TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese manufacturers' sentiment turned positive in the three months to June for the first time in nearly two years, a closely-watched central bank survey is likely to show on Monday in a sign recent market turbulence has yet to hurt the feel-good mood created by the government's reflationary policies.
The Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey will likely show the headline index for big manufacturers' sentiment improved 11 points from three months ago to plus 3, according to a Reuters poll.
That would be the second straight quarter of improvement and the first positive reading - which means optimists outnumbered pessimists - since the survey of September 2011, and vindication of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" policy of aggressive monetary stimulus and fiscal spending.
Service-sector sentiment also likely brightened as consumers spent more, with the index for big non-manufacturing companies likely to have risen 5 points to plus 11, the Reuters poll showed.
A positive reading will bode well for the central bank, keen to end grinding deflation that has haunted Japan for 15 years and achieve its 2 percent inflation target in roughly two years through aggressive monetary stimulus.
"You cannot deny that the economy is improving, and that domestic demand is leading the way," said Hiroshi Miyazaki, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo.
"Government stimulus spending is contributing to growth and the services sector is gaining strength. The BOJ's monetary easing is becoming more effective, so there's no need for additional measures."
The upbeat survey was compiled amid the market turmoil that drove up bond yields and wiped out gains in Tokyo shares made on hopes for Abe's stimulus plans. It should reinforce views the world's third-largest economy is steadily recovering, analysts say.
Big manufacturers and non-manufacturers both expect business conditions to improve further three months ahead, a sign they see the negative effect of the recent market turbulence on the economy as limited at least for now, the poll showed.
Positive market sentiment turned around in late May when the BOJ's huge asset purchases disrupted the bond market and drove up yields which, coupled with expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering of monetary stimulus, hit global stocks and triggered a rebound in the safe-haven yen.
Still, the tankan report, a key touchstone for BOJ policymakers, will likely reinforce the view that Japan's economy remains on track for a steady recovery backed by a pickup in exports and private consumption.
The tankan's sentiment indexes are derived by subtracting the percentage of respondents who say conditions are poor from those who say they are good.
Big firms are likely to increase capital expenditure by 2.9 percent in the current business year from April, the Reuters poll showed, a sign the positive mood may be prompting them to expand business operations.
(Additional reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Eric Meijer)
WACO, Texas (AP) - The Texas Rangers are investigating mileage reimbursement forms submitted by a McLennan County justice of the peace.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna told the Waco Tribune-Herald (http://bit.ly/19DThD7 ) that he asked the Rangers to investigate Justice of the Peace Jean Laster-Boone after a county auditor turned over evidence of irregularities.
Laster-Boone declined comment. A spokesman for the Texas Rangers confirmed the investigation Friday.
Her mileage forms were reviewed after three former employees said they had falsified forms at her instruction.
McLennan County Auditor Stan Chambers said that the most the judge can receive for mileage is $360 per month and that her reports always reach the maximum.
By Emma Ouimette Fri, Jun 28 2013 12:12 pm | Comments
Retail Pro And Other Leading POS Providers Get Enhanced Analytics from Swarm
Press Release:
San Francisco, CA:?After months of testing at independent bike, surf, skate and snow shops in the US and Canada Swarm has released new point of sale (POS) add-ons compatible with Retail Pro, MerchantOS, Microsoft Dynamics, and several additional leading POS providers.
Shops using Swarm will now be able to measure customer foot traffic, conversion rates, dwell time, as well as view dashboards for all of their transactional data ? gross/net revenue, top-selling categories and more. The data is accessible from anywhere and can be viewed on any device.
Chain stores can get a birds eye view across all stores through a global dashboard. Swarm is already in use by hundreds of core shops nationwide and has expanded into mid-size chains including all O?Neill flagship stores and outlets.
?We?ve been chasing the idea of conversion rates and a realistic count of shoppers for years.? said Charlie McCormick, owner of City Bikes in Washington DC. ?There is nothing out there in the market for retailers that is effective like this.?
?Having all my store data right there at my fingertips makes running the business easier? said Sam Radkovich, owner of Lakeside Bicycles in Lake Oswego, Oregon ?I don?t have to run nine different reports every day to see how we did.?
In the coming months Swarm is releasing additional tools to help brick and mortar retailers better understand their customers and operations.
?We?re passionate about providing tools to help great retailers exceed their potential.? said Ryan Denehy, co-founder and EVP, Business Development at Swarm ?This is just the beginning. We?re psyched to work with so many great shop owners and look forward to significant growth throughout the balance of the year.?
Shops can try the solution free for the next 30 days by visiting this link: http://swarm-mobile.com/getstarted
For more information please contact:
Ryan Denehy EVP, Sales and Business Development Swarm www.swarm-mobile.com
CATEGORIZED: News, Retail News TAGS: action sports retailers, MerchantOS, Microsoft Dynamics, oneill, point of sale, POS, retail news, Retail Pro, Ryan Denehy, swarm, swarm mobile
June 27, 2013 ? When faced with the choice of sacrificing time and energy for a loved one or taking the self-centered route, people's first impulse is to think of others, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
"For decades psychologists have assumed that the first impulse is selfish and that it takes self-control to behave in a pro-social manner," says lead researcher Francesca Righetti of VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. "We did not believe that this was true in every context, and especially not in close relationships."
Righetti and colleagues sought to examine whether impulsivity, in close relationships, might actually benefit others.
They found that participants whose self-control was taxed (and were thus more impulsive) were more willing to sacrifice time and energy for their romantic partner or best friend than participants whose self-control wasn't taxed.
In one study, to find out whether they would sacrifice in actual practice, the researchers told couples they would have to talk to 12 strangers and ask them embarrassing questions. The participants didn't know that they wouldn't actually have to follow through with the task.
Participants with high self-control opted to split the burden right down the middle -- assigning six strangers to themselves and six strangers to their partner. But participants with low self-control opted to take on more of the burden, sacrificing their own comfort to spare their partners.
A final experiment revealed that married individuals low in trait self-control sacrificed more for their partners, yet were also less forgiving of their transgressions -- presumably because self-control is required to override the focus on the wrongdoing and think instead about the relationship as a whole.
While sacrificing for a partner may help to build the relationship on a day-to-day basis, Righetti and colleagues note that it could backfire over the long-term, compromising individuals' ability to maintain a balance between personal and relationship-related concerns.
This balance is a perennial issue for anyone in a close relationship:
"Whether it's about which activities to engage in during free time, whose friends to go out with, or which city to live in, relationship partners often face a divergence of interests -- what is most preferred by one partner is not preferred by the other," notes Righetti.
The field of research is relatively new, so the jury is still out on what effects sacrifice has on relationship well-being, but Righetti is hopeful that research over the next few years will shed more light on the link.
Co-authors on this research include Catrin Finkenauer, also of VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Eli Finkel of Northwestern University.
This research was supported by grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
NEW YORK (AP) ? The funeral of James Gandolfini took place in one of the largest churches in the world and didn't stint on ceremony.
Still, the estimated 1,500 mourners who gathered Thursday in New York's Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine seemed part of an intimate affair. They came to pay their respects to a plain but complex man whose sudden death eight days before had left all of them feeling a loss.
During the service, Gandolfini was remembered by the creator of "The Sopranos" as an actor who had brought a key element to mob boss Tony Soprano: Tony's inner child-like quality.
For a man who, in so many ways, was an unrepentant brute, that underlying purity was what gave viewers permission to love him.
"You brought ALL of that to it," said David Chase in remarks he delivered as if an open letter to his fallen friend and "Sopranos" star.
Even though Gandolfini was indisputably a formidable man both on and off the screen, Chase also saw him as a boy ? "sad, amazed, confused and loving," he summed up, addressing his subject: "You could see it in your eyes. And that's why you are a great actor."
Susan Aston, who for decades was Gandolfini's dialogue coach and collaborator, spoke of how he wrestled to find truth in his performances.
"He worked hard," she said. "He was disciplined. He studied his roles and did his homework." But then, when the cameras rolled, his performance took over and, "through an act of faith, he allowed himself to go to an uncharted place. ... He remained vulnerable, and kept his heart open in his life and in his work."
The 51-year-old actor died of a heart attack last week while vacationing with his 13-year-old son in Italy. It was cruel end to a holiday meant to be part of a summer that Gandolfini was devoting to his family ? including his son and his 9-month-old daughter ? by even turning down a movie role, according to Aston, citing what she said was her final conversation with him.
Aston said he told her "I don't want to lose any of the time I have with Michael and Lily this summer."
The actor's widow, Deborah Lin Gandolfini, also spoke at the ceremony, as did longtime friend Thomas Richardson, who affectionately described Gandolfini as a man "who hugged too tight and held too long." But now facing a world without hugs from Gandolfini, Richardson invited the congregation to stand and share hugs with their neighbors.
"It is in hugging that we are hugged," he declared.
A private family wake was held for the actor Wednesday in New Jersey.
Broadway theaters paid tribute by dimming their lights briefly Wednesday night. Gandolfini was nominated for a Tony Award in 2009 as an actor in "God of Carnage."
For Thursday's service, celebrities and fellow actors helped make up the capacity audience.
Those from "The Sopranos" included Edie Falco, Joe Pantoliano, Dominic Chianese, Steve Schirripa, Aida Turturro, Vincent Curatola, Tony Sirico, Lorraine Bracco, Steve Buscemi and Michael Imperioli.
Others from the entertainment community included Julianna Margulies, Alec Baldwin, Chris Noth, Marcia Gay Harden, Dick Cavett and Steve Carell.
NBC News' Brian Williams was in attendance. So was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
So was Saul Stein, 60, a resident of Harlem.
"I came to pay my respects today because he's a character I identify with, a family man," Stein said as he waited in line outside the church.
New Jersey accents were easy to hear among those hoping for a chance to get in. A few people spoke in Italian.
Of course, both New Jersey and Italian-Americans played a big part of "The Sopranos," which originally ran on HBO from 1999 to 2007.
Chase recalled a hot Jersey day early in the show's production that bonded him with Gandolfini ? with whom he shared Italian-American working-class roots ? for all times.
Waiting to shoot the next scene, Gandolfini was seated in an aluminum lawn chair with his slacks rolled up, black socks and black shoes exposed, and a damp cloth on his head in an effort to find some relief from the heat.
"I hadn't seen that done since my father used to do it, and my Italian uncle, and my grandfather," said Chase. "They were laborers in the hot sun of New Jersey."
"I was filled with love," Chase said, struggling to keep his composure, as he described the sight of Gandolfini in the broiling sun.
"I always felt we are brothers," he said, "based on that day."
___
Associated Press correspondent Bethan McKernan and Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
HONG KONG (AP) ? Stock markets from Sydney to Shanghai extended gains for a second day Thursday after the U.S. said quarterly growth may be weaker than expected, raising investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve would delay plans to wind down its stimulus program.
Further signs of easing in China's money markets also helped lift stocks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4 percent to 13,142.50 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.3 percent to 20,607.27. South Korea's Kospi surged 3 percent to 1,837.45.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.8 percent to 4,818.80. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan also rose.
The U.S. government cut its estimate for second-quarter economic growth to 1.8 percent, down sharply from 2.4 percent because of lower than predicted consumer spending.
While news of the weakness in the world's biggest economy was disappointing, it was also positive for investors, who were rattled last week after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank would slow its bond-buying program if the U.S. economy continues to strengthen. That program has kept interest rates low and made stocks more attractive.
"This doesn't put a new spin on the outlook but it certainly makes one wonder all the more about the Fed's 'new and improved' outlook for 2014," economists at DBS Bank wrote in a commentary.
Mainland Chinese benchmarks opened sharply higher after a report that Chinese industrial profits grew strongly in May, though they pared their gains by midday. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.4 percent to 1,959.25 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 913.87.
Markets were also buoyed as interbank lending rates in China continue to ease after a pledge earlier in the week by authorities to shore up banks facing cash shortfalls.
"We expect the interbank rates will come down further in the coming weeks," J.P. Morgan analysts Haibin Zhu, Grace Ng and Lu Jiang said in a research report. But they said that they didn't expect the rates to fall to the level they were at previously.
The central bank had allowed rates that banks pay to borrow from each other to soar last week, part of an attempt by Beijing to clamp down on massive credit in the informal lending industry.
Fears of a credit crisis in the world's second-biggest economy had contributed to a rout in global markets that ended when policymakers in China softened their stance with the promise to provide "liquidity support" if needed.
Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 39 cents to $95.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 18 cents to end at $95.50 a barrel on Wednesday.
In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3031 from $1.3012 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar rose to 97.76 yen from 97.74 yen.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed for a third straight day on Thursday after comments from several Federal Reserve officials soothed concerns that the central bank would begin to reduce its stimulus efforts in the near future.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed back above 15,000 for the first time since June 19. The Dow scored its third consecutive day of triple-digit point gains for the first time since October 4-6, 2011.
The rally helped the S&P 500 post its best three-day run since January after three Fed policymakers sought to downplay the notion that the central bank would bring an imminent end to its accomodative monetary policy, known as quantitative easing.
"I think the Fed is trying to delicately prepare the markets for an eventual ending of QE3," said David Carter, chief investment officer of Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.
"The Fed has bent over backwards to introduce this huge program over the past few years to get the economy going. The last thing the Fed wants to do is pull the plug too fast and have the economy go down the drain."
Thursday's advance was again broad-based. Nine of the 10 S&P 500 industry sectors gained, with financials, industrials and consumer discretionary shares leading the way. Stocks also got a lift from economic data showing a decline in weekly jobless claims and improvements in consumer spending and income.
Volatility erupted in the stock market after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week that the central bank could begin to reduce its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases later this year and end the program altogether by mid-2014 if economic conditions improve.
On Thursday, William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said the Fed's asset purchases would be more aggressive than the timeline Bernanke had outlined if U.S. economic growth and the labor market prove weaker than expected.
Dudley stressed that slowing the pace of the Fed's bond buying would depend not on calendar dates but on the economic outlook, which remained unclear.
While the S&P 500 remains more than 3 percent below its all-time closing high of 1,669.16 reached on May 21, it has rallied 2.6 percent over the past three sessions after numerous Fed officials have sought to calm markets roiled by expectations of tighter monetary policy.
Volume was about average as some 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges. More than 80 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange advanced.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart echoed Dudley's comments, saying the pace of the Fed's purchases remained contingent on evolving economic conditions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.dji> rose 114.35 points or 0.77 percent, to end at 15,024.49. The S&P 500 <.spx> gained 9.94 points or 0.62 percent, to finish at 1,613.20. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 25.64 points or 0.76 percent, to close at 3,401.86.
Hewlett-Packard was the Dow's best performer, advancing 3.2 percent to $24.77. Bank of America also ranked among the Dow's top gainers, adding 2 percent to $13.01.
A separate report showed consumer spending rose 0.3 percent last month while incomes grew 0.5 percent, the largest gain since February. Pending home sales rose 6.7 percent to their highest since December 2006.
ConAgra Foods Inc rose 5.1 percent to $35.04. The stock was the S&P 500's third-best performer after the food manufacturer reported a quarterly profit slightly above Wall Street's estimates and raised its long-term outlook.
Time Warner Cable jumped 4.4 percent to $108.22 as John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, sounded out options for cable operator Charter Communications to acquire its larger rival, according to a Bloomberg report.
The SPDR Gold Trust ETF hit a 52-week low at $115.65 in the wake of gold's slide to its lowest level in almost three years. The price of gold dropped more than 2 percent to below $1,200 an ounce on Thursday, while the SPDR Gold Trust ETF lost 2 percent on heavy volume. With about 29 million shares traded, volume was more than double the daily average of 12.7 million over the past 50 days.
(Reporting by Alison Griswold; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Jan Paschal)
AAA??Jun. 28, 2013?2:34 AM ET Feds: Internet influenced Boston bombing suspect By DENISE LAVOIE and TOM HAYSBy DENISE LAVOIE and TOM HAYS, Associated Press??
FILE - This file photo provided Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)
FILE - This file photo provided Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz speaks during a news conference, announcing a 30-count indictment against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thursday, June 27, 2013, in Boston. Charges against Tsarnaev include using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death near the marathon finish line on April 15. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)
FILE - In this April 15, 2013 file photo, medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following an explosion in Boston. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz pauses during a news conference, announcing a 30-count indictment against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thursday, June 27, 2013, in Boston. Charges against Tsarnaev include using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death near the marathon finish line on April 15. Alongside are Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, left, and Bruce Foucart, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security in Boston, right. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)
FILE - In this April 15, 2013, file photo, blood from victims covers the sidewalk on Boylston Street, at the site of an explosion during the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston. At right foreground is a folding chair with the design of an American flag on the cover. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
BOSTON (AP) ? A federal indictment accusing Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) of carrying out the April bombings says the teenager had the information he needed to make explosives with a pressure cooker easily accessible on the Internet in jihadist files
The 30-count indictment returned Thursday provides one of the most detailed public explanations to date of the Tsarnaev brothers' alleged motive ? Islamic extremism ? and the role the Internet may have played in influencing them.
It contains the bombing charges, punishable by the death penalty, that were brought in April against the 19-year-old, including use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill.
The indictment makes no mention of any overseas influence.
The advantages of using a wireless Internet radio receiver as opposed to a traditional terrestrial as well as land based receiver tends to be quite many these days. Together with Internet radio players you?re no more tied to just the stations that are offered in your local area, but channels obtainable all over the world. There are actually completely new channels arriving online daily. The only factor you need to make the most of this kind of variety is an Internet radio tuner. This can be a stand alone receiver, a computer, a television or perhaps only a smartphone.
A number of services such as Pandora, iHeart radio, iTunes and even Freeview Radio through Digital TV providers such as BT Vision?possess a great deal of channels to choose from. Also available are streaming stations from individual radio stations and also private individuals. With a lot of options to get songs from comes a limitless choice in genres too. Everything from individual decades such as the 80?s to a particular kind of music including live jazz performances. Anything you like to listen to can be found with an Internet radio player.
Other features of Internet radio consist of having the ability to obtain more information about what you might be hearing than is possible with conventional radios. The majority of streams of music usually include information regarding the song you happen to be listening to. Details such as the name of the song, name of the performer and also the name of the album can be found quite easily. Furthermore, more and more services tend to be supplying the ability to buy the song you?re listening to straight from the stream you?re hearing it on.
With regular radio stations there might be difficulties with range from the station creating bad sound quality. This is not the case with Internet radio players. So long as the Internet speed and also wireless signal is adequate the quality of sound gets close to that of a CD. This can be essential when you are listening to radio stations that often go out during storms. With online stations as long as your Internet is up you will have music and songs.
Another advantage of listening to music on the Internet is the lack of long blocks of ads. While there tend to be costs associated with offering music online, the cost is significantly less than that of a land based radio station. Additionally in contrast to conventional radio stations, online radio has much less and sometimes absolutely no limitations on it. This allows for less censoring and more independence to perform tracks that could not make it past regulators on a standard radio station.
Every one of these benefits soon add up to a lot more independence and much larger spectrum of available songs to people hearing with a wired or even wireless Internet radio receiver. With a good pair of audio speakers and Internet speed to deal with the stream, playing music online can be a lot more enjoyable and satisfying than being tied to a radio station that?s close enough to reach your typical radio antenna.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Lately, the jet stream isn't playing by the rules. Scientists say that big river of air high above Earth that dictates much of the weather for the Northern Hemisphere has been unusually erratic the past few years.
They blame it for everything from snowstorms in May to the path of Superstorm Sandy.
And last week, it was responsible for downpours that led to historic floods in Alberta, Canada, as well as record-breaking heat in parts of Alaska, experts say. The town of McGrath, Alaska, hit 94. Just a few weeks earlier, the same spot was 15 degrees.
The current heat wave in the Northeast is also linked. "While it's not unusual to have a heat wave in the east in June, it is part of the anomalous jet stream pattern that was responsible for the flooding in Alberta," Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis said Tuesday in an email.
The jet stream usually rushes rapidly from west to east in a mostly straight direction. But lately it's been wobbling and weaving like a drunken driver, wreaking havoc as it goes. The more the jet stream undulates north and south, the more changeable and extreme the weather.
It's a relatively new phenomenon that scientists are still trying to understand. Some say it's related to global warming; others say it's not.
In May, there was upside-down weather: Early California wildfires fueled by heat contrasted with more than a foot of snow in Minnesota. Seattle was the hottest spot in the nation one day, and Maine and Edmonton, Canada, were warmer than Miami and Phoenix.
Consider these unusual occurrences over the past few years:
? The winter of 2011-12 seemed to disappear, with little snow and record warmth in March. That was followed by the winter of 2012-13 when nor'easters seemed to queue up to strike the same coastal areas repeatedly.
? Superstorm Sandy took an odd left turn in October from the Atlantic straight into New Jersey, something that happens once every 700 years or so.
? One 12-month period had a record number of tornadoes. That was followed by 12 months that set a record for lack of tornadoes.
And here is what federal weather officials call a "spring paradox": The U.S. had both an unusually large area of snow cover in March and April and a near-record low area of snow cover in May. The entire Northern Hemisphere had record snow coverage area in December but the third lowest snow extent for May.
"I've been doing meteorology for 30 years and the jet stream the last three years has done stuff I've never seen," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the private service Weather Underground. "The fact that the jet stream is unusual could be an indicator of something. I'm not saying we know what it is."
Rutgers' Francis is in the camp that thinks climate change is probably playing a role in this.
"It's been just a crazy fall and winter and spring all along, following a very abnormal sea ice condition in the Arctic," Francis said, noting that last year set a record low for summer sea ice in the Arctic. "It's possible what we're seeing in this unusual weather is all connected."
Other scientists don't make the sea ice and global warming connections that Francis does. They see random weather or long-term cycles at work. And even more scientists are taking a wait-and-see approach about this latest theory. It's far from a scientific consensus, but it is something that is being studied more often and getting a lot of scientific buzz.
"There are some viable hypotheses," Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh said. "We're going to need more evidence to fully test those hypotheses."
The jet stream, or more precisely the polar jet stream, is the one that affects the Northern Hemisphere. It dips down from Alaska, across the United States or Canada, then across the Atlantic and over Europe and "has everything to do with the weather we experience," Francis said.
It all starts with the difference between cold temperatures in the Arctic and warmer temperatures in the mid-latitudes, she explained. The bigger the temperature difference, the stronger the jet stream, the faster it moves and the straighter it flows. But as the northern polar regions warm two to three times faster than the rest of the world, augmented by unprecedented melting of Arctic sea ice and loss in snow cover, the temperature difference shrinks. Then the jet stream slows and undulates more.
The jet stream is about 14 percent slower in the fall now than in the 1990s, according to a recent study by Francis. And when it slows, it moves north-south instead of east-west, bringing more unusual weather, creating blocking patterns and cutoff lows that are associated with weird weather, the Rutgers scientist said.
Mike Halpert, the deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said that recently the jet stream seems to create weather patterns that get stuck, making dry spells into droughts and hot days into heat waves.
Take the past two winters. They were as different as can be, but both had unusual jet stream activity. Normally, the jet stream plunges southwest from western Washington state, sloping across to Alabama. Then it curves slightly out to sea around the Outer Banks, a swoop that's generally straight without dramatic bends.
During the mostly snowless winter of 2011-12 and the record warm March 2012, the jet stream instead formed a giant upside-down U, curving dramatically in the opposite direction. That trapped warm air over much of the Eastern U.S. A year later the jet stream was again unusual, this time with a sharp U-turn north. This trapped colder and snowier weather in places like Chicago and caused nor'easters in New England, Francis said.
But for true extremes, nothing beats tornadoes.
In 2011, the United States was hit over and over by killer twisters. From June 2010 to May 2011 the U.S. had a record number of substantial tornadoes, totaling 1,050. Then just a year later came a record tornado drought. From May 2012 to April 2013 there were only 217 tornadoes ? 30 fewer than the old record, said Harold Brooks, a meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Brooks said both examples were related to unusual jet stream patterns.
Last fall, a dip in the jet stream over the United States and northward bulge of high pressure combined to pull Superstorm Sandy almost due west into New Jersey, Francis said. That track is so rare and nearly unprecedented that computer models indicate it would happen only once every 714 years, according to a new study by NASA and Columbia University scientists.
"Everyone would agree that we are in a pattern" of extremes, NOAA research meteorologist Martin Hoerling said. "We don't know how long it will stay in this pattern."
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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at http://twitter.com/borenbears
___
Online:
NOAA on the jet stream: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/global/jet.htm
Jennifer Francis study linking Arctic sea ice loss to jet stream changes: http://bit.ly/1aAFM5g
Today, a House-Senate conference committee is set to finalize the outlines of a broad package of tax reforms that will be incorporated into the state?s two-year budget.
A new analysis by Innovation Ohio shows that nearly half the sitting members of the Ohio General Assembly could directly benefit from a new tax break aimed at business owners. Forty-seven legislators report an ownership stake in a pass-through entity, while another 10 have an indirect relationship through a spouse?s ownership or as an employee. Another 12 members list ownership in corporations that may elect to be taxed as individuals.
Both the House and Senate will cast final votes on the legislation later this week.
Read the?IO Analysis.
View the lists of Senators?and Representatives?affiliated with apparent pass-through entities.
Sea level along Maryland's shorelines could rise 2 feet by 2050, according to new reportPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dave Nemazie nemazie@umces.edu 410-221-2006 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 26, 2013)A new report on sea level rise recommends that the State of Maryland should plan for a rise in sea level of as much as 2 feet by 2050. Led by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the report was prepared by a panel of scientific experts in response to Governor Martin O'Malley's Executive Order on Climate Change and "Coast Smart" Construction. The projections are based on an assessment of the latest climate change science and federal guidelines.
"The State of Maryland is committed to taking the necessary actions to adapt to the rising sea and guard against the impacts of extreme storms," said Governor Martin O'Malley. "In doing so, we must stay abreast of the latest climate science to ensure that we have a sound understanding of our vulnerability and are making informed decisions about how best to protect our land, infrastructure, and most importantly, the citizens of Maryland."
The independent, scientific report recommends that is it is prudent to plan for sea level to be 2.1 feet higher in 2050 along Maryland's shorelines than it was in 2000 in order to accommodate the high end of the range of the panel's projections. Maryland has 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and low-lying rural and urban lands that will be impacted. The experts' best estimate for the amount of sea level rise in 2050 is 1.4 feet. It is unlikely to be less than 0.9 feet or greater than 2.1 feet. Their best estimate for sea level rise by 2100 is 3.7 feet. They concluded that it is unlikely to be less than 2.1 feet or more than 5.7 feet based on current scientific understanding.
"This reassessment narrows the probable range of sea level rise based on the latest science," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and chair of the group of experts that assembled the report. "It provides the State with sea level rise projections based on best scientific understanding to ensure that infrastructure is sited and designed in a manner that will avoid or minimize future loss or damage."
These estimates were made based on the various contributors to sea level rise: thermal expansion of ocean volume as a result of warming, the melting of glaciers and Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, changing ocean dynamics such as the slowing of the Gulf Stream, and vertical land movement.
"While there is little we can do now to reduce the amount of sea level rise by the middle of the century, steps taken over the next 30 years to control greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize global temperatures will largely determine how great the sea level rise challenge will be for coastal residents at the end of this century and beyond," said Dr. Boesch.
According to Joseph P. Gill, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, impacts associated with sea level rise are already being seen along Maryland's coast, such as the documented loss of islands within the Chesapeake Bay, as well as visible changes to wetland habitats all along Maryland's low-lying eastern shore.
"Recognizing the importance of building resilience within our natural and built environments," said Gill, "DNR's CoastSmart Communities Program is dedicated to offering on-the-ground expertise, planning guidance, training, tools, and financial assistance to help others in state plan, prepare, and adapt." For more information on CoastSmart, visit http://dnr.maryland.gov/CoastSmart/.
Governor O'Malley established the Maryland Commission on Climate Change on April 20, 2007. The Commission produced a Plan of Action that included a comprehensive climate change impact assessment, a greenhouse gas reduction strategy, and actions for reducing Maryland's vulnerability to climate change. On December 28, 2012, Governor O'Malley issued an executive order that requires State agencies to consider the risk of coastal flooding and sea level rise to capital projects.
The 21-member panel comprised of sea level rise experts from the Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, reviewed projections from Maryland's 2008 Climate Action Plan and provided updated recommendations based on new scientific results that can better inform projections of sea level rise for Maryland.
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is updating Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for communities in Maryland. The revised maps are the first update in the coastal areas of Maryland in 25 years and confirm both increases and decreases in the 100-year flood elevations over this period of time.
"MDE is working with seventeen Maryland coastal communities to go through the mapping process, which requires the communities to update their local floodplain management ordinances before the revised maps become effective," said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Robert M. Summers. "Many communities choose to better prepare themselves by adopting higher freeboard elevations or additional safety requirements for new or substantially improved structures, which could lead to reductions in flood insurance."
###
Watch a video produced by Maryland Sea Grant that explores the reasons for sea level rise in Maryland and the conclusions of the expert panel's report.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science operates under a State mandate to conduct a comprehensive scientific program to develop and apply predictive ecology for the improvement and preservation of Maryland's physical environment.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Sea level along Maryland's shorelines could rise 2 feet by 2050, according to new reportPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dave Nemazie nemazie@umces.edu 410-221-2006 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 26, 2013)A new report on sea level rise recommends that the State of Maryland should plan for a rise in sea level of as much as 2 feet by 2050. Led by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the report was prepared by a panel of scientific experts in response to Governor Martin O'Malley's Executive Order on Climate Change and "Coast Smart" Construction. The projections are based on an assessment of the latest climate change science and federal guidelines.
"The State of Maryland is committed to taking the necessary actions to adapt to the rising sea and guard against the impacts of extreme storms," said Governor Martin O'Malley. "In doing so, we must stay abreast of the latest climate science to ensure that we have a sound understanding of our vulnerability and are making informed decisions about how best to protect our land, infrastructure, and most importantly, the citizens of Maryland."
The independent, scientific report recommends that is it is prudent to plan for sea level to be 2.1 feet higher in 2050 along Maryland's shorelines than it was in 2000 in order to accommodate the high end of the range of the panel's projections. Maryland has 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and low-lying rural and urban lands that will be impacted. The experts' best estimate for the amount of sea level rise in 2050 is 1.4 feet. It is unlikely to be less than 0.9 feet or greater than 2.1 feet. Their best estimate for sea level rise by 2100 is 3.7 feet. They concluded that it is unlikely to be less than 2.1 feet or more than 5.7 feet based on current scientific understanding.
"This reassessment narrows the probable range of sea level rise based on the latest science," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and chair of the group of experts that assembled the report. "It provides the State with sea level rise projections based on best scientific understanding to ensure that infrastructure is sited and designed in a manner that will avoid or minimize future loss or damage."
These estimates were made based on the various contributors to sea level rise: thermal expansion of ocean volume as a result of warming, the melting of glaciers and Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, changing ocean dynamics such as the slowing of the Gulf Stream, and vertical land movement.
"While there is little we can do now to reduce the amount of sea level rise by the middle of the century, steps taken over the next 30 years to control greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize global temperatures will largely determine how great the sea level rise challenge will be for coastal residents at the end of this century and beyond," said Dr. Boesch.
According to Joseph P. Gill, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, impacts associated with sea level rise are already being seen along Maryland's coast, such as the documented loss of islands within the Chesapeake Bay, as well as visible changes to wetland habitats all along Maryland's low-lying eastern shore.
"Recognizing the importance of building resilience within our natural and built environments," said Gill, "DNR's CoastSmart Communities Program is dedicated to offering on-the-ground expertise, planning guidance, training, tools, and financial assistance to help others in state plan, prepare, and adapt." For more information on CoastSmart, visit http://dnr.maryland.gov/CoastSmart/.
Governor O'Malley established the Maryland Commission on Climate Change on April 20, 2007. The Commission produced a Plan of Action that included a comprehensive climate change impact assessment, a greenhouse gas reduction strategy, and actions for reducing Maryland's vulnerability to climate change. On December 28, 2012, Governor O'Malley issued an executive order that requires State agencies to consider the risk of coastal flooding and sea level rise to capital projects.
The 21-member panel comprised of sea level rise experts from the Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, reviewed projections from Maryland's 2008 Climate Action Plan and provided updated recommendations based on new scientific results that can better inform projections of sea level rise for Maryland.
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is updating Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for communities in Maryland. The revised maps are the first update in the coastal areas of Maryland in 25 years and confirm both increases and decreases in the 100-year flood elevations over this period of time.
"MDE is working with seventeen Maryland coastal communities to go through the mapping process, which requires the communities to update their local floodplain management ordinances before the revised maps become effective," said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Robert M. Summers. "Many communities choose to better prepare themselves by adopting higher freeboard elevations or additional safety requirements for new or substantially improved structures, which could lead to reductions in flood insurance."
###
Watch a video produced by Maryland Sea Grant that explores the reasons for sea level rise in Maryland and the conclusions of the expert panel's report.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science operates under a State mandate to conduct a comprehensive scientific program to develop and apply predictive ecology for the improvement and preservation of Maryland's physical environment.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science unleashes the power of science to transform the way society understands and manages the environment. By conducting cutting-edge research into today's most pressing environmental problems, we are developing new ideas to help guide our state, nation, and world toward a more environmentally sustainable future through five research centersthe Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, the Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, and the Maryland Sea Grant College in College Park. http://www.umces.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
When we think about pay per click advertising for internet businesses, we just think of the advertisements appearing alongside search results. We already have this particular concept in our minds that those advertisements are just there for search engine relations reasons whenever actually, it is so much more. For a while now, pay-per-click advertising and marketing has already been one of the primary sources of traffic driven to websites. For internet companies, brand name awareness and driving traffic to their website to collect leads in addition to generate sales is a considerable factor for their success. Nevertheless, all over the Internet, we have seen that this type of advertising is actually popular not necessarily because of its ease-of-use, however also because of its success.
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New York, NY? 2K today announced a new contest giving members of the WWE Universe a unique opportunity to design their own "WWE 2K14" video game cover artwork.? WWE Superstar The Rock is confirmed as the game?s official cover Superstar, but for the first time, 2K is giving consumers the ability to create their own designs for the chance to appear exclusively on the inside of game copies at retail outlets.
Watch the all-new WWE 2K14 trailer?| Cover revealed in the ring on Raw
Whether consumers opt for designs featuring the likes of WWE Superstars John Cena, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler or Ryback, the decision is now in their hands. Participants will go online to?wwe.2k.com/covercontest and choose from a wide variety of images featuring WWE Superstars and Divas, as well as iconic 2K livery, to enhance their designs. The winning cover artwork will be selected on creative merit and included with copies of "WWE 2K14" at retail, as well as featured by 2K in social media and official promotions.
To submit contest entries, consumers will use Twitter to promote their images, with the hashtag #WWE2K14Cover included in their tweets. No purchase necessary.Currently open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. and D.C., at least 18 years of age. Contest ends at 11:59:59 p.m. ET on July, 23, 2013. Void where prohibited. Subject to the official rules, located at wwe.2k.com/covercontest. A similar contest is also planned for Europe, with details to follow in the coming weeks.
A major addition to the immigration bill that beefs up border security and effectively serves in part as a ?redo? of the legislation will face a crucial procedural vote in the Senate on Monday afternoon.
Written after a series of negotiations between Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, the amendment is intended to ease concerns of skeptical lawmakers who are calling for tougher border enforcement as part of the bill.
The bill retains the language of the original one proposed by a bipartisan group of eight senators earlier this year, but adds 119 new pages, Corker says. While most of the language would remain the same, the Corker-Hoeven version strengthens security measures by nearly doubling the amount of security agents along the nation's borders. The bill would also mandate the construction of a fence stretching "no less than" 700 miles along the U.S. border with Mexico and provide funding for aerial surveillance of the area. The federal government will be required to meet a series of security benchmarks before immigrants living in the country illegally would be allowed to obtain permanent legal status.
?The American people want a strong, comprehensive immigration reform plan, but we need to get it right,? Hoeven said in a statement last week. ?That means first and foremost securing the southern border before we address other meaningful reforms to our immigration policy. They want to know that ten years from now, we won?t find ourselves in this same position, having to address the same problem.?
The Senate will vote on whether to end debate on the amendment, which will allow it to move on to final passage within the next few weeks.
Lawmakers rejected a similar (and less costly) amendment to the bill proposed by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn last week by tabling the measure, so supporters of the new amendment hope it will serve as a new vessel to entice more Republicans to sign on to the bill.
The co-authors of the original immigration bill, including Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have spoken optimistically about securing as many as 70 votes for the final bill in the Senate, the number they think the bill needs to show the effort has wide bipartisan support. The bill is likely to get the support from 60 members needed to overcome a filibuster, but getting 70 would put pressure on the House?a chamber with a higher concentration of conservative lawmakers?to act.
?We?re very, very close to getting 70 votes," Graham said during a weekend interview on ?Fox News Sunday.?
The Senate is expected to hold the procedural vote on the Corker-Hoeven amendment at about 5:30 p.m. Monday.
CD has been in an extraordinary daycare/preschool since she was 18 months old, about 3 weeks after she joined our family. ?Back in those days, CD had many fears. ?This preschool has worked with children in foster care before as they are licensed to accept the funding from the state source that pays for children in foster care to go to daycare. ?They supported her when she had intense separation anxiety. ?They held her and soothed her when an unfamiliar adult would enter the room and she would panic. ?They understood that CD had a tendency to choose one attachment figure at a time and if that teacher was going to be absent, they alerted us so we could choose to keep her home as she would not handle the day well.
CD has thrived in this school. ?She is no longer afraid in school at all. ?She has generalized those feelings of safety and security to the whole school, all the teachers and all the adults that enter the building. ?Her social skills are extraordinary. ?It has been her home away from home.
On Thursday, when I came to pick CD up from school, I found an extraordinary booklet that the school staff had put together. ?In it were notes from all of her teachers and good wishes from the rest of the staff. ?The children in her class each added their handprints to a page and signed their names. ?There were quotes about how it is love that makes a family scattered throughout. ?It was beautiful. ?I was so moved. ?I have since covered every page in plastic so that it can be kept intact for as long as possible.
On Thursday, CD's teacher told me that they would like to do something with the class in honor of CD's adoption day on Monday (today). ?I thought it was a wonderful idea. ?CD and I stopped at a bakery this morning to pick up rainbow sprinkle cookies for the class
and my family donated this book to the school in honor of CD's adoption:
Parr's Family Book introduces preschoolers to the notion that families are created in different ways. ?Some are big, some are small, all love to hug and kiss you. ?Some families look like each other, some have two moms, some have two dads, some look like their dog and some families adopt children. . . .
I also loaned the class this book, which is my favorite book for CD introducing her to adoption:
Most adoption books I have found are about infancy adoption, international adoption or have strong religious language. ?Others talk around adoption by not using the word or explaining how it works with human beings as they focus on something like a duck being part of a family of dogs. ?This book explains in all in concrete, preschool age appropriate language. ?It is the truth, it is upbeat and it is all about love. ?The preschool director and CD's teacher were thrilled that I brought the book in as they believe, as I do, that her classmates (none of whom are adopted) could only benefit by being introduced to the idea that families come together in all different ways.
This is how the world changes. ?This is how people in the minority become accepted rather than stigmatized. ?It is one child at a time, one teacher at a time and one family at a time.
I am so grateful to CD's school. ?Their support these last three years will forever be appreciated by our family.
Cleveland (Reuters) - An Ohio air show resumed on Sunday with a moment of silence for a pilot and a stunt woman killed during a wing-walking trick a day earlier when their biplane crashed and burst into flames.
Organizers of the Vectren Dayton Air Show in Dayton honored stuntwoman Jane Wicker and her pilot, Charlie Schwenker, who died when their Boeing Stearman crashed on Saturday while doing aerobatics at the show.
Video of the incident replayed on television and the Internet showed that at the time of the crash, the duo appeared to have been executing a stunt in which the vintage plane flips as Wicker is out on one of its wings.
The plane crashed into a grassy area before Schwenker could pull out of the stunt.
"There was a significant explosion. There was smoke and fire. The announcers had the kids look away," said Michael Emoff, chairman of the 39th annual show. "The weather was fine. Clearly something went wrong."
No one on the ground was injured, organizers said.
Wicker began her career in 1989 as a pilot and had recently returned to wing walking after an injury to her lung and spleen. Unlike most wing walkers, she did not use a safety line.
Wicker announced in May she planned to marry pilot Rock Skowbo at an air show in 2014. The ceremony was to take place while the two were in flight, according to her website, wingwalkwedding.com.
Schwenker started flying sailplanes in 1975, and competition aerobatics in 1990, according to Flyingcircusairshow.com.
Saturday's incident was the latest in a string of deadly air show accidents in recent years - including one at Dayton six years ago - that have raised questions about the safety of such events.
John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows trade group, said such crashes are becoming less common but still happen twice per year on average.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and local authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.
At a Sunday afternoon press conference, Jason Aquilera, investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said the board would issue a report at the end of the week with the "facts of the case" but cautioned the investigation could take six months to a year to complete.
"We go in with an open mind. Right now there is nothing to rule out and everything is on the table," Aquilera said.
The New York State Assembly has tabled a set of two proposed bills that would render Tesla Motors' business model for selling cars illegal in the state. Tesla's sales model takes a page out of Apple's playbook, selling its electric cars through its own branded stores, rather than through third party dealerships.
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Two voice identification experts who suggested that unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin screamed for help before he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman will not be allowed to testify at his murder trial, the judge in the case has ruled.
The ruling by Judge Debra Nelson was released on Saturday, marking the last major hurdle before opening statements in the high-profile case begin on Monday in Seminole County courthouse in Sanford, Florida.
Prosecutors had sought to call audio experts to testify about a 911 emergency call in which screams for help can be heard in the background during an altercation between Zimmerman and Martin before the shooting.
The screams could be pivotal evidence and help identify who was the aggressor on the night of the February 2012 killing. Zimmerman's family and supporters claim the voice was his, while Martin's parents insist the voice belonged to their son.
Last year, an FBI expert said a voice analysis of the call was inconclusive.
David Weinstein, a Miami lawyer and former prosecutor, called the ruling a victory for Zimmerman's defense team.
"Now there won't be a witness who can 'identify' the voice with certainty as a particular person," he said. "Each side can argue who they believe the voice belongs to and the jurors will have to decide who they hear."
Prosecutors say Zimmerman followed and confronted Martin despite a police dispatcher telling him not to pursue the 17-year-old. Zimmerman, 29, has said the two fought and that he shot Martin because he feared for his life.
An all-female jury will decide whether Zimmerman is guilty of second-degree murder, a charge that carries a potential life sentence. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty.
Nelson said in her 12-page order that the decision does not prevent either side from playing the 911 tape and presenting witnesses familiar with Zimmerman's and Martin's voices from stating their opinions.
Lead defense attorney Mark O'Mara has called the recording "the most significant piece of evidence in the case."
Two state experts, in what they qualify as tentative or probable findings because of the poor quality of the recording, have said that the chilling screams heard in the background came from Martin.
Lawyers for Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, sought to block the testimony on grounds that the methods used by the state's voice recognition experts were based on questionable science.
Audio experts who testified for the defense in a lengthy pre-trial hearing argued that voice recognition techniques cannot identify an individual from screams made under extreme duress.
On Friday, the judge also dismissed a defense motion to bar certain words and phrases from the prosecution's opening statement.
She ruled prosecutors could allege that Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, "profiled" Martin but ordered them not to use the term "racial profiling."
(Additional reporting by David Adams; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Eric Beech and Eric Walsh)
James G. Hill: Why I Carry: Having A Firearm Is Like Having Insurance | Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press:
Two years ago, I was followed into a convenience store in northwest Detroit by two young men who were acting a bit too peculiar -- and paying me a bit too much attention.
They didn't do anything specific to raise my suspicion, but I've lived in big cities long enough to know when I ought to keep my eyes peeled. Something just didn't feel right.
Two years ago, I was followed into a convenience store in northwest Detroit by two young men who were acting a bit too peculiar -- and paying me a bit too much attention.
They didn't do anything sp...
Two years ago, I was followed into a convenience store in northwest Detroit by two young men who were acting a bit too peculiar -- and paying me a bit too much attention.
They didn't do anything sp...
Filed by Kate Abbey-Lambertz ?|?
? "); window.HPAds.ad_reload('conversation_300x250_req', 'conv_overlay_ads'); } }, login_prompt: function() { if ( window.HPConnect ) { window.HPConnect.Login(); return true; } return false; }, get_user_token: function() { if ( window.huff && window.huff.units && window.huff.units.user && window.Conversations.phpjs && window.Conversations.phpjs.md5 ) { return window.Conversations.phpjs.md5(window.huff.units.user.id); } } }; var Conversations = window.Conversations.require('Conversations:Conversations'); window.Conversations.app = new Conversations(); window.Conversations.app.initialize(config); // If the app did not initialize properly, display a message and exit if ( window.Conversations.app.isInitialized() === false ) { window.Conversations.app.die(); } }); "; var coords = [-5, -78]; if( HPConfig.current_vertical_name == 'homepage' ) { coords = [-5, -70]; } else if( HPConfig.current_vertical_name == 'mapquest' ) { coords = [-5, -68]; } FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
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The advantages of using a wireless Internet radio receiver as opposed to a traditional terrestrial as well as land based receiver tends to be quite many these days. Together with Internet radio players you?re no more tied to just the stations that are offered in your local area, but channels obtainable all over the world. There are actually completely new channels arriving online daily. The only factor you need to make the most of this kind of variety is an Internet radio tuner. This can be a stand alone receiver, a computer, a television or perhaps only a smartphone.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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The New York State Assembly has tabled a set of two 