Mark Thompson remade 'Auntie Beeb' for digital era

LONDON (AP) ? The New York Times is hoping the man who transformed "Auntie Beeb" for the 21st century can do the same for the Gray Lady.

In BBC boss Mark Thompson, the Times has chosen a chief executive who has never worked at a newspaper ? but has plenty of experience reshaping a respected but aging media institution for the digital age.

During eight years in charge of the BBC, Thompson became unpopular with some staff for cutting jobs, eliminating services and slashing pensions.

But he also oversaw expansion of the British broadcaster's multimedia offerings through websites, download services and digital channels ? all showcased to impressive effect during the London Olympics.

Announcing Thompson's appointment Tuesday, the Times cited his record in helping the BBC grow online and generate revenue from new types of products.

Doubters point out that Thompson has spent almost his entire career in the publicly funded BBC, insulated from the commercial pressures pummeling the private media.

Columnist and former newspaper editor Roy Greenslade said that in Thompson the Times was getting "a man of considerable intellectual stature ... who has shown himself capable of running a large organization ? larger by far than the New York Times."

"What they are not getting is a man of great experience in the harsh commercial environment afflicting the media at the moment," he said.

The BBC remains untainted by the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed Rupert Murdoch's British media businesses ? an empire that includes rival broadcaster BSkyB.

Funded by a fee paid by every television-owning British household, the Beeb has to uphold strict editorial standards of impartiality while fending off occasional government pressure.

By all accounts Thompson coped well with the pressures of running a company with 20,000 employees and a 3.5 billion pound ($5.5 billion) budget. He is generally regarded as levelheaded ? although the most famous anecdote about him involves an incident during the 1980s in which he bit a newsroom colleague's arm.

The BBC said the episode was merely "horseplay" that had been misinterpreted.

Educated at Oxford University, Thompson joined the BBC as a production trainee in 1979 and has worked there ever since, save for a two-year gap between 2002 and 2004 as chief executive of commercial broadcaster Channel 4.

He held posts in news and current affairs, and served as head of BBC 2, the broadcaster's second most-watched television channel.

When was named director general in 2004, the BBC was at a low ebb. Thompson's predecessor, Greg Dyke, had been forced to resign following criticism of its reporting on Britain's prewar intelligence about Iraq.

Thompson presided over a difficult period that saw the BBC reduce costs through thousands of job cuts, reductions in operations and unpopular changes to employee pension programs.

He also moved thousands of jobs to the northwestern city of Manchester ? to the chagrin of uprooted staff ? in a bid to make the broadcaster less London-centric.

During his tenure the BBC has expanded beyond its traditional strengths of current affairs and documentaries to embrace populist entertainments such as TV talent shows. It has also produced globally successful dramas including detective drama "Sherlock."

And he managed tricky funding negotiations with the government, securing renewal of the license fee ? currently 145 pounds a year ? through 2017.

He also oversaw development of iPlayer, a catch-up service that lets viewers watch all the BBC's output online. It was part of a digital strategy that culminated in the BBC's much-praised coverage of the Olympics, which included live streaming on the web and 24 digital television channels, with almost every event broadcast live.

Thompson, who had earlier announced plans to step down from his BBC position after the Olympics, also is credited with expanding BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm that sells DVDs and other merchandise and licenses for BBC shows outside Britain. It had revenue of about $1.7 billion in the year through March, or about a fifth of the organization's total.

In a 2010 speech, Thompson said the corporation was going through "a period of necessary and often gut-wrenching change" and would emerge smaller but stronger.

Greenslade said the Times' choice of Thompson as its next leader is "either an inspired decision or a risky one."

"I like to think it's the former rather than the latter."

_______

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mark-thompson-remade-auntie-beeb-digital-era-131722590--finance.html

josh smith birdsong teresa giudice atlanta hawks flyers 2012 white house correspondents dinner forrest gump

Syrian warplanes bomb rebel-held town, 20 killed

Injured Syrian women arrive at a field hospital after an air strike hit their homes in the town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Injured Syrian women arrive at a field hospital after an air strike hit their homes in the town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

An injured Syrian boy arrives at a field hospital after an air strike hit homes in the town of Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

A Syrian man carries an injured child to a field hospital after an air strike hit homes in the town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Syrians try to evacuate an injured man buried in rubble after an air strike destroyed at least ten houses in the town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Syrians try to evacuate an injured man buried in rubble after an air strike destroyed at least ten houses in the town of Azaz on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

AZAZ, Syria (AP) ? Syrian fighter jets screamed through the sky Wednesday over this rebel-held town, dropping bombs that leveled the better part of a poor neighborhood and wounded scores of people, many of them women and children buried under piles of rubble. Activists said more than 20 people were killed.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 people died in the double airstrike and more than 200 were wounded. Mohammed Nour, a local activist reached by phone, put the death toll at 25. Neither figure could be independently confirmed.

Reporters from The Associated Press saw nine dead bodies in the bombings' immediate aftermath, including a baby.

The bombings sent panicked civilians fleeing for cover. So many were wounded that the local hospital locked its doors, directing residents to drive to the nearby Turkish border so the injured could be treated on the other side. One person's remains were bundled into a small satchel.

A group of young men found a man buried in the wreckage of destroyed homes, his clothes torn and his limbs dirty, but still alive.

"God is great! God is great!" they chanted as they yanked him out and laid him on a blanket.

Nearby, a woman sat on a pile of bricks that once was her home, cradling a dead baby wrapped in a dirty cloth. Two other bodies lay next to her, covered in blankets. She screamed and threw stones at a TV crew that tried to film her.

The bombing of Azaz, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Aleppo, shattered the sense of control rebels have sought to project since they took the area from President Bashar Assad's army last month. Azaz is also the town where rebels have been holding 11 Lebanese Shiites they captured in May.

The attack came on the same day the U.N. released a report accusing Assad's forces and pro-government militiamen of war crimes during a May bloodbath in the village of Houla that killed more than 100 civilians, nearly half of them children. It said rebels were also responsible for war crimes in at least three other killings.

The long-awaited report by the U.N. Human Rights Council marks the first time the world body has referred to events in Syria as war crimes ? on both the government and rebel sides ? and could be used in future prosecutions against Assad or others.

It said the scale of the Houla carnage indicated "involvement at the highest levels" of Syria's military and government. The council also said the conflict is moving in increasingly brutal directions on both sides.

Also on Wednesday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, comprised of 57 member states, released a final statement from its two day summit in Saudi Arabia's Muslim holy city of Mecca urging support of the opposition. The statement did not mention suspending Syria's membership, but OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told reporters after the summit that the organization had agreed to do so. The move is largely symbolic.

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose nation is Assad's most staunch regional supporter, told reporters before the opening session in Saudi Arabia that suspending Syria will not resolve the issue of the unrest there.

A wide-ranging tableau of violence and retributions on Wednesday reinforced the U.N.'s warnings.

A blast in central Damascus rattled ? but did not injure ? U.N. observers, followed by the airstrikes in Azaz. And in tense Lebanon, a powerful Shiite clan that backs Assad said it abducted at least 20 Syrians in retaliation for rebels holding one of their relatives captive in Syria. The rebels accuse the Lebanese man of belonging to Hezbollah, a Shiite Lebanese group allied with Syria and Iran.

The bombing of Azaz brought into stark relief the limits of the rebels' expanding control of Syria's north.

In recent months, rebels have pushed the Syrian army from a number of towns in a swath of territory south of the Turkish border and north of Aleppo, Syria's largest city. About a dozen destroyed tanks and army vehicles are scattered around Azaz, left over from those battles.

As the Assad regime's grip on the ground slips, however, it is increasingly targeting rebel areas with attack helicopters and fighter jets ? weapons the rebels can't challenge.

Rebels and residents of the Aleppo countryside say the army rarely hits rebel targets, striking instead at residential areas and killing civilians.

The Azaz bombings appeared to fit that pattern.

The first blast seemed to come out of nowhere, shaking the city's downtown and sending up a huge gray cloud of smoke that sent terrified residents rushing through the streets looking for cover.

Not long after, another jet appeared, dropping bombs nearby.

"We were in the house and heard this plane overhead," said a 36-year-old woman who gave her name as Um Hisham. "There was this huge boom that made my mother pass out in the kitchen."

Hundreds of residents flocked to the bombing sites to inspect the damage and look for dead and wounded in the rubble.

The first blast damaged houses and shattered shop windows along nearby streets. It sheared off the front wall of one home, exposing a man and his wife inside their kitchen, where jars of olives and pickles still sat in the cupboards.

"I saw the plane come down and some missiles fall and then there was smoke all over," said Mohammed Fuad, 18. "When it cleared, we heard screaming and saw rubble all over the streets."

More than a dozen homes were reduced to a huge expanse of broken concrete. Men wandered the area, lifting up bricks and peering through holes in collapsed roofs to see if anyone was stuck underneath.

One group brought a generator and an electric saw to cut through rebar, while others cleared rubble from the road so pickup trucks ferrying the dead and injured could pass.

Many of those gathered screamed at foreign journalists, decrying the international community for not intervening militarily in Syria's civil war. The revolt that started in March 2011 with protests calling for political change has killed more than 20,000 people, activists say.

Many of the wounded were driven directly to the Turkish border, four miles (six kilometers) to the north.

Nour, the local activist, said there were 15 dead in a hospital in Turkey and 10 who had been buried in the town. He said many more had yet to be counted.

The area appeared to be no more than a poor, residential neighborhood with a few metal workshops, and residents said there were no rebel bases there, though they often do not speak openly about where rebels operate.

Azaz has considered itself "liberated" since rebel forces pushed out the army last month. Its largest rebel group, the Northern Storm Brigade, runs a prison and the nearby border crossing with Turkey. It's political and media offices are less than a mile (kilometer) away from the bombing site, in the former local headquarters of Assad's Baath party.

Along with about 15 Syrian prisoners, the rebels are currently holding 11 Lebanese Shiites they detained a month ago. Nour, the activist, said four of them were missing after the bombing, though he was not sure if they had been killed. He said the building they were being held in was hit.

About a dozen rebel fighters in camouflage vests flocked to the scene after the bombings, scanning the skies for more jets. None of them carried more than a Kalashnikov rifle.

In nearby Aleppo, activists reported shelling and clashes in the city, where rebels have taken control of several neighborhoods over the past weeks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels were trying to take over a key dam in the northern town of Manbij, east of Aleppo. It said the army was using helicopter gunships in the battles along the Euphrates River.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said Syrian government fighter planes fired rockets that struck the main hospital in an opposition-controlled area of Aleppo a day earlier, wounding two civilians and causing significant damage. The group said its members visited the damaged hospital.

There were fresh signs Wednesday that the civil war was spilling across the border into Lebanon, a country ravaged by its own 15-year civil war that Syria was deeply involved in, and which is sharply divided between supporters and opponents of Assad's regime.

Syrian rebels have adopted a new tactic of seizing prisoners from countries or foreign groups allied with the regime to rattle Assad and his allies outside the country, such as the 11 Lebanese Shiites captured in May shortly after they crossed from Turkey on their way to Lebanon. Earlier this month, rebels abducted 48 Iranians near the capital, Damascus.

On Wednesday, Sunni power Saudi Arabia ordered its citizens to leave Lebanon, citing fear of kidnappings by Shiites angry over the rebels taking prisoners from Lebanon and Iran.

In Damascus, a bomb attached to a fuel truck exploded Wednesday outside a hotel where U.N. observers are staying, wounding at least three people, Syrian state TV reported. Activists also reported clashes near the government headquarters and the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.

___

AP writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Albert Aji in Damascus, John Heilprin in Geneva and Abdullah al-Shihri in Riyadh contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-15-Syria/id-76c66739f9ef4ae2865df137f19ca8c5

nfl live saints vs 49ers vanessa marcil 49 ers frank gore frank gore nfl games

Flip Video Co-founder Tackles Online Education With New Video Platform, Knowmia

Ariel Braunstein and Scott Kabat know a thing or two about building (and selling) a user-friendly mobile video experience, but can they do the same for the world of digital education? We're going to find out. Braunstein and Kabat are the co-founder and former marketing executive, respectively, of Pure Digital Technologies, the makers of the popular Flip Video line of hand-held camcorders, which helped usher in a new era of amateur videographers. Pure Digital was acquired by Cisco in 2009, which has since retired the production of the mini camcorders. In the meantime, Kabat and Braunstein have turned their attention to online education and the growing role video technology is assuming in the transformation of learning. Today, the co-founders launched a new venture called Knowmia -- a crowdsourced video platform designed to help teachers find and create online video lessons while improving the learning experience for students.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/oO3z6YB1bso/

jeremy lin WWE Sage Stallone Michael Clarke Duncan Mermaid Body Found Celeste Holm Stephen Covey

Opposite House loans Undoubtedly are a Wonderful Retirement ...

reverse mortgageOur seniors find yourself devoid of adequate income and also way too numerous circumstances to buy in what small cash flow people be given. They may have difficulty receiving lending options due to their funds. An affordable way intended for senior citizens to offer the power to receive handle once again of the personal independence and workout the particular belongings they have is via any Change Property finance loan throughout Ontario. This permits the particular mature who will be online resources a property, or possibly a element of a property, and workout of which as the learning resource to obtain the home finance loan.

reverse mortgagesChange Property finance loan throughout Ontario is a type of bank loan intended for senior citizens where they prefer the house people private when a guarantee and will receive funding of capital but still find are now living in the property. That bank loan likewise require not reimbursed rear and also supply the mature added typical bills they're struggle to repay. This is a good answer for the mature of which sees all of them home interested in money with no chance with configuring it. This permits the particular mature not just in receive personal independence these folks were trying to find, yet get the money on any non-taxed circumstances. Considering that cash flow through mortgaged belongings is not subject to taxes, the particular mature won't are afflicted by the particular taxes problems with taking on cash flow. That becomes a best answer for anybody in a very personal stress within their retirement years.

reverse mortgage calculatorThe very best great things about buying a invert home finance loan throughout Ontario stands out as the money with out monthly premiums, the particular tax-free cash flow, the simple power of which almost most people is eligible, and maybe even the chance to stay in the house. While using economy, numerous home-owners have realized it tough to afford particular bills throughout Canada, that's forcing particular residence keepers to ought to shift. Any invert home finance loan permits the particular home owner not just in acquire a tax-free money they're able to work with intended for anything at all, yet the chance to stay in the house either till people die and also elect to promote the property. This is usually a type of security numerous senior citizens have realized they do not have from now on.

While using positive aspects easy process, overturn home finance loan throughout Ontario is the better answer for the mature. There is certainly certainly not a period when an individual weren't able to positive a higher price, and also make use of a chance to have the security with just simply currently in the home. This is why to create anything materialize.

Source: http://speakinga-z.blogspot.com/2012/08/opposite-house-loans-undoubtedly-are.html

katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida egoraptor gisele bundchen turbotax

The rates of colorectal cancer on the rise around the world ...

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the third most common cancer among women worldwide. However, these studies have used old data and discussed regional trends and country-specific. The new study, conducted by the American Cancer Society epidemiologist Melissa Center, MPH, examined the incidence of colorectal cancer data from 51 cancer registries in the world, with data on long-term impact of cancer incidence in five continents database created by the International Agency for Research on Cancer . The researchers analyzed changes in incidence rates over the past 20 years, 1983-1987 through 1998-2002.Cravings are a complex mix of physiological, psychological, hormonal and environmental issues, said Heller.

The researchers also found significant variations in the incidence of regional and ethnic colorectal cancer trends in countries such as Japan, Israel and Singapore. The United States was the only country where the incidence of colorectal cancer has decreased in both males and females.

The authors say that the increase of cancer of the colon and rectum in economic transition may reflect the adoption of Western lifestyles and behaviors. Many of the factors and suspected modifiable risk for colorectal cancer, including obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, a diet rich in red meat or processed, and low fruit and vegetables, factors associated with economic development or westernization.

The authors say male colorectal cancer incidence rates in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Japan, and not only have passed the peak incidence observed in the United States and other long-developed countries, but continue to increase.

Posted in medical news

Comments are currently closed.

Source: http://transitionsanddiabetes.org/the-rates-of-colorectal-cancer-on-the-rise-around-the-world/

raffi torres michael mcdonald jon jones vs rashad evans earth day 2012 jon jones rashad evans ufc jones vs evans watergate

As Mexico's drug war gets gritty, so do nicknames

FILE - In this undated image taken from television, reputed Mexican cocaine baron Amado Carrillo Fuentes, alias "El Senor de los Cielos," or "The Lord of the Skies," is seen with a fake name he tried to use as identification in Chile. Carrillo fled to Chile to transfer his drug empire there after his links to a high-ranking Mexican official were exposed, a television network reported on Aug. 12, 1997. Carrillo, known as the "Lord of the Skies" for his airplane fleet he uses for smuggling drugs, was considered Mexico's No. 1 drug trafficker when he died in 1997 during plastic surgery to change his appearance. (AP Photo/Televisa, File)

FILE - In this undated image taken from television, reputed Mexican cocaine baron Amado Carrillo Fuentes, alias "El Senor de los Cielos," or "The Lord of the Skies," is seen with a fake name he tried to use as identification in Chile. Carrillo fled to Chile to transfer his drug empire there after his links to a high-ranking Mexican official were exposed, a television network reported on Aug. 12, 1997. Carrillo, known as the "Lord of the Skies" for his airplane fleet he uses for smuggling drugs, was considered Mexico's No. 1 drug trafficker when he died in 1997 during plastic surgery to change his appearance. (AP Photo/Televisa, File)

FILE - In this undated file image provided by Mexico's Attorney General's Office is seen drug trafficker Arturo Beltran Leyva, alias "El Jefe de los Jefes," or "The Boss of Bosses" in an unknown location. Beltran was killed in a shootout with sailors on Dec. 16, 2009, according to the Mexican navy. Experts say the killings and arrests of top cartel capos, like Beltran, have left lesser spawn to run the drug, kidnapping and extortion businesses; that has fueled a cruder approach and a psychopathic, mass-dismemberment style of killing, and is reflected in the new nicknames criminals are using to identify themselves. (AP Photo/Mexico Attorney General's Office, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2008 file photo, a man identified by Mexico's Attorney General's office as Jesus Zambada Garcia, alias "El Rey," or "The King," an alleged leader in the Sinaloa drug cartel, is pushed in a chair by a masked police officer as Garcia is presented to the press in Mexico City. Experts say the killings and arrests of top cartel capos, like Zambada, have left lesser spawn to run the drug, kidnapping and extortion businesses; that has fueled a cruder approach and a psychopathic, mass-dismemberment style of killing, and is reflected in the new nicknames criminals are using to identify themselves. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2010 file photo, police escort suspected drug trafficker Manuel Fernandez Valencia, alias "The Pig," or "La Puerca," as he is presented to the press at the federal police headquarters in Mexico City. According to federal police, Fernandez is an alleged member of the criminal organization led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and was arrested on Nov. 7, 2012 in the northern city of Culiacan in Mexico's Sinaloa state. Fernandez's nickname came from his "piggish" style of killing rivals. He was also known as "The Animal." (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

FILE - In this June 10, 1993 file photo, Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias "El Chapo" Guzman, is shown to the press after his arrest at the high security prison of Almoloya de Juarez on the outskirts of Mexico City. Guzman escaped from a maximum security federal prison hidden in a laundry truck in 2001 and continues fugitive as of Aug. 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

MEXICO CITY (AP) ? When "The Worm Eater" and his sidekick "The Rat" were captured, they were allegedly carrying five grenades and about $1 million in cash. "Garbage" was caught extorting money from Mexico City bus drivers, police say. "The Pig" was known for his brutal style of killing rivals. "The Bum" allegedly burned and buried his victims in clandestine pits.

As Mexico's drug violence gets bloodier, with cartels competing to leave ever-bigger piles of slaughtered victims, drug traffickers are being tagged with ever-grittier, low-brow nicknames to reflect their impersonal, almost industrial style of violence.

Gone are the days of high-flying sobriquets such as "The King" (Jesus Zambada Garcia), "The Lord of the Skies" (Amado Carrillo Fuentes) or "The Boss of Bosses" (Arturo Beltran Leyva), all of whom are dead or in prison. Mid-level cartel leaders are now adopting or being baptized with nicknames such as "The Dog Killer." That was Baltazar Saucedo Estrada, an alleged leader of the notoriously bloodthirsty Zetas gang.

Experts say the killings and arrests of top cartel capos have left lesser spawn to run the drug, kidnapping and extortion businesses; that has fueled a cruder approach and a psychopathic, mass-dismemberment style of killing. Instead of offing rivals for turf or cash, many of today's narco-killers, especially among the Zetas, view their ultraviolence as a part of business, designed to shock the public into submission.

"What we're seeing today is a different kind of nickname, that reflects a different way of criminals identifying themselves, and these new forms of violence," said Martin Barron, en expert in criminology at Mexico's National Institute for Penal Sciences.

Mexico had already seen plenty of grisly drug war violence after the federal government launched its offensive against the cartels in 2006. The carnage has only accelerated over the past two years and grown ever more routine, with the emphasis placed on the sheer quantity of bodies. The latest mass atrocity came in May, when 49 still-unidentified torsos were dumped on a roadside in northern Mexico with their hands, feet and heads chopped off.

"We're seeing an ever-more bestial violence ... in which other people are dehumanized," Barron noted. "You no longer care about what you do or don't do to someone else."

Saucedo Estrada, "the Dog Killer" (El Mateperros), purportedly ordered his henchmen to set fire to a casino in the northern city of Monterrey last year to punish the owners for failing to pay protection money. Fifty-two people were killed, and Saucedo Estrada was arrested in January. The source of his nickname remains unclear: Cartels sometimes refer to rivals and police as "dogs," and cartel recruits reportedly are ordered to hack up the animals as training for human dismemberment.

Another mid-level Zetas leader, William de Jesus Torres Solorzano, alias "The Worm Eater" (El ComeGusanos), was an alleged financial operator for the Zetas. His nickname may allude to the survival training top Zetas go through, which is styled on that of Guatemala's elite Kaibil rangers unit, in which participants are expected to eat whatever insects or animals they can find in the jungle.

"The Pig" (La Puerca), Manuel Fernandez Valencia, was allegedly a close associate of cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman; his nickname came from his "piggish" style of killing rivals. He was also known as "The Animal."

The new breed of nicknames show "a trace of cynicism, of mockery," said Pedro de la Cruz, a professor who specializes in security issues at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

"These nicknames reflect the fact that even they do not take themselves seriously," as cartel leaders of the past did, with codes of conduct and large clans of family-based criminal networks that operated on mafia-style codes of silence and obedience, de la Cruz said.

Even more chilling are the nicknames considered so dangerous that no one even dares to pronounce them, Barron notes.

Mauricio Guizar, an alleged regional leader of the Zetas in southern Mexico arrested in July, was nicknamed "Yellow" (El Amarillo) in an apparent reference to his skin color. But the Mexican navy says many just called him "The Color," apparently because even mentioning his name was considered off limits.

In regions such as the violence-plagued border state of Tamaulipas, no one mentions the Zetas by name, instead calling them "The Letter" or "The Last Letter."

"In some parts of Tamaulipas, if you go to buy a newspaper that costs seven pesos, and they charge you ten, they'll tell you, 'The other three pesos are for The Company.' They don't even say the name of the cartel," Barron said.

Of course, some criminals continue to use nicknames that are simply odd.

In June, soldiers in northern Chihuahua state detained Jose Guadalupe Rivas, an alleged leader of the La Linea gang, which dominated the cities of Juarez and Chihuahua. Rivas, who allegedly oversaw the gang's communications network and drug distribution, was known as "Zucaritas," the Mexican brand name for "Frosted Flakes."

Among several La Familia cartel gunmen arrested in May in the western state of Jalisco was Gerardo Fernandez Covarrubias, or "Mufflers" (El Mofles), apparently in reference to a Mexican movie comic. Another gunman called himself "Yogurt," for reasons that remain unclear.

Juan Abelardo Hernandez, a legal expert at Mexico's Panamerican University who specializes in the philosophy of culture, said "The Joker" character in the Batman movies may have inspired a new generation of cartel leaders looking for an ironic avatar. In fact, one of the suspects in the 2011 killing of seven people in the central state of Morelos was Cesar Galindo used the comic villain's Spanish name, "El Guason." The alleged Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooter James Holmes also reportedly called himself "The Joker."

Hernandez says today's hit men, usually in their 20s, may be using the same kinds of tags they grew up with in online gambling or blogging, as opposed to past nicknames that referred to rank or function in a criminal organization.

The suggestion isn't so farfetched, given the media savvy shown by cartels as they take pains to film their worst crimes and post them on blogs and social networking and video-sharing sites.

"This is a different generation," Hernandez said, "that looks more for alter-egos, images on the net, or characters or avatars."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-08-09-Mexico-Criminal%20Nicknames/id-3995d0afd45b4ec1ae21b8dcc5095a6e

born free walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham

Apple begins selling iPhone 4S at $149.99 to match Sprint discount

If there's an asteroid that could obliterate all life on Earth?hurtling straight toward our planet, don't bet on Bruce Willis?? or anyone else, for that matter?? blowing it up to save us. According to student researchers from the?University of Leicester, ? Continue??

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-begins-selling-iphone-4s-149-99-match-175051763.html

kelis dick clark dies ibogaine jamie moyer bone cancer hossa the cell

Oil drops near $87; natural gas falls 8 pct.

NEW YORK (AP) ? The price of oil dropped 2 percent on Thursday after the head of the European Central Bank failed to take immediate action to prop up the weak eurozone economy.

Fuel demand in Europe has slackened, with six of the 17 nations that share the euro in recession

ECB President Mario Draghi said last week that he would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro. To many, that meant Draghi would move quickly to spark borrowing and spending in the European Union.

So far he hasn't delivered. In a speech on Thursday, Draghi suggested the ECB could buy bonds to lower borrowing costs for European countries. But he offered no specific measures. Draghi's counterpart in the U.S., Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, also declined to announce any new stimulus measures after a Fed policy meeting on Wednesday.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.78 to end the day at $87.13 per barrel in New York.

"There's just some disappointment out there that they're not going to move dramatically right now," said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst with Price Futures Group. "There is still a belief that Draghi will do something eventually."

Meanwhile, natural gas prices plunged 7.9 percent after the U.S. said supplies grew more than expected last week. The Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas supplies grew by 28 billion cubic feet. The nation's supply is now 14.5 percent higher than the five-year average.

Natural gas prices had been rising this summer as homeowners cranked up air conditioners and increased demand for gas-generated power. But the government report showed that demand still isn't strong enough to cut into the country's surplus of natural gas.

Natural gas dropped 25.1 cents, or 8 percent, to end at $2.92 per 1,000 cubic feet.

At the pump, retail gasoline prices added 1.3 cents to a national average of $3.534 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular unleaded has jumped by more than 20 cents since the beginning of July. It's still 40 cents cheaper than its peak price for the year in April.

In other futures trading, heating oil lost 1.65 cents to finish at $2.8423 per gallon while wholesale gasoline added 3.54 cents to end at $2.8696 per gallon.

Brent crude, which helps set the price for imported oil, lost 6 cents to end at $105.90 per barrel in London.

___

Follow Chris Kahn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-drops-near-87-natural-gas-falls-8-193240130--finance.html

chili recipes carlos condit diaz vs condit super bowl 2012 kickoff time football score ron paul nevada buffalo chicken dip

IT At the LHC — Managing a Petabyte of Data Per Second

VMWare is pretty widely recognized as the king of virtualization-- at least so long as you arent concerned with money. Its overhead is far far smaller than the others especially when dealing with huge numbers of connections, and it simply has more features than its competitors.

Which doesn't mean those features are implemented well.

Not so long ago, I built an automated QA platform on top of Qumranet's KVM. Partway through the project, my employer was bought by Dell, a VMware licensee. As such, we ended up putting software through automated testing on VMware, manual testing on Xen (legacy environment, pre-acquisition), and deployment to a mix of real hardware and VMware.

In terms of accurate hardware implementation, KVM kicked the crap out of what VMware (ESX) shipped with at the time. We had software break because VMware didn't implement some very common SCSI mode pages (which the real hardware and QEMU both did), we had software break because of funkiness in their PXE implementation, and we otherwise just plain had software *break*. I sometimes hit a bug in the QEMU layer KVM uses for hardware emulation, but when those happened, I could fix it myself half the time, and get good support from the dev team and mailing list otherwise. With VMware, I just had to wait and hope that they'd eventually get around to it in some future release.

"King of virtualization"? Bah.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/dS3uT_R34eM/it-at-the-lhc-managing-a-petabyte-of-data-per-second

super bowl tickets superbowl birmingham news lee evans lee evans 49ers 49ers vs giants

Samsung vies for spotlight ahead of iPhone launch

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest mobile-phone maker, said Friday it plans to show a new mobile device in late August, trying to stay in the consumer spotlight ahead of Apple's expected release of the latest iPhone in September.

The move comes as Samsung is ensnarled in a closely-watched courtroom fight with Apple Inc. over smartphone and tablet patents. Each side is seeking billions of dollars in compensation or royalty payments.

The South Korean company said the new device will be unveiled Aug. 29 in Berlin, two days before Europe's biggest consumer electronics show, IFA. The company declined to give more details.

But analysts said it is likely an update of the Galaxy Note, which has a screen bigger than smartphones but smaller than tablet computers and can be used with a stylus pen.

"It is time for the new Galaxy Note," said Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment. "Samsung's strategy is to roll out a new product before Apple does, so there will be a new smartphone before the new iPhone."

Analysts expect the new iPhone to arrive in September or October and go on worldwide sale during the fourth quarter.

Releasing another mobile product will help Samsung fend off competition from Apple during the fourth quarter. Analysts believe sales of Galaxy S3 smartphones, released in Europe in May and in the U.S. in June, will hit a peak before Apple introduces a new iPhone.

The Galaxy Note has a 5.3-inch display that is about twice as large as the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen diagonally. The Note received mixed reviews when it made a debut last year but it took off, becoming one of Samsung's top-selling high-end smartphones along with the Galaxy S.

Samsung sold 7 million of the first generation of Galaxy Note between October and May.

The product launches in the fall will be Samsung and Apple's first following the trial. The U.S. district court in San Jose said the patent trial between Samsung and Apple will last about four weeks from July 30.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-08-03-AS-SKorea-Samsung/id-d7ff2c597b2444a4a44e87adcf8b9baf

academy award nominees 2012 2012 oscar nominations kyle williams florida debate rand paul mark kirk drew peterson

BMW earnings fall 28 percent

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? German luxury automaker BMW AG said earnings fell 28 percent in the second quarter due to higher costs for staff and investments in new technology and warned that a worsening of Europe's debt crisis or a slowdown in China could hurt its business.

The fall in profit was partly due to one-time gains recorded in the same quarter last year, and the company made a strong showing with other earnings figures in the most recent quarter.

It had record sales, held on to its outlook and maintained profit margins on auto sales that many other carmakers would envy.

Nonetheless, the Munich-based carmarker cited "intense market competition" and warned that any worsening of Europe's economic crisis or a growth slowdown in China could hurt its business. It is already facing headwinds from Europe's debt crisis, which has devastated economies in nations such as Spain and Greece and kept Europe sales flat from the year before.

Company shares traded down 4 percent at ?58.27 in midday trading European time.

Net profit fell to ?1.28 billion ($1.57 billion) from ?1.77 billion a year ago. Sales rose 7 percent to ?19.2 billion. The fall in net profit in part results from ?464 million in exceptional gains and record earnings from the same quarter last year.

BMW said "higher personnel costs, increased expenditure on development and new technologies, intense market competition and the higher baseline of the previous year's record second-quarter earnings all contributed to the lower earnings figures in 2012."

The company reported record sales of 475,000 vehicles, up 5.4 percent, and said its profit margins remained at a strong 11.6 percent on car sales, the same as in the first quarter though slightly down from a year ago. That's a key figure indicating the company is maintaining its ability to charge more for its cars and generate good profits from sales.

Analyst Max Warburton at Sanford C. Bernstein in London wrote that "BMW's numbers are still good but they are not great, unlike second quarter 2011." He said profit margins had fallen from 13.9 percent in the year-ago quarter due to tough price competition in Germany and China.

He said model mix also affected results, with lower sales for the X6 crossover SUV and large 7-series sedan, probably the vehicles in the line-up with the fattest per-car profits. However the new version of the mainstay 3-series midsize car has yet to hit its stride since it was introduced earlier this year and could make a stronger contribution in coming months.

Earnings were supported by continuing sales increases in China, where they rose 31 percent, and by a 10 percent increase in the U.S.. Strong global sales of the X3 sport utility, which jumped 38 percent, helped too.

"The BMW Group continued to perform extremely well," CEO Norbert Reithofer said in a statement.

The company, which has invested in electric cars and the use of high-tech carbon fiber to save weight, said it had increased technology and development costs and cited investments in its production network.

Staff costs were boosted by a 5 percent increase in the workforce to 102,000. The company said it was still recruiting engineers and high-skill workers.

BMW's earnings fell short of the consensus estimate for ?1.38 bill compiled by FactSet. It held onto its earnings prediction for the year of exceeding last year's sales volume and pre-tax earnings, but said those forecasts are "based on the assumption that worldwide economic conditions will not deteriorate sharply. The BMW Group sees risks primarily in a further deterioration of the economic situation in Europe and a slowdown of growth in China."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bmw-earnings-fall-28-percent-080504609--finance.html

spinal stenosis the forgotten man mike jones just friends chronicle lance armstrong george lopez

Live Green With Tava Tea-The Best Organic Green Tea Used For ...

Live Green With Tava Tea-100% Organic Green Tea Used For Fat Reduction

Even though it may look like that Tava Tea wellness blend is like any other tea on the market, it has severala few attributes that the others do not. Similar to Earl Grey and Darjeeling teas, Sencha, Oolong and Puerh have been around for a very long time and considered great for one?s health. The Chinese people have been using Sencha, Puerh and Oolong for well over 500 years. With the remarkable blend of these three teas, Tava Tea possesses many essential nutrients thus a lot of people believe Tava Tea to be a one of a kind tea.

One of the substances that makes green tea such a heathly drink is Catechin, which is a type of Polyphenol, an important antioxidant. Sencha has very high amounts of Catechin. Polyphenol antioxidants come in several forms but the most beneficial is catechin. Green tea contains a huge quantity of one very strong type of Catechin referred to as Epigallocatechin gallate. Part of living greener is to utilize products that are not merely great for the environment but enhances your health as well.

Tava Tea is well regarded not just for weight loss but to help restore the body to a healthy state as well. It has been clinically established that Tava Tea can help bring down the amount of body of fat while balancing levels of cholesterol. There are numerous benefits to drinking Tava Tea, such as digesting your food easier, decreasing the amount of bloating, and burning up twice as many calories as the regular green tea. It?s likewise shown to lessen the effects of ingesting carbs. By drinking the tea 15 before eating a carbohydrate will reduce the amount of insulin that is produced, helping you not gain weight.

Serious diseases like coronary heart disease, cancer and other various chronic conditions are caused by free radicals which hurt the body at the cellular level. Another key ingredient of this green tyea type is an amino acid referred to as L-theanine, which has been shown to relax the body and mind. L-theanine has been found to increase alpha brain wave activity, maximizing the output of Serotonin and Dopamine, which are tranquilizing neurotransmitters.

A study was conducted where a group of adult males and females consumed Wuyi Cliff Oolong green tea blend for fifteen days. The results of the study displayed an amazing 50% reduction of free radicals. Decreasing free radicals in your body is a crucial point in retarding aging. Consuming as much as two cups of Wu Long tea on a daily basis, you decrease your chances of developing of heart problems by at least 26%. Perhaps you are not into green living by being an environmentalist, but you must be into green living when it is aboutrelates to your health.

One simple thing you can do to improve your health is to consume green tea every day. The best green tea you can find is Tava Tea. Aside from all the health benefits, Tava Tea has a six month money back guarantee. Numerous companies offer free trials but in majority of cases, they are scams since they get you signed up for automatic monthly charges. To achieve great health, start taking in Tava Tea, the green tea considered to be the healthiest tea right now.

Tags: green living, greener live, healty living, living, tava tea, tea, wu long tea

Source: http://www.emschiefs.org/live-green-with-tava-tea-the-best-organic-green-tea-used-for-fat-reduction/

space shuttle discovery spacex ann romney tupac hologram tupac back tax deadline death race

Why Those Maxed Out Credit Cards Mean Higher Auto Insurance ...

When most people think of car insurance premiums, they assume those costs are determined by their age (younger drivers are more likely to have accidents), by their driving record (people who have multiple accidents are bigger risks), and by the amount of coverage they choose (you pay more to get more protection). Other factors like your marital status, gender, and even high school or college grade point average can affect your rates. But did you know your credit score could, too?

Since the mid-1990?s, a growing number of auto insurance companies have begun using your credit score to determine what you should pay in premiums for the coverage you want. Based on studies conducted for the insurance industry, a link exists between your credit score and the likelihood that you will have an accident so the lower the score, the bigger risk you pose to the insurer, and the more you pay in premiums.

If you want to find a car insurance company that doesn?t base your premiums, in part, on your credit score, good luck. All fifteen of the largest companies do it. Most states also allow the practice: only Hawaii, California, and Massachusetts do not. However, your credit score cannot be the sole basis for your premiums under most state and federal regulations of the practice. That might not be much consolation if you?ve had a foreclosure, medical bills you couldn?t pay, or other financial problems. The last thing you want to do is pay higher insurance premiums, too.

For that reason, two House representatives proposed the Ban the Use of Credit Scores in Auto Insurance Act in early July 2012. If made a law, the act would end the use of credit scores as a factor in determining your car insurance premiums. The representatives, both of whom are from Michigan, point out that the recession has hit many people?s credit scores hard, especially in their state which can boast both the highest rates of unemployment and the highest insurance premiums in the nation.

Part of their complaint about the practice is that instead of basing premiums on a person?s actual driving ability or responsibility on the road, insurance companies are looking at how likely they are to get paid instead.

Similar laws have been introduced in many states but most are killed off in committees. The bills are strongly opposed by the insurance industry who stand by their claim that credit scores help them estimate risk more accurately thus keeping premiums lower for low risk drivers and putting more of the burden on those most likely to file an insurance claim. On the other hand, opponents of the practice say it hurts low income and minority drivers and does not take into account the large number of mistakes on credit reports that take time to correct.

What will happen to this bill at the federal level remains to be seen, but either way the outcome will impact how much you pay for auto insurance.

To Link to This Page:

<a href="http://www.cheapcarinsurance.net/why-those-maxed-out-credit-cards-mean-higher-auto-insurance-premiums-for-now/" >Why Those Maxed Out Credit Cards Mean Higher Auto Insurance Premiums . . . For Now</a>

Related posts:

1. Many People Want States to Ban Allowing Auto Insurance Companies to Take a Driver?s Credit Score into Consideration for Premiums
2. MA Now Makes It Illegal to Consider a Credit Score When Assigning Auto Insurance Premiums
3. Many Drivers Frustrated for Paying Higher Car Insurance Premiums Despite Perfect Driving Records
4. Why Adding Your Girlfriend to Your Auto Insurance Policy Might HelpYour Wallet
5. How to Secure Low Auto Insurance Premium Rates

Source: http://www.cheapcarinsurance.net/why-those-maxed-out-credit-cards-mean-higher-auto-insurance-premiums-for-now/

ahmad bradshaw tom brady halftime super bowl 2012 super bowl score madonna super bowl performance superbowl commercials best superbowl commercials

Man Tries to Swim Atlantic to Spread Olympic Spirit, Rescued at Sea Shortly After Departure

A London native on vacation in France and apparently overcome with Olympic mania had to be rescued after attempting to swim to the U.S.

The unnamed 34-year-old told friends on the beach at Biarritz that he was off to New York to "carry the Olympic spirit across the Atlantic."

That's almost 3,600 miles. He probably made it at least 1-2.

His friends thought he was joking, but knowing that he was a strong swimmer, decided to let him go, figuring he'd turn around or be rescued if needed.

The man swam beyond buoys 300 yards out to sea, past the legal limits for bathing, then continued swimming out of sight, raising their concerns.

Lifeguards called in a helicopter, which spotted him well offshore. From it, a diver dropped into the sea and urged the man to head back to France.

He replied that he was a strong swimmer and felt up to it. By that point, lifeguards arrived by boat and encouraged him to ride back with them.

Wisely, he took them up on the offer.

Laurent Saintespes, senior officer at Biarritz airbase, said, "He was a bit naive. But with the Olympics taking place in London you have to see the funny side of things."

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/07/man-tries-to-swim-atlantic-to-spread-olympic-spirit-rescued-at-s/

michelle rounds michelle rounds dan quayle brett favre packers stock packers stock mastectomy

Junior Asset Management Risk Analysts | Selby Jennings ...

A leading European investment bank is seeking junior risk analysts to work on the risk management of the groups` asset management functions globally. The M Risk directors with a dotted reporting line into the Head of Asset Management Risk across EMEA.
The role will have a huge amount of exposure to other areas of the business with interaction with the liquidity risk, market risk and counterparty credit risk a regular occurrence. This will allow candidates the best chance to gain valuable skills as well as give them the option to make lateral movement into other areas of the business down the line.
The roles main functions will involve:

• Preparing the annual credit review
• Maintaining and updating credit limits
• Handle new counterparty approval requests
• Detailed market analysis

Ideal candidates will have:

• Strong knowledge of credit risk management
• Asset Management product & business knowledge
• Proficient German and fluent English speaking
• Ability to work effectively under pressure
• Excellent understanding of economic and banking system
• Willing to relocate to Berlin

If this opportunity is something which is of interest please apply now to risk@selbyjennings.com and one of our consultants will be in touch.

Type: Full-time

Location: Germany

Category: Risk Jobs

Apply Email: risk@selbyjennings.com

Source: http://www.selbyjennings.com/current-vancancies/risk-jobs/junior-asset-management-risk-analysts/36111/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=junior-asset-management-risk-analysts

howard stern free shipping day free shipping day golden globe nominations 2012 war in iraq war in iraq government shutdown