AP Photos: Cities go dark for 'Earth Hour'

AAA??Mar. 24, 2013?12:08 AM ET
AP Photos: Cities go dark for 'Earth Hour'
The Associated PressThe Associated Press, Associated Press??

A two photo combination showing the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament in London, illuminated, left, and then in darkness as the lights were turned off to mark Earth Hour 2013, Saturday March 23, 2013. Earth Hour was marked worldwide at 8.30 p.m. local time and is a global call to turn off lights for 60 minutes in a bid to highlight the global climate change. (AP Photo/PA, Lewis Whyld) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE

A two photo combination showing the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament in London, illuminated, left, and then in darkness as the lights were turned off to mark Earth Hour 2013, Saturday March 23, 2013. Earth Hour was marked worldwide at 8.30 p.m. local time and is a global call to turn off lights for 60 minutes in a bid to highlight the global climate change. (AP Photo/PA, Lewis Whyld) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE

The lights on the Lions Gate bridge are on prior to Earth Hour as seen from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, March 23, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

The lights on the Lions Gate bridge are off during Earth Hour as seen from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday, March 23, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

In this photo provided by ComEd, from left, Senior Vice President of ComEd Fidel Marquez, ComEd customer Kathy Reiser, her children Caitlin and Ramsey, Navy Pier director of External Communications Nick Shields and Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42 Ward, pose for a photo as they turn off the lights of the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier in observation of Earth Hour in Chicago on Saturday, March 23, 2013. (AP Photo/ComEd, Charles Osgood)

Members of SPLASH, the Etobicoke School of the Arts' show choir sing before a WWF-Canada lantern walk in Roncesvalles Village Toronto, celebrating Earth Hour, Saturday, March 23, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Galit Rodan)

It's something of a voluntary rolling blackout: Communities around the globe are going dark for an hour on Saturday evening as part of an initiative called "Earth Hour," to raise awareness of climate change.

In more than 7,000 cities and towns across the planet, millions of residents are turning off their lights for an hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time to show their environmental concern.

Here are some photos of "Earth Hour" observances.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-24-Earth%20Hour-Photo%20Gallery/id-f7f61767feed411c8702cd4633b26088

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RG3 'superhuman' in recovery

Getty Images

The Buccaneers struggled last year on defense, especially in the secondary.? And, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times explains it, coach Greg Schiano takes that personally.

Schiano got his NFL start as the defensive backs coach in Chicago, but in his first year as a head coach Schiano?s team nearly set the league record for passing yards allowed in a season.? Included in that total were 69 completions of at least 20 yards and 11 of more than 50.

?The big pass plays, those are killers,? Schiano said, via Stroud.? ?They not only affect the game, but they affect the momentum of the game.? When you?re at home, it sucks the life out of your crowd, and when you?re on the road, it ignites the crowd.

?Some of the changes we made are the result of people not doing things exactly how we wanted them done. We did make a staff change,? Schiano said, regarding the departure of defensive backs coach Ron Cooper.? ?I?m not going to duck that. . . .? It?s even more frustrating for me because that?s supposed to be your area of expertise.?

The Buccaneers have added safety Dashon Goldson via free agency, and they continue to be in the hunt for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.? Goldson and Mark Barron have similar styles, and that?s fine with Schiano.

?It doesn?t matter to me,? Schiano said. ?We?re actually an interchangeable safety defense.? So there?s not really a cover guy and a box guy.?

The ultimate cover guy ? Revis ? would pump up the secondary considerably.? And it could make the Buccaneers major players in the NFC South.? Even if, in the end, the Bucs don?t have a spot in the lineup for future Hall of Famer Ronde Barber.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/23/andrews-calls-rg3-superhuman-in-his-acl-recovery/related/

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France confirms death of al-Qaida chief Abou Zeid

PARIS (AP) ? The al-Qaida-linked warlord Abou Zeid was killed in combat with French-led troops in Mali in February, France said Saturday, ending weeks of uncertainty about whether one of the group's leading commanders in the region was dead.

In a statement Saturday the office of French President Francois Hollande said the death was "definitively confirmed" and that the killing "marks an important step in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel."

Chad's president had said earlier this month that Chadian troops killed Abou Zeid while fighting to dislodge his al-Qaida affiliate in northern Mali. French officials have maintained for weeks that the Algerian was "probably" dead but waited to conduct DNA tests to verify.

Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, thought to be 47, was a pillar of the southern realm of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, responsible for the death of at least two European hostages and a leader of the extremist takeover of the north.

The French military moved into Mali on Jan. 11 to push back militants linked to him and others who had imposed harsh Islamic rule and who are seen as an international terrorist threat.

Abou Zeid was killed in operations in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in northern Mali in late February, the statement from Hollande's office said.

One analyst warned that Abou Zeid's death will not significantly weaken AQIM, as some analysts predict, and may in fact lead to greater unity among its factions.

Jean-Paul Rouiller, director of the Geneva Center for Training and Analysis of Terrorism, described AQIM's organization as a set of insulated cells under the larger al-Qaida umbrella, which existed independently of each other.

The region of Mali ? known in the group's parlance as the "emirate of the Sahara" ? was divided between units loyal to Abou Zeid and those loyal to his rival, Moktar Belmoktar, the international terrorist who led the attack on the Ain Amenas gas plant that left 36 foreigners dead in Algeria earlier this year.

Chad's military chief has claimed that his troops killed Belmoktar, but France has not confirmed the death and many analysts say they don't believe it.

Rouiller said the likely scenario is that Abou Zeid's longtime associate, Yahya Abou El-Hammam, will take over control of his brigade. For years, Hammam acted as the go-between when Abou Zeid wanted to communicate with Belmoktar, suggesting he likely had a good relationship with Belmoktar.

"Especially if Hammam takes over, there could be a chance for a better coordinated relationship with Moktar Belmoktar," Rouiller said. "In terms of controlling Mali, the death of Abou Zeid could mean more cooperation between the arms of AQIM."

Abou Zeid's brigade, believe to be one of the most violent in al-Qaida's North African franchise, was thought to be holding four French nationals kidnapped two years ago at a uranium mine in Niger. The fate of those hostages, working for French company Areva, was unclear.

Abou Zeid held a Frenchman released in February 2010, and another who was executed that July. He's also been linked to the execution of a British hostage in 2009.

A powerful and shadowy figure, mystery surrounds even his real name. Along with his nom de guerre, Abou Zeid had an alias, Mosab Abdelouadoud, and nicknames, the emir of the south and the little emir, due to his diminutive size. But the Algerian press has raised questions about his legal identity ? Abid Hamadou or Mohamed Ghedir.

He was viewed as a disciplined radical with close ties to the overall AQIM boss, Abdelmalek Droukdel, who oversees operations from his post in northern Algeria.

Abou Zeid fought with a succession of Islamist insurgency movements trying to topple the Algerian state since 1992. He reportedly joined the brutal, and now defunct, Armed Islamic Group that massacred whole villages in northern Algeria, then joined the Salafist Group for Call and Combat that morphed into al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in 2006.

An Algerian court tried him in absentia in January 2012, convicting him of belonging to an international terrorist group and sentencing him to life in prison.

In the Sahara, Abou Zeid was known to be more brutal toward hostages than Belmoktar, who generally allowed foreigners in his care to receive medicine when needed.

Rouiller says that an analysis done by his center of proof-of-life videos released by AQIM suggests that Hammam and another commander are just as brutal as Abou Zeid was.

______

Associated Press writers Elaine Ganley in Paris and Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/france-confirms-death-al-qaida-chief-abou-zeid-132129385.html

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FCC chairman to resign

NEW YORK (AP) ? The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, on Friday announced that he's stepping down in the "coming weeks," after a four-year tenure that's garnered mixed reviews for him and tangible progress in the industries he oversees.

The country's top telecommunications regulator told a staff meeting of his decision Friday morning. His impending departure was reported Thursday by several news outlets.

Genachowski, 50, was appointed in 2009 and has hewed a middle line between the desires of public-interest groups and the telecom industry, which hasn't enamored him to either side.

His tenure has seen continued adoption of broadband and ever higher Internet connection speeds, especially on the wireless side, but consumer groups saw the approval of Comcast's acquisition of NBC as a mistake, while AT&T Inc. suffered a severe blow when its acquisition of T-Mobile USA was blocked.

"For those of us who represent the public, Chairman Genachowski's term can best be described as one of missed opportunities," said public-interest group Public Knowledge. Genachowski should have done more to assert the FCC's authority over broadband, which is lightly regulated compared to the telephone, and to prevent consolidation in the industry, it said.

In an interview, Genachowski defended the FCC's 2010 order that prohibits wired Internet service providers from blocking access to websites and services.

"We put in place the first rules to protect Internet freedom and openness, and the rules are working. We're seeing increased innovation and investment in Internet applications and services and also in Internet networks and infrastructure," Genachowski said. "I believe we've established an open Internet as a business and social norm in the U.S."

President Barack Obama, who worked with Genachowski at the Harvard Law Review, said he brought to the FCC a "clear focus on spurring innovation, helping our businesses compete in a global economy and helping our country attract the industries and jobs of tomorrow."

Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, commended Genachowski's FCC for its National Broadband Plan ? the first comprehensive federal plan to stimulate the availability and adoption of high-speed Internet access ? and for its efforts to put more radio spectrum to use wireless broadband.

"America's broadband economy is thriving, with record-setting private investment, unparalleled innovation in networks, device and apps, and renewed U.S. leadership around the world," Genachowski said Friday as he thanked the FCC's staff.

Genachowski's departure will follow that of Republican Robert McDowell, which leaves the five-member commission with a 2-1 Democratic majority until Obama appoints a new chairman and commissioner.

Stifel Nicolaus analysts Christopher King and David Kaut said they believe the front-running candidate for next chairman is Tom Wheeler, a venture capitalist and former president of two major trade groups, for the cable and wireless industries.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fcc-chairman-genachowski-step-down-141103205--finance.html

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Death - David Icke's Official Forums

Maybe I lack emotion, or maybe I'm a psychopath, but when I see people mourn the death of somebody close to them, I don't understand why they mourn and cry.

The way I see it, death should the celebration of life.

Obviously, a sudden death via accident/illness sucks for the person who died because he/she may have had man years ahead of them to enjoy the physical world. But, I don't know why people cry over the dead.

I've had close family members die on me, and I never had an emotional reaction, despite seeing my other friends and family members mourn. Maybe I subconsciously suppressed my own feelings?

I feel like we mourn because we are not taught what the true nature of death is.

I think mourning is more of a selfish reaction... like "please don't leave me!", "please don't do this to me! I'm going to miss you so much!", etc. I believe it is important to approach death as the celebration of life, so that the consciousnesses/spirit/etc. can move on to the afterlife instead of being anchored/tied down to the current world via emotions of our friends and family. Sorry if this sounds confusing lol, it's hard for me to explain in words.

In the animal kingdom, when a member of the pack/etc dies, the family members do mourn, but only for a short period of time... but then they quickly adjust, and move on. They live in the present. People on the other hand, have more trouble doing this.

What do you guys think?

__________________
"Learning is like rowing upstream; to not advance is to fall back."

Source: http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240044

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Punxsutawney Phil 'indicted' over spring forecast

CINCINNATI (AP) ? Famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil might want to go back into hibernation.

Authorities in still-frigid Ohio have issued an "indictment" of the furry rodent, who predicted an early spring when he didn't see his shadow after emerging from his western Pennsylvania lair on Feb. 2.

"Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the people to believe that spring would come early," Mike Gmoser, the prosecutor in southwestern Ohio's Butler County, wrote in an official-looking indictment.

Gmoser wrote that Punxsutawney Phil is charged with misrepresentation of spring, which constitutes a felony "against the peace and dignity of the state of Ohio."

The penalty Phil faces? Gmoser says ? tongue firmly in cheek ? is death.

Punxsutawney Phil does not have a listed phone number.

Bill Deeley, president of the Punxsutawney club that organizes Groundhog Day, said Phil has a lawyer and would fight any extradition attempt by Ohio authorities.

Deeley defended his fur-bearing associate and said the death penalty was "very harsh" given the nature of the allegations.

"We'll have to plead our case one way or the other, but I think we can beat the rap," Deeley said.

The vitriolic backlash on social media to Phil's dead-wrong prognostication has not gone unnoticed in and around Gobbler's Knob, Deeley said, and special security precautions were in place.

"Right next to where Phil stays is the police station," he said. "They've been notified and they said they will keep watching their monitors."

Winter has been dragging on in the Buckeye State and surrounding areas, with daily high temperatures this week hovering in the mid-30s and no end in sight for about 10 days, said Don Hughes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio.

A storm moving into the region Sunday could bring between 4 and 8 inches of snow, he said.

"It's taking too long," Hughes said, adding that he's hearing plenty of complaints from colleagues and neighbors about the late spring. "Most people I've talked to say they've had enough. They want spring. They're looking for colors and sunshine and Easter lilies."

The frigid temperatures and snow might be particularly hard to swallow after last spring, when the U.S. saw the warmest March in recorded history. Highs in the Cincinnati area, for instance, were well into the 80s.

Hughes said this spring isn't nearly the coldest on record but that the area is about 5 degrees below normal.

Gmoser's indictment made no mention of a possible co-conspirator in the false prediction of early spring, Ohio's own forecasting groundhog, Buckeye Chuck.

Chuck also failed to see his shadow when he emerged from his burrow on Feb. 2 in Marion in north-central Ohio.

___

Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pa.

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/punxsutawney-phil-indicted-over-spring-forecast-142511237.html

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Google Rumored To Be Making A Smartwatch, Too

Amidst Apple iWatch rumors and Google Glass sightings, it would appear that Google is actually working on its own smartwatch to be paired alongside connected Android devices. According to the Financial Times, Google’s Android arm will be the team working on the device, as opposed to the X Lab division, which handled Google Glass development. The wearable computer market is heating up quite rapidly. Alongside Google’s Glass project, a number of smaller OEMs have launched Bluetooth-connected smart watches to work as a companion to the smartphone. Fossil has a well-crafted MetaWatch, InPulse has the hot-selling Pebble smartwatch, and there are even a handful of quantified self devices that measure your daily activity. There’s the Nike FuelBand, the Jawbone UP, and the Basis to name a few. Add to that an Apple competitor in the iWatch, and a Samsung smartwatch to boot, and it only makes sense that Google has a watch in the works. Google Glass takes wearable computing a step beyond the basic wrist watch. However, the rate of adoption will almost certainly be lower than that of a watch or a smartphone since the experience is such a huge change in the way we interact with digital content and our world. A smart watch, on the other hand, would feel a lot more like using a really small smartphone, and that familiarity makes the watch a great bridge between smartphones and computational headsets. Google didn’t comment on the speculation. However, there’s a patent owned by Google and filed in 2011 for a “smart watch” with a “flip-up display.” It would appear that the patent also provides for a touchscreen experience. The question isn’t really if Google will build a smart watch. As small OEMs and big competitors around it flood the market with wearable smartwatches, Google will likely need to join the fight. However, it’s unclear what exactly that will look like? Does a flip-up display look like a flip phone? From the patent filing, the “flip-up display” seems to work like a digital pocket watch, showing two displays when open and a single display on top when closed. However, just because Google filed this patent, it doesn’t mean that Google’s Android smartwatch will look anything like it. On the software side, Google has already proven that it can develop for new forms of computing, such as Google Glass. Even some of its already-released apps like Google Now

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

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