and at least two in rainbow bikinis.
"It means that my daughters are never going to have to explain that their family is second-class," said Jason Howe, who arrived with his married partner Adrian Perez and their twin daughters, Olivia and Clara.
Added Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., who runs a popular celebrity blog under the assumed name Perez Hilton: "Today means that we have successfully educated America."
In South Beach, hundreds gathered at the LGBT visitors' center to celebrate and to declare that more work was left to be done, particularly in Florida, where a 2008 constitutional amendment outlawed same-sex marriages.
Amid hugs, kisses and congratulations, some people wished each other "Happy Pride Day" and "Happy Gay Day."
"We have waited a long time for this ... We really cannot overstate how big a step forward this is," said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida.
Others engaged in legal discussions about the Supreme Court decision and the Florida law, with the common refrain that "we still have a long way to go."
Jack Tufano, 40, an architect, said he felt "relief" when the decision was announced "because my husband and I have been waiting" to get his U.S. citizenship. The two got married last year in New York.
"First thing we're going to do tomorrow is call the lawyer to get started," he said.
(Reporting by Edith Honan in New York; Zachary Fagenson in South Beach, Florida; Dana Feldman in West Hollywood, California; and Noah Berger and Ronnie Cohen in San Francisco; Editing by Dina Kyriakidou, Stacey Joyce and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/across-u-supreme-court-gay-rights-ruling-celebrated-010245268.html
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APWith more than $5 million still arguably owed to Aaron Hernandez under the contract he signed last August, the Patriots likely will fight to avoid paying him another dime.? The two-front battle relates to the final $3.25 million installment of his $12.5 million signing bonus and guaranteed base salaries for 2013 and 2014.? The guaranteed base salaries total $2.5 million.
As to the signing bonus, the team?s decision to cut Hernandez makes it much more difficult to block the final payment or to recover any of the $8.75 million already issued to Hernandez.? As to the guaranteed salaries, multiple sources have indicated that Hernandez likely will not be entitled to any further payment.
Despite the absence of forfeiture language for the guaranteed salaries, the guarantee applies only to terminations made due to injury, skill (i.e., perceived lack of it), and the salary cap.? Because the Patriots cut Hernandez pursuant to paragraph 11 of the standard player contract, which permits termination of employment when the player ?has engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by Club to adversely affect or reflect on Club,? the guarantee evaporates.
As we understand it, that?s not merely the team?s position.? The NFLPA, we?re told, agrees with the interpretation.
While this doesn?t prevent Hernandez from filing a grievance aimed at getting the money, it?s a steep uphill climb and, frankly, the least of his concerns.
The more intriguing fight will arise in connection with the unpaid $3.25 million installment of the signing bonus.? That money already has been earned by Hernandez.? But cutting him, the Patriots apparently surrendered any ability to recover the money that has been paid or to keep the portion that hasn?t been paid.
Still, it currently appears that the Patriots will at a minimum force Hernandez to sue for the rest ? and at most try to recover as much of the previously-paid signing bonus as they can.
The problem for Hernandez is that, even though the terms of the labor deal seem to be on his side, the facts can nudge the controversy toward a bad outcome.? The problem for other players is that, if Hernandez loses, a bad precedent will be created for them.
Either way, it appears that the Patriots have enhanced their ability to avoid the guaranteed salaries by cutting Hernandez, even if cutting him makes it harder to avoid paying the final $3.25 million.
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JUNE 26, 2013 RELEASE: 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) - Education
and Labour
Wednesday, June 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m. (Ottawa time), sees the official
release, via the Internet, of the second set of data and analyses
from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS).?
Today's release?focuses on education, labour, place of work, commuting to work,
mobility and migration, and language of work.
These data and analyses can be accessed through a variety of gateways:
(bottom-right corner) or enter through the various postings within
'NHS news' or directly from the variety of links on the 2011 NHS
web site home page.
Information within the web site is organized into broad display/product
categories, featuring analytical, data and reference product
headings in the centre. The right-hand side of the home page presents
NHS by geography (ability to search the NHS Profile), NHS by topic
and the NHS video centre.
Analytical products offer links to the two analytical documents
(Education in Canada: Attainment, Field of Study and Location of Study
and Portrait of Canada's Labour Force) and the three NHS in Brief
articles (The educational attainment of Aboriginal peoples in Canada;
Commuting to work and Language use in the workplace in Canada).
The topic of mobility and migration is not covered in the analytical
products being released today with the exception of a section on
mobility of the workforce in the Portrait of Canada's Labour Force
analytical document. Information on mobility and migration is,
however, available within data products.
NHS Focus on Geography Series also provides data and highlights on key
topics found in the 2011 NHS analytical documents and NHS in Brief
articles for various levels of geography.
Thematic maps are also available with this release for various levels
of geography and present information for education and commuting
to work.
Data products offer education and labour information for a wide range
of standard geographic areas, available in the NHS Profile, NHS Data
Tables and the NHS Focus on Geography Series.
Please note that data at the census tract (CT) level of geography
are now available within the NHS Profile (only) for content
associated with the first NHS release (May 8 - Immigration and
Ethnocultural Diversity and Aboriginal Peoples) and today's
release (June 26 - Education and Labour).
Users can access XML versions of the NHS Profile and NHS Data Tables
from the Treasury Board's 'Open Data Portal,' along with the
provision of the additional XML file download option available
within the NHS web site.
Reference products and other reference materials cover various
aspects of the NHS and are intended to support the use and
understanding of NHS data and analyses. Specifically with this
release, reference products include the updated National Household
Survey Dictionary and four reference guides: labour; education;
journey to work and mobility. In addition, the Languages Reference
Guide, Catalogue no. 99-010-XWE2011007 (released May 8, 2013), has
been updated to include language of work. Please note that the
geographic area suppression lists have also been updated to
include census tracts (CTs) and all lists now reflect the
'reason(s) why' an area was suppressed (i.e., data quality,
confidentiality, incompletely enumerated Indian reserves
and settlements, etc.).
The 2011 NHS web site home page also promotes/presents:
. 'Did you know...' rotating highlights featuring the release?(based on the analytical documents).
. Promotional link within 'NHS news' to the upcoming?'Chat with an expert'?
live chat session scheduled forJune 28, 2013.
. Video centre - contains links to the brief national
portrait videos for this release.
. 'Stay connected' - links to Statistics Canada's social
media initiatives.
Source: http://twulibrarynews.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-released-from-statistics-canada.html
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FILE - In this May 3, 2006 file photo, a student purchases a brown sugar Pop-Tart from a vending machine in the hallway outside the school cafeteria, in Wichita, Kan. High-calorie sports drinks and candy bars will be removed from school vending machines and cafeteria lines as soon as next year, replaced with diet drinks, granola bars and other healthier items the Agriculture Department said Thursday June 27, 2013.(AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Mike Hutmacher, File)
FILE - In this May 3, 2006 file photo, a student purchases a brown sugar Pop-Tart from a vending machine in the hallway outside the school cafeteria, in Wichita, Kan. High-calorie sports drinks and candy bars will be removed from school vending machines and cafeteria lines as soon as next year, replaced with diet drinks, granola bars and other healthier items the Agriculture Department said Thursday June 27, 2013.(AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Mike Hutmacher, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? High-calorie sports drinks and candy bars will be removed from school vending machines and cafeteria lines as soon as next year, replaced with diet drinks, granola bars and other healthier items.
The Agriculture Department said Thursday that for the first time it will make sure that all foods sold in the nation's 100,000 schools are healthier by expanding fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits to almost everything sold during the school day.
That includes snacks sold around the school and foods on the "a la carte" line in cafeterias, which never have been regulated before. The new rules, proposed in February and made final this week, also would allow states to regulate student bake sales.
The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. The rules have the potential to transform what many children eat at school.
While some schools already have made improvements in their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods. Standards put into place at the beginning of the 2012 school year already regulate the nutritional content of free and low-cost school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government. However most lunchrooms also have the "a la carte" lines that sell other foods ? often greasy foods like mozzarella sticks and nachos. Under the rules, those lines could offer healthier pizzas, low-fat hamburgers, fruit cups or yogurt, among other foods that meet the standards
One of the biggest changes under the rules will be a near-ban on high-calorie sports drinks, which many beverage companies added to school vending machines to replace high-calorie sodas that they pulled in response to criticism from the public health community.
The rule would only allow sales in high schools of sodas and sports drinks that contain 60 calories or less in a 12-ounce serving, banning the highest-calorie versions of those beverages.
Many companies already have developed low-calorie sports drinks ? Gatorade's G2, for example ? and many diet teas and diet sodas are also available for sale.
Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, carbonated water, 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, and low fat and fat-free milk, including nonfat flavored milks.
At a congressional hearing, a school nutritionist said Thursday that schools have had difficulty adjusting to the 2012 changes, and the new "a la carte" standards could also be a hardship.
Sandra Ford, president of the School Nutrition Association and director of food and nutrition services for a school district in Bradenton, Fla., said in prepared testimony that the healthier foods have been expensive and participation has declined since the standards went into effect. She also predicted that her school district could lose $975,000 a year under the new "a la carte" guidelines because they would have to eliminate many of the foods they currently sell.
"The new meal pattern requirements have significantly increased the expense of preparing school meals, at a time when food costs were already on the rise," she said.
Ford called on the USDA to permanently do away with the limits on grains and proteins, saying they hampered her school district's ability to serve sandwiches and salads with chicken on top that had proved popular with students.
The Government Accountability Office said it visited eight districts around the country and found that in most districts students were having trouble adjusting to some of the new foods, leading to increased food waste and decreased participation in the school lunch program.
However, the agency said in a report that most students spoke positively about eating healthier foods and predicted they will get used to the changes over time.
One principle of the new rules is not just to cut down on unhealthy foods but to increase the number of healthier foods sold. The standards encourage more whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.
"It's not enough for it to be low in problem nutrients, it also has to provide positive nutritional benefits," says Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest who has lobbied for the new rules. "There has to be some food in the food."
The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.
Last year's rules making main lunch fare more nutritious faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department left one of the more controversial parts of the rule, the regulation of in-school fundraisers like bake sales, up to the states.
The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.
The USDA so far has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government temporarily relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.
The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law three years ago.
___
Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick
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By Angeliki Koutantou and Harry Papachristou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's recent government crisis and failure to meet privatization targets will not derail an international bailout, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Saturday.
Samaras's government saw its parliamentary majority sharply reduced on Friday after the small Democratic Left party left the ruling coalition to protest against an abrupt shutdown of the state broadcaster ERT.
Samaras told the newspaper To Vima that his new, two-party government with the Socialist PASOK party would be more coherent, adding that he expected no problems in talks with lenders who are inspecting Greece's austerity and economic reform program.
"The government went through a rough patch over the last few days but it stood on its feet and continues with renewed determination and much better cooperation," To Vima quoted him as saying.
Samaras's conservative New Democracy party and PASOK together control only 153 of the 300 seats in parliament. A few independents may also back the government, and the Democratic Left has signaled it could support some reforms on a case-by-case basis to keep Greece in the euro.
Samaras and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos are expected to meet as soon as Sunday to update their coalition agreement and arrange a cabinet reshuffle. According to Greek media reports, Yannis Stournaras is expected to remain finance minister.
The new government will have to conclude talks with the so-called "troika" of international lenders - the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank - who return to Athens later this month for a regular review of Greece's compliance with the terms of their bailout.
Athens will have to acknowledge that it is likely to miss its privatization targets after its failure to sell off the natural gas company DEPA blew a 1 billion euro hole in the bailout plan, raising the prospect of fresh austerity measures to make up the shortfall.
"I don't think there will be any problems (in the troika talks)," Samaras said in the interview, pointing to mid-year deficit figures that are below interim targets.
"We are beating the (bailout plan's) overall targets ... everybody agrees that in terms of fiscal adjustment we are ahead of targets. There are some partial problems with partial targets but these are addressed and will be dealt with," Samaras said.
Greece needs to plug a funding gap and clinch a positive review to allow the IMF to keep bankrolling the 240-billion-euro bailout.
In their updated coalition agreement, PASOK and Samaras's conservative New Democracy party are expected to reiterate their pledge to meet Greece's fiscal goals, while rejecting new austerity measures and agreeing to pushing the lenders gradually to allow tax cuts to help soften a deep, six-year-old recession.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; writing by Harry Papachristou; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/political-crisis-privatization-gap-wont-derail-bailout-greek-165555001.html
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This photo was taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the Taliban flag visible through a gap in a wall of the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)
This photo was taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the Taliban flag visible through a gap in a wall of the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)
This photo taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)
This photo was taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the Taliban flag visible through a gap in a wall of the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? Angry voices within the Taliban movement could scuttle peace talks before they even begin, infuriated that a sign identifying their new office in the Gulf state of Qatar as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was removed, their spokesman said Saturday.
The opening of the Taliban office was heralded as the best chance of bringing to a peaceful end 12 years of bloody war despite its rocky beginnings. But the peace process ran aground almost immediately when Kabul objected to the wording of its name, saying it was tantamount to the establishment of a rival government office, not a political office.
Under pressure from host nation Qatar, the Taliban removed the sign and lowered their flag __ a white flag emblazoned with a Quranic verse in black __ out of public view on Wednesday.
"There is an internal discussion right now and much anger about it but we have not yet decided what action to take," Shaheen Suhail, the Taliban's spokesman in Qatar told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "But I think it weakens the process from the very beginning."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai reacted furiously Tuesday to the sign, temporarily withdrawing from talks and put a quick end to negotiations with the United States over a security accord that is to lay out protection for U.S. forces that will remain in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO combat troops at the end of 2014.
A Qatar Foreign Ministry statement said the Taliban had violated an agreement to call the office the "Political Bureau of the Taliban Afghan in Doha." The Obama administration also said the U.S. and Qatar never had agreed to allow the Taliban to use that name on the door.
But Suhail said the incident has frustrated and angered some within the militant movement who said the Taliban have been meeting with representatives of dozens of countries and holding secret one-on-one meetings with members of Karzai's High Peace Council on several occasions, always under the banner of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
"Now the process is being weakened at the beginning and not being given a chance," he said. "This is very bad for the Afghan people, for the international community."
In Kabul, a member of the government's negotiation team said it was still prepared to begin talks in Qatar and said the removal of the sign and flag was a positive sign.
High Peace Council member Shahzada Shahid told The Associated Press Saturday that it was too early to say when the council would travel to Qatar for talks. He also welcomed the participation of countries in the international coalition in Afghanistan and said they would have their own issues to discuss.
"Peace is very important and vital for us so we will take all measures for it," he said.
Meanwhile James Dobbins, the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, arrived in Doha on Saturday where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was attending meetings on Syria. His presence suggested that the U.S. remains interested in talking with the Taliban despite the recent flap.
Suhail said the Taliban had not been notified of talks with Dobbins on Saturday but he advocated for cooler heads to prevail.
"Everyone should save the process. Give a chance to the process. In one day everything cannot be resolved," he said. "This is a very secondary thing and not important. I am also surprised that it should derail the process."
While the "internal talks" continued over the sign, the Taliban were still cobbling together a negotiating team, the spokesman said.
The Taliban have already agreed to hand over U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, captured by the Taliban in 2009, in exchange for five Taliban held in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In the telephone interview, Suhail also said that a cease-fire and women's rights could be part of negotiations.
"Yes there should be a cease-fire but first we have to talk about how to reach a cease-fire. How can it be done in one day?" he said. "It can be part of the agenda and be discussed, also foreign troops in Afghanistan after 2014 can be discussed as part of the agenda as well as the general concerns of the Afghan people. Afghan women's concerns can all be part of the agenda to be discussed."
But Suhail warned all sides to step away from voicing criticism.
"How can we achieve all those things if even from the first day there is so much public criticism," he said.
____
Kathy Gannon reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. AP Writer Rahim Faiez contributed from Kabul.
___
Kathy Gannon is AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be reached at www.twitter.com/kathygannon
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Firefighters stage in a residential area in South Fork, Colo., as they monitor a wildfire that burns west of town on Friday evening June 21, 2013. The town was evacuated and U.S. 160 that passes through it was closed. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
Firefighters stage in a residential area in South Fork, Colo., as they monitor a wildfire that burns west of town on Friday evening June 21, 2013. The town was evacuated and U.S. 160 that passes through it was closed. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
In this Thursday, June 20, 2013 photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service, wildfires fires approach the town of South Fork, Colo. The town of about 400 people was evacuated Friday morning, June 21, 2013. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Penny Bertram)
In this Thursday, June 20, 2013 photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service, wildfires fires approach the town of South Fork, Colo. The town of about 400 people was evacuated Friday morning, June 21, 2013. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Penny Bertram)
Map locates South Fork, Colorado; 1c x 3 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 mm;
Smoke from the West Fork Fire surrounds drivers on Colorado 149 near South Fork, Colo. Thursday, June 20, 2013. The highway was later closed and mandatory evacuation orders issued for the nearby town of South Fork. (AP Photo/The Pueblo Chieftain, Matt Hildner)
DEL NORTE, Colo. (AP) ? A massive wildfire threatening a tourist region in southwestern Colorado has grown to nearly 60 square miles, but officials said Saturday that the erratic blaze had slowed and they were optimistic they could protect the town of South Fork.
The fire's rapid advance prompted more than 400 evacuations Friday, and it could be days before people are allowed back into their homes, cabins and RV parks, fire crew spokeswoman Laura McConnell said.
Officials, meanwhile, closely monitored an arm of the blaze moving toward the neighboring town of Creede.
"We were very, very lucky," said Rio Grande County Commissioner Carla Shriver. "We got a free pass yesterday."
McConnell said no structures had been lost and the fire was still about 5 miles from the town.
The blaze had been fueled by dry, hot, windy weather and a stand of dead trees, killed by a beetle infestation. But the fire's spread had slowed by Saturday morning after the flames hit a healthy section of forest. Fire crews remained alert as more hot, dry and windy weather was forecast.
The wildfire, a complex of three blazes, remains a danger, officials said.
"The fire is very unpredictable," Shriver told evacuees at Del Norte High School, east of the fire. "They are saying they haven't quite seen one like this in years. There is so much fuel up there."
Smoke permeated the air Saturday in Del Norte, where a Red Cross shelter was set up for evacuees. Anticipating the mandatory South Fork evacuation would last for days, the Red Cross promised more supplies and portable showers.
New fire crews, meanwhile, descended from other areas to join more than 32 fire engines stationed around South Fork, with hoses and tankers at the ready. Firefighters also worked to move potential fuel, such as lawn furniture, propane tanks and wood piles, away from homes and buildings.
The town of Creede's 300 residents were under voluntary evacuation orders.
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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927703/news/1927703/
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3 hours ago
Eric Ryan / Getty Images file
New parents Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
Northwesterners are a proud lot. We actually like being 3,000 miles from everything. We like our music. We like the rain. We're not big on attention -- especially the kind that comes with a major celebrity couple naming their new baby after the region we call home.
Seattle, where this story is originating from, is hardly a backwoods outpost devoid of celebrity intrigue. We've got our own hip-hop royalty in Macklemore ... you know, the "Thrift Shop" guy. (Tired of that song? At least his album, which went gold in April, isn't called "Yeezus.") We've got memories of Elvis singing under the Space Needle and the Beatles fishing from a hotel window. Frasier Crane lived here and the "Grey's Anatomy" doctors worked here; so did Tom Hanks in that movie we don't need to name.
We were all a little "Sleepless" Thursday night when Twitter started pointing at us. Actually, Twitter started pointing at a little girl whose new name is North West. Her parents, rapper Kanye West and reality-er Kim Kardashian, bucked weeks of K-name rumors, it seemed, and went in a new direction. We wish they'd used a different kompass.
For a little girl who will likely grow up in Los Angeles and New York and Miami and Paris, being saddled with a soggy moniker will take some getting used to. Kind of like getting used to being the daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Nori, as she'll reportedly be known, should be aware of some of the stereotypes associated with the Northwest, even if she never lives here.
Forget the coffee thing and the grunge thing. Two companies, through relatively recent advertising campaigns, get at the heart of the Northwest mystique with a little more humor. A SoCal/Miami Beach girl should be aware of Northwest beach culture, so check out this ad from Henry Weinhard's beer, a one-time Oregon brewery:
And Pemco Insurance has a campaign aimed at nothing but Northwest stereotypes. Socks with sandals guy, excessive recycling lady, the roadside chainsaw woodcarver ... as the slogan states, "We're a lot like you. A little different":
The couple will certainly turn a fashionable eye toward their daughter. Kim and her K-named sisters have a line for Sears; Kanye has a line for people who don't walk in the rain. People no doubt still associate Northwest fashion with flannels and fleece, but who better to outfit the little girl than The North West Clothing Co.? The Seattle-based T-shirt, hat and hoodie maker needs to start a onesie line before the girl is wearing nothing but Rob Kardashian's socks.
Through it all, we hope North West the girl grows to love Northwest the destination, even if Northwest the airline isn't around anymore to fly her here. She wouldn't be the first or last Californian to ditch all that for all this.
But she may have trouble finding us if she Googles "north west." As Buzzfeed pointed out Friday morning, the search was already returning pictures of her parents among the images of maps. Yeezus H ...
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/north-west-should-know-thing-or-two-about-northwest-6C10411618
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By Bob Burgdorfer
CHICAGO (Reuters) - This is a good year to be in the U.S. chicken business. Profits are up, production and prices are rising, fast-food restaurants are promoting chicken dishes, and feed costs appear headed lower thanks to expected large U.S. corn and soybean crops.
High beef prices also have chased many supermarket shoppers to more-affordable chicken.
Healthy profits are expected for chicken companies this year, a sharp turnaround from two years ago when the industry was hurt by the recession and high feed prices.
Surging sales pushed wholesale prices for chicken breasts, the industry's key product, past $2 a pound this spring for the first time since 2004. A USDA report this week shows benchmark breast prices up 36 percent from a year ago at $2.18-1/2 per lb.
"It's the best of both worlds because we have grain prices going down and chicken prices going up. We are looking at a great year for chicken companies," said Paul Aho, economist with the consulting firm Poultry Perspective.
Analysts predict earnings at giant meat producer Tyson Foods Inc will surge to $2.11 per share this fiscal year from $1.58 in 2012, according to ThomsonReuters I/B/E/S. Forecasters expect Sanderson Farms earnings will more than double to $5.67 per share from $2.35 in 2012, with Pilgrim's Pride Corp profit jumping to $1.68 per share from 70 cents in fiscal 2012.
Tyson also produces beef and pork, while Pilgrim's and Sanderson are strictly chicken.
The industry's bottom line should get a boost from falling feed prices. Futures prices indicate corn should sell for below $6 a bushel after the fall harvest and into 2014. Also, USDA is forecasting the farm price for corn in the 2013/2014 crop year (September-August) at $4.40-$5.20.
"We are going to have more corn. We don't know if it will be $4 or $5, but it is not going to be $7," said Aho.
U.S. chicken companies feed flocks about 1.2 billion bushels of corn a year and the soymeal equivalent of 500 million bushels of soybeans.
"Chicken fundamentals remain extraordinary," BMO analyst Kenneth Zaslow said in research report last month. But the report warned that U.S. corn and soybean crops were not yet far enough along to assume feed costs would stay low.
PRODUCTION SLOWLY GOING UP
Chicken companies are responding to prosperity by boosting production. The U.S. Agriculture Department predicts a 2 percent increase this year from 2012 and a 3 percent increase in 2014.
No. 4 U.S. producer Sanderson Farms said it has returned to full production this month at its nine plants for the first time since 2011. Tyson Foods said it tries to balance supply with "forecasted demand."
Companies are being hindered from increasing production even more because recession, drought, and high feed prices in recent years had them cutting breeding flocks. Also, eggs needed to rebuild those flocks have been sent to Mexico, which is repopulating flocks decimated by avian influenza, or bird flu.
Mexico destroyed more than 26 million chickens in 2012 and early 2013, and has been buying millions of U.S. eggs, according to Mexico's Ministry of Economy.
U.S. producers would "like to produce more chickens but we can't get more hatching eggs ... because we don't have the breeder hens laying eggs," said Bill Roenigk, chief economist at the National Chicken Council.
CHICKEN SELLING FAST AT FAST-FOOD
Restaurants have helped drive the chicken industry's prosperity, with new products such as McDonalds Inc's chicken McWraps and Wendy's flatbread chicken sandwich. Last week, McDonalds' said its U.S. sales in May were up 2.4 percent from a year ago due in part to its "wide range of chicken options."
"I think boneless breasts should remain relatively strong through the summer," said Mike Cockrell, Sanderson's chief financial officer. He said restaurants "won't continue promotions forever but these items should stay on the menu."
Supermarket chicken sales have been robust, with record high beef prices pushing shoppers toward lower-cost alternatives, Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms have said.
Chicken prices in the meat case are up about 10 percent from a year ago, much less than the sharp increase in wholesale chicken prices.
"Eventually I think they will have to pass on some of the (wholesale) prices," Roenigk said. "It appears that there are still retailers that are giving consumers an awfully good bargain on chicken."
USDA price data for May showed boneless breasts averaged $3.429 per lb in stores, versus beef at about $5.24 per lb. A year earlier, breasts averaged $3.123.
(Additional reporting by Michael Hirtzer in Chicago and Adriana Barrera Espinosa in Mexico; Editing by David Gregorio)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-chicken-sector-boosted-fast-food-items-costly-181344216.html
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