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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

In an odd way, Edward Snowden has done President Obama a favor.

Yes, by all indications, the 29-year-old former government contractor with top-secret clearance has perpetrated one of the biggest national security leaks in American history, giving newspaper reporters classified documents on massive US data-mining programs aimed at protecting national security.

And he has sent Washington deep into damage-control mode. The US intelligence community is assessing the harm done. The Justice Department has launched an investigation.

RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

But by asking to be identified as the source for articles in the British newspaper The Guardian and in The Washington Post ? including the Guardian?s posting of a stunning 12-minute interview ? Mr. Snowden has diverted attention from the debate he wanted to trigger and made himself the center of the story.

Suddenly, the media are awash with coverage about the curious details of Snowden?s life: the fact that he never even graduated from high school; his brief stint in the military, which ended after he broke both legs in a training accident; his seemingly idyllic life in Hawaii, living with his girlfriend, earning $200,000 a year; his decision to flee to a hotel in Hong Kong; and the latest wrinkle, that his whereabouts are unknown.

The White House on Monday retreated behind familiar language on last week?s explosive leaks, defending the administration?s practices and saying it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. At issue are data-mining programs that allow broad government access to telephone ?metadata? (but not the content of calls, unless a warrant is granted) and access to the servers of major Internet companies.

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?There are procedures in place, as the director [of national intelligence] made clear and as the president made clear, both at the congressional, executive, and judicial levels, that provide oversight over these programs,? White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday, echoing the president?s comments from last Friday.

Mr. Carney also repeated Mr. Obama?s insistence that while he does not welcome leaks, he welcomes the debate over how best to strike a balance between security and protection of civil liberties.

That debate will continue Tuesday on Capitol Hill, where top officials from the Justice Department, FBI, and National Security Agency will brief House members on the data-mining programs.

But what?s already clear is that while some vocal members of Congress are incensed over the programs, most are not ? and some of those are vocally defending them. And because the politics are at times a bit scrambled ? Republicans defending and Democrats criticizing the programs ? they give Obama added cover.

On the Sunday talk shows, the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees, a Republican and a Democrat, respectively, defended the data-mining programs as necessary and appropriate, given the continuing threat of terrorism.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R) of Michigan, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, lit into Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on ABC?s ?This Week? over his coverage of data-mining, saying, ?He doesn?t have a clue how this thing works.?

"Neither did the person who released just enough information to literally be dangerous,? Congressman Rogers added.

Rogers?s counterpart in the Senate, Dianne Feinstein (D) of California, said she was open to having a hearing every month on the surveillance programs, if necessary.

But the problem, she added, is that ?the instances where this has produced good ? has disrupted plots, prevented terrorist attacks, is all classified, that?s what?s so hard about this.?

Among rank-and-file members, an informal of ?liberal-tarian? caucus of data-mining critics has emerged, ranging from the socialist-leaning Sen. Bernard Sanders (I) of Vermont to the libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky.

Outside Congress, a similar pairing of outspoken populist critics has emerged: TV host Glenn Beck on the right and filmmaker Michael Moore on the left. Comments mined by Politico from the Twitterverse reveal a meeting of the minds.

?I think I have just read about the man for which I have waited. Earmarks of a real hero,? Mr. Beck tweeted, after reading the Guardian story identifying Snowden as the leaker.

?HERO OF THE YEAR,? tweeted Mr. Moore at roughly the same time.

RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

Monday, June 10, 2013

Hacker Faces More Jail Time Than The Convicted Steubenville Rapists He Exposed

A 26-year-old farm dweller who helped expose the rape of a teenage girl is facing up to 5x more jail time than the high school football members who publicly assaulted the girl. The Steubenville rape case became a national firestorm after it was revealed that dozens of people had witnessed the assault at a party and then shared pictures and social media updates of the event mocking the girl. Angered that a small town was turning their back on justice, several hacktivist groups got involved, including Deric Lostutter, who helped post a video on the football team’s website outing the assailants and bringing national attention to their crimes. “If convicted of hacking-related crimes, Lostutter could face up to 10 years behind bars?far more than the one- and two-year sentences doled out to the Steubenville rapists,” reports Mother Jones, in an exclusive interview with Lostutter. The first-time digital activist claims he never hacked the page, but was the masked man in the video. His relatively light touch reportedly didn’t stop the FBI from treating him like a world-class terrorist. “As I open the door to greet the driver, approximately 12 FBI SWAT team agents jumped out of the truck, screaming for me to ‘Get the fuck down!’ with M-16 assault rifles and full riot gear, armed, safety off, pointed directly at my head,” Lostutter recalls on his own blog. The excessive force and even worse penalty highlights why many are calling for a reform of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFA), which treats principled hacking on par with the worst federal crimes. The CFA came to national attention last year after respected Internet prodigy, Aaron Swartz, committed suicide after harsh prosecutors threatened him with 50+ years in prison for freeing academic articles from a paywalled database. ?We should prevent what happened to Aaron from happening to other Internet users,? wrote Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CrunchGov Grade: A) about her (failed) “Aaron’s Law” bill. While the hacker did violate the law, they are the newest evolution in the beloved American tradition of civil disobedience. “It was everything that I’d ever preached, and now there’s this group of people getting off the couch and doing something about it. I wanted to be part of the movement,” recalls Lostutter, of the Hacktivist mission-statement videos that inspired him to get involved. Like many first-time activists before him, he seems like a typical American, not a

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

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Self-fertilizing plants contribute to their own demise

June 10, 2013 ? Many plants are self-fertilizing, meaning they act as both mother and father to their own seeds. This strategy -- known as selfing -- guarantees reproduction but, over time, leads to reduced diversity and the accumulation of harmful mutations. A new study published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics shows that these negative consequences are apparent across a selfing plant's genome, and can arise more rapidly than previously thought.

In the study, an international consortium led by Stephen Wright in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto sequenced the genome of the plant species Capsella rubella, commonly known as Red Shepherd's Purse. They found clear evidence that harmful mutations were accumulating over the species' relatively short existence.

"The results underscore the long-term advantages of outcrossing, which is the practice of mating between individuals, that gives us the wide array of beautiful flowers," said Wright. "Selfing is a good short-term strategy but over long timescales may lead to extinction."

Red Shepherd's Purse is a very young species that has been self-fertilizing for less than 200,000 years. It is therefore especially well-suited for studying the early effects of self-fertilization. By contrasting Red Shepherd's Purse with the outcrossing species that gave rise to it, the researchers showed that self-fertilization has already left traces across the genome of Red Shepherd's Purse.

"Harmful mutations are always happening," said Wright. "In crops, they could reduce yield just as harmful mutations in humans can cause disease. The mutations we were looking at are changes in the DNA that change the protein sequence and structure."

The findings represent a major breakthrough in the study of self-fertilization.

"It is expected that harmful mutations should accumulate in selfing species, but it has been difficult to support this claim in the absence of large-scale genomic data," says lead author Tanja Slotte, a past member of Wright's research team and now a researcher at Uppsala University. "The results help to explain why ancient self-fertilizing lineages are rare, and support the long-standing hypothesis that the process is an evolutionary dead-end and leads to extinction."

The researchers said that with many crops known to be self-fertilizing, the study highlights the importance of preserving crop genetic variation to avoid losses in yield due to mutations accumulating.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/1Q3TfhatJtA/130610095148.htm

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Deal could end charges against Pa. nude 'pope'

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? An indecent exposure charge could be dropped against a Carnegie Mellon University student who tossed condoms to spectators while parading nude from the waist down while dressed as the pope in April.

Under the deal announced by the American Civil Liberties Union, 19-year-old Katherine O'Connor of Pittsburgh must perform 80 hours of community service. If she does that by Oct. 21, the charge will be dismissed by a city magistrate.

University police charged O'Connor last month after Bishop David Zubik of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh complained privately to school officials, then publicly expressed concerns that O'Connor's performance was intolerant of Catholicism. A diocesan spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on the deal reached at a preliminary hearing Monday.

University president Jared Cohon previously apologized, saying the school encourages artistic expression but acknowledging public nudity is illegal.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deal-could-end-charges-against-pa-nude-pope-165412656.html

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Uggla, Freeman fuel Braves' romp over Dodgers

By JOE RESNICK

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:10 p.m. ET June 9, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dan Uggla's batting average is the last thing on his mind. The slugging second baseman prefers to concentrate on home runs, RBIs and the Atlanta Braves' comfortable lead atop the NL East.

Uggla had two homers and four RBIs in an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. It was the 18th multihomer game for the three-time All-Star and his second this year.

Since the start of the 2006 season, his first in the majors, Uggla leads all players at his position with 222 home runs - 42 more than Yankees slugger Robinson Cano. He entered this four-game series hitting .183.

"The batting average is what it is," Uggla said. "I mean, it ain't the first time I've hit .180, .170, .160, whatever. But I throw those numbers out the door. The way I look at it, we're eight games up right now - and that's without me doing anything at all. But I know what I'm capable of doing. And if I can be more consistent and help these guys out by driving in some runs, that's all that matters.

"You always want to feel like you matter and feel like you were a factor. There were a lot of times this year where I didn't. So to get some homers and drive in some runs feels good," he added.

Freddie Freeman drove in three runs with a double and Mike Minor kept the Braves' rotation rolling with six solid innings. Atlanta had an eight-game lead over second-place Washington - the largest of any division leader - pending the nightcap of the Nationals' doubleheader against Minnesota.

The Braves, who won the season series 5-2, grabbed a 4-1 lead with four runs in the third against rookie Matt Magill (0-2). All of them were unearned because of an error by three-time Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who fielded Justin Upton's dribbler a few feet from the foul line and dropped the ball while making a hurried attempt to tag him. It was his seventh error, two more than he had last season.

Freeman's single loaded the bases, and Evan Gattis followed with a sacrifice fly before Uggla drove a 2-1 pitch into the Dodgers' bullpen in left field. He led off the fifth against Ronald Belisario with his 13th of the season and third in two days.

"He's a veteran player, he's been around a while and he's seen every kind of pitch. So nothing can fool him," Magill said. "But if you don't have good command, you can't get anybody out."

Minor (8-2) allowed a run and six hits, struck out six and walked three while helping the Braves gain a split of the four-game series. The left-hander is 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA over his last seven starts.

Atlanta's rotation has yielded four runs in 37 1-3 innings spanning the team's last six games. The stretch includes eight innings of one-hit ball by rookie Julio Teheran - who came within four outs of a no-hitter on Wednesday against Pittsburgh - and back-to-back starts by Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm in which each allowed one run in Braves losses.

"It's just a friendly competition among everybody. You always want to top the guy before you," Minor said.

Magill was charged with seven runs - three earned - and four hits over 3 2-3 innings in his sixth major league start, none of which the Dodgers have won. The 23-year-old right-hander from Simi Valley issued six walks, giving him 28 in 27 2-3 innings and a 6.51 ERA.

He was recalled Sunday from Triple-A Albuquerque to fill in for Ted Lilly, who wasn't able to pitch because of a neck sprain and was placed on the disabled list for the third time this season.

"It's tough not being able to have a set schedule and not being able to pitch every five days," said Magill, who gave up nine walks last Sunday at Colorado in a 7-2 loss. "But when they need you here, you've got to make sacrifices and still be able to compete. That's why it's so frustrating, because I'm not giving myself a chance to win games. I know in my head I can do it, but my body's just not hooking up right now the way I want it to and my fastball command hasn't been there."

Atlanta increased the margin to 7-1 in the fourth when Magill loaded the bases with his second walk of the inning and gave up Freeman's three-run double just beyond the outstretched glove of center fielder Skip Schumaker after getting a visit from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.

"When you've got bases loaded and two outs, you just want to try and get at least one more run," said Freeman, second in the NL in hitting with runners in scoring position. "I'm not trying to do anything differently with guys on base. I just try to hit the ball hard every single at-bat, and for some reason they seem to fall with people on. I was fortunate to get one in the gap and luckily he didn't make that play. It's always nice to kind of blow it open a little bit and let Mike settle in."

Los Angeles loaded the bases with none out in the first on the first of three hits by electrifying rookie Yasiel Puig, a bunt single by Nick Punto and a walk to Gonzalez. Puig was forced at the plate on a grounder and Luis Cruz struck out, but Schumaker drove in Punto with an infield single. That extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games, the longest by a Dodgers player this season.

NOTES: Puig completed his first week in the majors with 13 hits in 28 at-bats, four homers and 10 RBIs in seven games. ... Minor is 13-2 with a 2.33 ERA in his last 20 starts, a stretch that began after his 5-0 loss to the Dodgers on Aug. 19. ... Schumaker started in CF for the seventh time this season, with Andre Ethier getting the day off and Matt Kemp still on the DL.

More newsPatrick Mcdermott / Getty Images

The return of Natitude?

CSN: Davey Johnson called on the Nationals to be more aggressive ahead of their doubleheader with the Twins. It paid off in the form of a sweep.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/52152326/ns/sports-baseball/

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

In the Hamptons, catering to the rich (and their dogs) is good business

By Beth Pinsker

EAST HAMPTON, New York (Reuters) - Judging by early demand for everything from doggie daycare to Ferrari rentals and fine art, rich Americans are going to make this a strong summer in one of their favorite playgrounds - the beach towns on the eastern end of Long Island collectively known as the Hamptons.

With stock prices surging, home prices recovering, and borrowing costs low, there is a renewed sense of confidence among the wealthy and the merely well off. It may not be conspicuous consumption of "The Great Gatsby" kind but it could be the best season since the financial crisis slammed the U.S. economy in 2008.

It is "new" money coming in that is making the difference, since the "old" money in the Hamptons never really stopped flowing, at least in terms of the ultra-wealthy spending on things like food, wine and household staff.

But discretionary spending did slow down over the past few years, so it's making a noticeable comeback now for vendors like Mark Humphrey, who has owned a gallery on Main Street in Southampton for more than 30 years.

"We had a good winter, and that just never happens. We are usually barely open," he says.

Last summer, he had a lot of browsers, but they rarely opened up their wallets. Suddenly over the past few months, he has been contacted by some of those window shoppers who were finally ready to buy, and he has sold 10 paintings at $5,000 to $10,000 since December.

It is a similar story for American Bull Rentals, which is for the first time expanding into the Hamptons with its rentals of mechanical bulls to bring the rodeo experience to house parties and fundraisers.

"I have a sliding scale, and for Hamptons calls, whatever amount I tell them, they say 'whatever, send the contract,'" says Mike Marrazzo, owner of Prestige Excursions, based in Bellmore, New York, which operates the service.

While rentals in other areas might run $1,400, he's getting $2,800 to $3,000 for his Hamptons bookings.

So far in 2013, luxury spending is correlating highly to the stock market. Both the latest study from the American Affluence Research Center and American Express's Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, found that spending on second homes, vacation travel, dining in restaurants and new luxury cars is increasing.

BRING YOUR OWN STAFF

In the Hamptons, second homes can range from a cottage in East Hampton for $1.4 million to an 11,760-square foot mansion in Sagaponack for $13.5 million, with seven bedrooms, 10.5 baths, a swimming pool, tennis court, outdoor kitchen and lower-level entertainment center.

There are about 1,200 active sales listings right now. The Corcoran Market Report for the Hamptons for the first quarter of 2013 showed that the number of sales was up 20 percent over last year but average sale prices were down nearly 10 percent, because there haven't been a lot of high-priced sales so far this year. The next report comes out in July.

Prices may be hotting up. With locals whispering about Jennifer Lopez scouting properties in the area - and the New York Post reporting that she dropped $10 million on an estate in Water Mill - the summer season is just getting going.

As for rentals, there are still some available, but owners are not negotiating and they are going fast, says real estate agent Tom Friedman.

Friedman says his busy season started early this year - he usually doesn't get calls about summer rentals until mid-January, but this year they started in November, right after Hurricane Sandy, which largely spared Hamptons beaches. It didn't trickle off until mid-April, and now he's getting last-minute callers. They don't mess around with seeing dozens of places and looking for bargains, but instead jump on whatever is available - whether it is $20,000 per month for a small cottage or $550,000 for a beach-front estate.

That price probably includes a driveway, but in the Hamptons, there is daycare for your Bentley instead so it doesn't get damaged by the salt air. Good luck finding a space, though. The Bridgehampton Motoring Club, which has slots for 45 vehicles at two locations, is at capacity for now, says co-owner Adam Bellin,

The same goes for renting a Ferrari 458 Italia over the coming Memorial Day weekend for around $2,500 a day from Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals, which services the northeast. The company is sold out of their entire fleet of Ferraris, Bentleys, Porsches and BMWs for the weekend. "We're definitely up this year. People are spending money, and demand is outweighing supply," says co-CEO Ryan Safady, who is based in Pennsauken, New Jersey

Also at capacity: doggie daycares and domestic services. "Memorial Day is busier than usual for us," says April Cullum, manager of the Hampton Pet Club, which has daytime care and overnight "hotel-like" accommodations for up to 35 dogs. She has her usual standing reservations that she's had for the past few years - dog owners who have an annual party and send the dogs out for the night, weekend Hamptonites who board their pets during the week - but also a whole influx of new dogs.

Hampton Domestics owner Vincent Minuto is turning away callers. New summer folk, he says, should bring their own help with them.

The rich are also spending on others. Lavish benefits are a hallmark of the Hamptons social scene, and so far things are going phenomenally well, according to Ruth Appelhof, executive director of Guild Hall in East Hampton, the area's chief arts venue. Overall, her fundraising is up 56 percent since 2009, and the big rise has come in the last year.

In March, a fundraiser honoring the retirement of the chairman of the board of trustees, Melville "Mickey" Straus, raised $2.5 million in one evening, when previous spring fundraisers only made about $500,000. "Mickey wanted to make sure we paid off the mortgage before he left," says Appelhof, noting the special draw of the event. Guild Hall was able to use $1.5 million to close out the balance of a $17 million renovation that it had been fundraising for since 2001, years ahead of schedule.

"We're feeling flush these days, but that's not to say we don't struggle every day to fundraise to keep our programs going," Appelhof says.

(Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance; Editing by Lauren Young, Martin Howell and Claudia Parsons)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hamptons-catering-rich-dogs-good-business-051746552.html

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