Penn State upsets No. 4 Michigan 84-78

Penn State's Jermaine Marshall (11) is greeted by fans at the end of an NCAA college basketball game against Michigan in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Penn State won 84-78. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

Penn State's Jermaine Marshall (11) is greeted by fans at the end of an NCAA college basketball game against Michigan in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Penn State won 84-78. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

Penn State's Brandon Taylor (10) looks for a shot past Michigan's Glenn Robinson III (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

Penn State's Jermaine Marshall (11) drives on Michigan's Mitch McGary (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

Penn State's Jermaine Marshall, center, pulls down a rebound between teammate Ross Travis, left, and a Michigan defender during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

Michigan's Tim Hardaway (10) looks for a shot over Penn State's Brandon Taylor(10) and as Michigan's Jon Horford (15) watches during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Penn State won 84-78. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Penn State coach Patrick Chambers kept saying all winter that his team was close to winning a Big Ten game even as the league losses piled up.

Momentum finally bounced the Nittany Lions' way on Wednesday night against one of their toughest foes of the season.

Jermaine Marshall scored 25 points and hit a key layup with 1:06 left to help Penn State roar back from a 15-point deficit and upset No. 4 Michigan 84-78 for its first Big Ten victory in more than a year.

No wonder fans rushed the court in delight after the final buzzer.

"I was looking around. I wanted to see our team," Chambers said about the frenzy inside the Jordan Center. "I wanted to embrace it and be in that moment, because those moments don't come very often."

Penn State (9-18, 1-14) had lost 18 straight regular-season Big Ten games dating to last season. The team's previous conference win came on Feb. 16, 2012, a 69-64 victory over Iowa.

It was Penn State's first win over a top 5 team since defeating No. 5 North Carolina 82-74 in the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament, and the highest-ranked opponent that the Nittany Lions have beaten since moving to the Jordan Center in 1996.

Even Michigan coach John Beilein was impressed.

"I think what you saw tonight is why we all love college basketball," he said.

But this loss might hurt Michigan as it jockeys for seeding in the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines squandered a chance to pull into a second-place tie in the Big Ten with Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points for the Wolverines (23-5, 10-5). Trey Burke had 18 points and six assists, but also committed six turnovers.

Michigan was uncharacteristically sloppy with 15 turnovers in the game, six more than its season average.

Penn State pounced on the mistakes.

D.J. Newbill added 17 points for the Nittany Lions, who hit a season-high 10 3-pointers. Marshall scored 19 in the second half, including four 3s that whipped the hometown fans into a frenzy. But it was his twisting drive to the bucket late left that really hurt Michigan.

The ball teetered on the rim for a couple of seconds before dropping in, causing the Penn State partisans to let out a collective sigh of relief with their team up 81-78.

"It was a chip play that we run. ... Coach put the ball in my hand and he had trust in me," Marshall said. "Fortuantely that layup rode around the rim and went down."

That was not the kind of luck that the Nittany Lions have been used to, ever since leading scorer and point guard Tim Frazier went down with a left Achilles injury four games into the season.

They had to adjust on the fly, with combo guard Newbill sliding over to the point, and Marshall needing to assume more ball-handling duties. Chambers, a never-say-die cheerleader, convinced his team to keep fighting through the adversity.

"Tonight, it's a relief. All the hard work, practices and shootarounds paid off for us," Newbill said.

Michigan's Glenn Robinson III misfired on a 3 with 17 seconds left. Sasa Borovnjak (nine points) had a memorable Senior Night, hitting two foul shots with 15 seconds left to seal the win.

Ross Travis provided the muscle up front with 15 points and 12 boards as Penn State made the clutch plays down the stretch.

"They beat us fair and square, and the last 10 minutes they really outplayed us," Beilein said.

Two foul shots by Marshall gave Penn State its first lead since the first half, 76-74, with 3:55 left. The Jordan Center rocked as if it were a Michigan-Penn State football game across the street at Beaver Stadium.

It was all Penn State from there.

Chambers watched as Michigan fumbled away opportunities, like when Burke had a steal from Newbill but lost control.

"The ball finally bounced our way," Chambers said. "Trey Burke strips D.J. at halfcourt and kicks it out of bounds ... that's usually what we do."

Midway through the second half, Michigan controlled the lane with dunks and cuts to the bucket. Long-range shooting gave the Wolverines breathing room after Nik Stauskus (12 points, eight rebounds) and Hardaway hit 3s on back-to-back possessions to help build the short-lived 15-point lead after Penn State had drawn within 49-45.

The first half was a sign of things to come. After struggling from long range much of the year, Penn State went 5 of 10 from behind the arc and forced 10 turnovers to stay within 39-36 at halftime.

All five of Michigan's losses have come on the road in the Big Ten ? none worse than Wednesday night's defeat. Michigan finished February with a 3-4 record, heading into a showdown Sunday with No. 9 Michigan State.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-27-T25-Michigan-Penn%20St/id-f6c3a2c39f414d64909aa09028e19607

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Tina Fey won't host Oscars -- who should?

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, TODAY

He received decidedly mixed reviews for his Sunday night stint hosting the Oscars. She was mentioned, along with comedy partner in crime Amy Poehler, as a dream host for the future. But both Seth MacFarlane and Tina Fey have now gone on record saying they won't host next year's show.

Paul Drinkwater / NBC via AP

Tina Fey, seen here hosting the Golden Globes with Amy Poehler, says she won't host the Oscars.

In a comedy bit that opened the awards show, William Shatner muttered, "Why couldn't they get Tina and Amy to host? Why can't Tina and Amy host everything?"

Fey told The Huffington Post that she was flattered "to be Shatnered," but said she won't be looking to host the show.

"I just feel like that gig is so hard," Fey told the site. "Especially for, like, a woman -- the amount of months that would be spent trying on dresses alone ... no way."

When writer Mike Ryan pushed Fey, asking if there was a "one in a million chance," she still declined, saying "I wish I could tell you there was."

As for MacFarlane, he responded to a Twitter fan who asked him if he'd host again with "No way. Lotta fun to have done it though."

With Fey and MacFarlane out of the running, the Academy organizers will have to start combing through a long list of possible hosts. Recent hosts have included Billy Crystal, James Franco and Anne Hathaway, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, Hugh Jackman, Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres.

It's a list that heavily favors comedians, but there the Academy walks a fine line. Edgy comics like MacFarlane and three-time Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais may appeal to a younger audience, but also run the risk of alienating viewers who like their Oscar humor safe and friendly. And there's no denying it's a great deal of work for a famous name who arguably doesn't gain much from taking the job but has a lot to lose if his or her hosting night goes awry. It might even be easier to win an Oscar than to successfully host one.

Who would you like to see host the 2014 ceremony? Vote in our poll, and tell us on Facebook.

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/27/17117706-tina-fey-seth-macfarlane-both-say-they-wont-host-oscars-so-who-should?lite

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Journey to the limits of space-time: Black hole simulations on supercomputers present new view of jets and accretion disks

Feb. 21, 2013 ? Voracious absences at the center of galaxies, black holes shape the growth and death of the stars around them through their powerful gravitational pull and explosive ejections of energy.

"Over its lifetime, a black hole can release more energy than all the stars in a galaxy combined," said Roger Blandford, director of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science. "Black holes have a major impact on the formation of galaxies and the environmental growth and evolution of those galaxies."

Gravitational forces grow so strong close to a black hole that even light cannot escape from within, hence the difficulty in observing them directly. Scientists infer facts about black holes by their influence on the astronomical objects around them: the orbit of stars and clumps of detectable energy. With this information in hand, scientists create computer models to understand the data and to make predictions about the physics of distant regions of space. However, models are only as good as their assumptions.

"All tests of general relativity in the weak gravity field limit, like in our solar system, fall directly along the lines of what Einstein predicted," explained Jonathan McKinney, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland at College Park. "But there is another regime -- which has yet to be tested, and which is the hardest to test -- that represents the strong gravitational field limit. And according to Einstein, gravity is strongest near black holes."

This makes black holes the ultimate experimental testing grounds for Einstein's theory of general relativity.

While black holes cannot be observed, they are typically accompanied by other objects with distinctive features that can be seen, including accretion disks, which are circling disks of superhot matter on our side of the black hole's "event horizon"; and relativistic jets, high-powered streams of ionized gases that shoot hundreds of thousands of light years across the sky.

In a paper published in Science in January 2013, McKinney, Tchekhovskoy and Blandford predicted the formation of accretion disks and relativistic jets that warp and bend more than previously thought, shaped both by the extreme gravity of the black hole and by powerful magnetic forces generated by its spin. Their highly detailed models of the black hole environment contribute new knowledge to the field.

For decades, a simplistic view of the accretion disks and polar jets reigned. It was widely believed that accretion disks sat like flat plates along the outer edges of black holes and that jets shot straight out perpendicularly. However, new 3D simulations performed on the powerful supercomputers of the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and NASA overturned this oversimplified view of jets and disks.

The simulations show that the jet is aligned with the black hole's spin near the black hole but that it gradually gets pushed by the disk material and becomes parallel to (but offset from) the disk's rotational axis at large distances. The interaction between the jet and disk leaves a warp in the accretion disk density.

"An important aspect that determines jet properties is the strength of the magnetic field threading the black hole," said Alexander Tchekhovskoy, a post-doctoral fellow at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. "While in previous works it was a free parameter, in our series of works the field is maximum: it is as strong as a black hole's gravity pull on the disk."

In the simulations, the twisting energy grows so strong that it actually powers the jet. In fact, the jet can reorient the accretion disk, rather than the other way around, as was thought previously.

"People had thought that the disk was the dominant aspect," McKinney said. "It was the dog and the jet was the wagging tail. But we found that the magnetic field builds up to become stronger than gravity, and then the jet becomes the dog and the disk becomes the wagging tail. Or, one can say the dog is chasing its own tail, because the disk and jet are quite balanced, with the disk following the jet -- it's the inverse situation to what people thought."

What does this have to do with Einstein and his theory of general relativity?

Astronomers are closer than ever to being able to see the details of the jets and accretion disks around black holes. In a September 2012 paper in Science, Sheperd Doeleman of MIT reported the first images of the jet-launching structure near the supermassive black hole, M87, at the center of a neighboring galaxy, captured using the Event Horizon Telescope, a very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) array composed of four telescopes at three geographical locations. It constituted a small sliver of a vast skyscape, yet the results give astronomers like McKinney, Tchekhovskoy and Blandford the hope that they will get their first comprehensive glimpse into the black hole's neighborhood in the next three to five years.

"We'll see the gases swirl around the black hole and other optical effects that will be signatures of a black holes in spacetime that one can look out for," said Blandford.

The observations will either match models like theirs, or they will be different. Both outcomes will tell researchers a lot.

"If you don't have an accurate model and anything can happen as far as you understand, then you're not going to be able to make any constraints and prove one way or another whether Einstein was right," McKinney explained. "But if you have an accurate model using Einstein's equations, and you observe a black hole that is very different from what you expected, then you can begin to say that he may be wrong."

The model Blandford and others generated using supercomputing simulations will help serve that comparative role. But they need to add one crucial element to make the simulations meaningful: a way of translating the physics of the black hole system into a visual signal as it would be seen from the vantage point of our telescopes, billions of light years away.

"We're in the process of making our simulations shine, so they can be compared with observations," McKinney said, "not only to test our ideas of how these disks and jets work, but ultimately to test general relativity."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. C. McKinney, A. Tchekhovskoy, R. D. Blandford. Alignment of Magnetized Accretion Disks and Relativistic Jets with Spinning Black Holes. Science, 2012; 339 (6115): 49 DOI: 10.1126/science.1230811

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/ua3-DOanCNk/130221141606.htm

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Molecules assemble in water, hint at origins of life

Feb. 20, 2013 ? The base pairs that hold together two pieces of RNA, the older cousin of DNA, are some of the most important molecular interactions in living cells. Many scientists believe that these base pairs were part of life from the very beginning and that RNA was one of the first polymers of life. But there is a problem. The RNA bases don't form base pairs in water unless they are connected to a polymer backbone, a trait that has baffled origin-of-life scientists for decades. If the bases don't pair before they are part of polymers, how would the bases have been selected out from the many molecules in the "prebiotic soup" so that RNA polymers could be formed?

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are exploring an alternate theory for the origin of RNA: they think the RNA bases may have evolved from a pair of molecules distinct from the bases we have today. This theory looks increasingly attractive, as the Georgia Tech group was able to achieve efficient, highly ordered self-assembly in water with small molecules that are similar to the bases of RNA. These "proto-RNA bases" spontaneously assemble into gene-length linear stacks, suggesting that the genes of life could have gotten started from these or similar molecules.

The research is published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists led by Georgia Tech Professor Nicholas Hud, who has been trying for years to find simple molecules that will assemble in water and be capable of forming RNA or its ancestor. Hud's group knew that they were on to something when they added a small chemical tail to a proto-RNA base and saw it spontaneously form linear assemblies with another proto-RNA base. In some cases, the results produced 18,000 nicely ordered, stacked molecules in one long structure.

"Thinking about the origin of RNA reminds me of the paradox of your grandfather's ax," said Hud, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "If your father changed the handle and you changed the head, is it the same ax? We see RNA the same way. Its chemical structure might have changed over time, but it was in continual use so we can consider it to be the same molecule."

Hud concedes that scientists may never be 100 percent sure what existed four billion years ago when a complex mixture of chemicals started to work together to start life. His next goal is to determine whether the proto-RNA bases can be linked by a backbone to form a polymer that could have functioned as a genetic material.

Georgia Tech partnered with the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain on the project. The proto-RNA's two-component, self-assembling system consisted of cyanuric acid (CA) and TAPAS, a derivative of triaminopyrimidine (TAP).

In addition to addressing the origin-of-life questions, Hud suggests the self-assembly process could be used in the future to create new materials, such as nanowires.

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA (Award Number CHE-1004570), and by NASA Exobiology (Award Number NNX08A014G).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Journal Reference:

1. Brian J. Cafferty, Isaac G?llego, Michael C. Chen, Katherine I. Farley, Ramon Eritja, Nicholas V. Hud. Efficient Self-Assembly in Water of Long Noncovalent Polymers by Nucleobase Analogues. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (7): 2447 DOI: 10.1021/ja312155v

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/AXMBpJ_tNLM/130220123332.htm

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iPad rollout leads to boost in elementary reading for Texas district

Feb. 19, 2013

Dive Summary:

• Teachers in the McAllen, Texas, school district are seeing major differences in reading rates among young students just month after?iPads were introduced into classrooms.
• The iPads are especially helpful for English as a Second Language students, who can use the devices to hear English translations of the Spanish text they are reading.
• Educators at Bonham Elementary say the number of books, hard copy or digital, checked out from the school's library has increased from 2,000 to 7,000 since October, and they hope the increased reading rates brought about by the iPads, as well as the use of an Accelerated Reading testing program, translate to better scores on the spring's?State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test.

From the article:

... Instructors at Bonham Elementary and other campuses in the McAllen, Texas, school district see the technology as a tool to boost reading rates among younger students and say they?ve already seen a difference in the first months since the tablets were introduced. ?My Spanish-speaking students, they can hear the way it?s pronounced,? third-grade teacher Lorena Guerrero said. ?They can hear it first, listen to it first, and then say it on their own.? ...

Source: http://www.educationdive.com/news/ipad-rollout-leads-to-boost-in-elementary-reading-for-texas-district/101469/

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NCAA says three former Miami assistants misled investigators

Louisville assistant Clint Hurtt is accused of committing violations while he was at Miami. (USATSI)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The NCAA believes former Miami assistant coaches Clint Hurtt, Aubrey Hill and Jorge Fernandez provided false or misleading information during the probe into the Hurricanes' athletic department.

The NCAA said all three violated "principles of ethical conduct" as part of the notice of allegations served against the Hurricanes, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the allegations have not been released publicly.

Hurtt and Hill were members of Miami's football staff. Fernandez worked on the men's basketball staff.

Several other coaches are named or referenced in the allegations, including Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith. But only Hurtt, Hill and Fernandez are facing the ethical-conduct charge, commonly known as NCAA Rule 10.1.

Hurtt is currently on the staff at Louisville. Hill is not working as a coach at this time, and Fernandez spent last season as an assistant at Marshall, resigning last May.

The notice of allegations was delivered to Miami on Tuesday, and the university is facing the charge that it had a "lack of institutional control" -- one of the worst things the NCAA can levy against a member school. The charge revolves around how the school allegedly failed to monitor conduct of Nevin Shapiro, a rogue booster and convicted felon who provided cash, gifts and other items to players on the football and men's basketball teams.

University president Donna Shalala said Tuesday night that the Hurricanes have suffered enough already through self-imposed sanctions. Through a university spokesman, she declined further comment Wednesday.

The NCAA said Hurtt and Hill committed the same violations, at least related to the ethical-conduct matter.

The NCAA alleged both provided meals, transportation and lodging to either recruits, current players or both in either 2008 or 2009. Both were interviewed by the NCAA during the course of its probe and allegedly denied providing those extra benefits, statements the NCAA said were contradicted in each case by what players told them separately.

Hurtt also took a $2,500 personal loan from Shapiro, which was repaid. The NCAA also believes he sent about 40 impermissible text messages to recruits, which typically is a secondary, or minor, violation.

Fernandez, the NCAA alleged, "knowingly provided extra benefits" in the form of an air ticket. The NCAA said Fernandez denied using air miles for the tickets for a men's basketball player and a high school coach, despite evidence to the contrary.

In February 2012, Miami center Reggie Johnson was ruled ineligible by the school after an investigation revealed that members of his family accepted "impermissible travel benefits" from a member of the school's former coaching staff, without specifying Fernandez or anyone else by name. The university said Johnson was not aware of the benefits, personally accepted nothing and that his family had been told they were allowed.

Johnson was reinstated quickly last season, and remains a key part of this season's team -- now ranked No. 2 in the nation and leading the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ongoing cloud of the scandal is not hurting the Hurricanes, basketball coach Jim Larranaga said Tuesday night.

"If it was overshadowing what we were doing, this room would not be packed," Larranaga said after his team beat Virginia. "We're getting so much exposure. We can only focus on the things we have control over. We have nothing to do with the investigation."

Several other former Miami coaches are named in the allegations as well, including one-time men's basketball assistant Jake Morton, who the NCAA said, among other things, accepted "supplemental income" of at least $6,000 from Shapiro. Morton is now on the staff at Western Kentucky.

Missouri's Haith is accused of failing "to promote an atmosphere for compliance," a charge specific to how he handled things when Shapiro allegedly wanted money in exchange for not going public with accusations that he paid to help the Hurricanes recruit a player.

Some of the allegations are more than 10 years old, including a claim that Shapiro bought a suit for former Miami star running back Willis McGahee to wear to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in 2002.

Other allegations include that he paid for dinners at Benihana, televisions, sneakers, Miami Heat tickets, bowling parties, one player's engagement ring, a used washer-dryer set for current New England Patriots lineman Vince Wilfork, and that he directed his girlfriend to give two former Hurricanes no-show jobs for a couple of months.

Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=4ab9393f84b6bd7549f8db989a470906

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Wrestlers to protest Olympic ruling to drop sport

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Wrestlers from the world's top wrestling nations plan to lie on their mats Thursday in Tehran in a unique show of unity to protest a decision by the International Olympic Committee to drop wrestling from the 2020 games.

Csaba Hegedus, a senior official with the international wrestling federation, announced the decision at a meeting attended by officials from the world's top wrestling countries late Wednesday in Tehran.

Iran's Wrestling Federation says members of wrestling teams attending the World Cup Tournament in Iran also will observe a minute of silence to demonstrate their opposition to the decision.

The fight to keep wrestling in the Olympics has brought Iran and the U.S. into a rare alliance, a remarkable display of common cause despite political hostility between them.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wrestlers-protest-olympic-ruling-drop-sport-213559826--oly.html

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AP Source: Miami receives notice of allegations

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) ? A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that the NCAA is accusing Miami of a "lack of institutional control" in the long-awaited notice of allegations against the Hurricanes.

The letter was delivered to Miami on Tuesday, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the NCAA nor the Hurricanes had authorized any public comment.

The institutional-control charge is typically one of the most severe the NCAA can bring in matters like this.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-miami-receives-notice-allegations-015920674--spt.html

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ThePopTort: The Brutality of Wisconsin's Nursing Home ?Tort Reform ...

There?s a song in the rock musical Hair called "Easy to Be Hard," and it goes like this:

How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold

These lyrics have been running around my head since reading the two-part series from the nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism? about the impact of Wisconsin?s new nursing home ?tort reform? law.? And when I say ?impact,? I?m specifically talking about current and future nursing home residents who are abused and neglected.? (Pay close attention, Baby Boomers.)?

Here is the series? summary:

Families? abilities to hold potentially negligent nursing facilities accountable have been diminished by a recent change in state law that bars records of abuse and neglect from use in the courts, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has found. The Center?s investigation also shows that some long-term care facilities are failing to report deaths and injuries, as required by law.

Not that we?re surprised.? Under the leadership Governor Scott Walker and with the express assistance of that nasty gang-?o-corporations, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the nursing home industry authored a bunch of provisions to make it difficult or impossible for families to sue on behalf of their abused or neglected (i.e., dead or injured) relative. For one, these laws make it virtually impossible for grossly negligent facilities to ever be liable for punitive damages.? For another - and the focus of the series- these laws prohibit families in these tragic situations from using any state investigation records as evidence in their lawsuit.? In the words of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Ann Jacobs, ?When you?ve got these records that are part of the regulatory process, the idea that you wouldn?t be able to introduce them to the jury is just insane.? Why would we hold that information back??? Indeed.

In one case profiled by the series, records of a four-month period of neglect that led to a bone-deep, E-coli infected bed sore on the backside of a 32-year-old brain-damaged and physically-disabled resident (he required horribly painful surgery and months on his stomach), could not be used in the family?s lawsuit.?

The impact of this law extends beyond the families who do sue:

Several attorneys said they have turned down meritorious cases because the new law makes it harder and more costly to sue nursing homes and other health care facilities.

?Even before this legislation, these were very difficult, expensive, time-consuming cases,? said Jason Studinski, a Stevens Point attorney who specializes in elder abuse lawsuits. ?Frankly, once a victim knows what hurdles are in their path, some choose to go away, even if they have a legitimate claim.? ?

And don?t think patient safety won?t suffer.? As Dane County Circuit Judge William Hanrahan, who prosecuted crimes against the elderly for 19 years as a district attorney and assistant attorney general, put it:?

?It?s very important that attorneys are able to take these cases and hold those who neglect and abuse the elderly accountable.? Some of the biggest changes come as a result of legal action.?

Heartless, cruel, hard, cold.? Mustn't forget dumb.??

Source: http://www.thepoptort.com/2013/02/the-brutality-of-wisconsins-nursing-home-tort-reform-law.html

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Video: KLG and Hoda add Pilates to Boxing to try ?Piloxing?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50826421/

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Samsung outs cheaper, WiFi-only Galaxy Camera

Leaning towards the Samsung Galaxy Camera but don't think that cellular connectivity is of much use for you? Well, Sammy's just taken the covers off a new variant, dubbed the EK-GC110, forsaking the 3G / 4G modem and making the device more affordable in the process. Other key specs remain the same as its sibling, the EK-GC100, including a 16.3-megapixel CMOS sensor, 21x optical zoom, 4.8-inch display, 1.4GHz quad-core processor and Android 4.1. The all-important pricing and availability information is still TBA, however. And while this WiFi-only iteration is even less likely to make you set your smartphone aside, hopefully it won't hurt your wallet so much.

Filed under: Cameras, Samsung

Comments

Source: Samsung

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/samsung-galaxy-camera-wifi/

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Biofuel rush is wiping out unique American grasslands

Say goodbye to the grass. The scramble for biofuels is rapidly killing off unique grasslands and pastures in the central US.

Christopher Wright and Michael Wimberly of South Dakota State University in Brookings analysed satellite images of five states in the western corn belt. They found that 530,000 hectares of grassland disappeared under blankets of maize and soya beans between 2006 and 2011. The rate was fastest in South Dakota and Iowa, with as much as 5 per cent of pasture becoming cropland each year.

The trend is being driven by rising demand for the crops, partly through incentives to use them as fuels instead of food.

The switch from meadows to crops is causing a crash in populations of ground-nesting birds. One of the US's most important breeding grounds for wildfowl, an area called the Prairie Pothole Region, is also at risk, with South Dakota's crop fields now within 100 metres of the wetlands. "Half of North American ducks breed here," says Wright.

Bill Henwood of the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative in Vancouver, Canada, says the results are distressing. "Exchanging real environmental impacts for the dubious benefits of biofuels is counterproductive," he says. "Last year's record drought in the corn belt all but wiped out the crops anyway."

Journal reference: PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215404110

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The NBA Built Itself a Massive Interactive Stat Shrine

Stats obsession has been the provenance of baseball's sabermetricians for the last several decades. But if your data-crunching heart belongs to basketball, you've finally got a datum-filled palace to call home. Meet NBA Stats. It's... comprehensive. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-bCHot7pNcc/the-nba-built-itself-a-massive-interactive-stat-shrine

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Snakes and lanterns mark Chinese New Year at care home

Snakes and lanterns mark Chinese New Year at care home in Banstead

10:00am Sunday 17th February 2013 in News

?A care home Chinese New Year last week with colourful snakes and lanterns.

The residents of Greenacres in the Horseshoe, Banstead, which provides long-term care for elderly people, some of whom have physical or learning difficulties, decorated the home with ornaments made during arts and crafts activities.

There was also a Chinese dinner, which was enjoyed by all.

The home?s business manager, Jean Williamson, said: "This was such an exciting event.

"There was lots of colour, wonderful food all made from fresh seasonal ingredients. What a great way to see in the New Year."

Source: http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/10232085.Snakes_and_lanterns_mark_Chinese_New_Year_at_care_home/?ref=rss

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Google, Nexus cihazlar?n?n kameras?na odaklanacak

Nexus One adl? modelle ba?latt??? referans model uygulamas?n? 4 nesildir devam ettiren Google, 4 ak?ll? telefon iki de tablet modeli pazara sundu. Saf Android aray?z? ta??yan ve g?ncellemeleri ilk olarak almas?yla avantaj sunan Nexus modelleri ?zellikle kamera konusunda rakiplerinin gerisinde kal?yordu.

Google + hesab?ndan bir a??klama yapan Google ba?kan yard?mc?s? Vic Gundrotra, m?kemmel kalitede kameraya sahip Nexus modelleri geli?tireceklerini haber verdi. Gundotra hangi Nexus modelinden i?e ba?layacaklar?n? belirtmese de muhtemelen May?s ay?ndaki konferansta ilk ?rnekleri kar??m?za ??kabilir.

Mobil cihaz firmalar?, ?r?nlerindeki kameralar?n iyile?tirilmesi i?in ?al??malara devam ederken, sens?r ?reten firmalar da ?nemli a?amalar katetmi? durumda. ?u anda 8MP ??z?n?rl?kte kameralar yayg?n olsa da 13MP ??z?n?rl?kte art?k yava? yava? yay?lmaya ba?lad?. Elbette sadece ??z?n?rl?k tek ba??na m?kemmel olmak i?in yeterli de?il. D???k ???k ko?ullar?, parlak ???k ko?ullar?, fla?s?z ?ekim gibi pek ?ok etken ak?ll? telefon kameralar?nda g?z ?n?ne al?nan kriterler.

Kamera alan?nda kesin olarak m?kemmel diyebilece?imiz bir ak?ll? telefon modeli yok. Her model bir alanda en iyi kaliteyi sunabiliyor. Ancak hepsini en ?st seviyeye ??karan bir model hen?z geli?tirilmedi. Sony, Samsung gibi firmalar kendi sens?r birimini kurdu ve d??ar?ya ba??ms?z olarak teknolojilerini geli?tirmeye devam ediyor.?

Gundotra'n?n biraz pazarlama stratejisi olarak bu tabiri kulland??? d???n?l?yor. ??nk? Android 4.1 ile gelen Project Butter ??z?m? de ?ok iddial? iken hen?z m?kemmel bir seviyeye ula?m?? de?il. Muhtemelen piyasada kamera anlam?nda en iyi rakipleri ile ba?aba? gidecek veya bir miktar ?n?ne ge?ecek Nexus cihazlar? g?rebilece?iz.?

Ayr?ca Google'?n Nexus cihazlar?n?n dezavantajlar?ndan birisi olan bu konuya el atm?? olmas? da g?zel bir geli?me olarak g?r?lebilir. ??nk? Nexus cihazlar? art?k daha ?ok ilgi g?rmeye ba?lad? ve kullan?c?lar referans cihaz? olmas?n?n yan?nda hem donan?m hem de kamera olarak iddial? olacak modeller g?rmek istiyor. ?

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Source: http://www.donanimhaber.com/Google_Nexus_cihazlarinin_kamerasina_odaklanacak-40038.htm

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Samsung releases Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy Note

Posted by FaryaabS on 18 February 2013 at 5:24

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Samsung has just started to push Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update to the International Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000. The Galaxy Note is Samsung?s first Phablet device and has a very large user base that?s why Samsung keeps on updating this device with all the new Android versions as they want to provide the Galaxy Note ?users with their best support experience.

You might not be able to update your device to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean right away as the update is rolling out in phases. So, it might not yet be available for your country or network provider (If Your device is Carrier branded) but don?t worry the update will arrive soon.

The new jelly bean update breathes a new life into the Galaxy Note, Samsung has completely ditched the old UI and has given the new Nature UX Interface, which is the same as the one being used in the Galaxy S III Mini and the Galaxy S III, in its latest Jelly Bean update. Samsung has brought a tons of features from the Galaxy Note II to the Galaxy Note with the new Jelly Bean software upgrade.

Some of the Enhancements in the new Jelly Bean Update:
- Android 4.1.2 ? Build JZO54K
- Buttery Smooth Performance & Great Stability (Thanks to Project Butter)
- Multi-View (Multi Windows Multitasking, same as in Note II)
- Multi-View can also be disabled
- Page Buddy
- Notification Panel can now be customized
- New Additions in Notification Panel
- Smart Rotation (Screen Display adjusts to your angle of sightings)
- Continues Input in Samsung Keyboard (Like Swipe or Android 4.2 Keyboard)
- Samsung?s Cloud services
- Features like Direct Call, Smart Stay and Pop-up Play
- New Widgets From the Galaxy S III
- 2 Home screen modes
- New Notifications bar
- Google Now

Keep an eye on?@SamKiesUpdates?to get the latest information on Official Firmware updates for your Samsung device.
You can update your Galaxy Note through Samsung KIES or by using OTA.

Hot links:
Check?the 10?latest?official firmwares for the Galaxy Note here!
You can find our live firmware feed here!

Official Firmware Details:
Android Version:?4.1.2 ? Build JZO54K
PDA: N7000ZSLM5
CSC:?N7000OZSLM5
MODEM:?N7000XXLSO
Region: Asia
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan

All the new Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean Firmwares for the Galaxy Note are present in our?Firmware Section?as well. You can use our?Firmware Section?to manually update your device if for some reason you can?t officially update your device via Samsung Kies or via OTA as you are using a Custom ROM or if your Country has yet not?received?the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean Update. Also, bookmark this page as we will keep this page up to date with the latest information on countries and network providers releasing the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean Update.

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Source: http://www.sammobile.com/2013/02/18/samsung-releases-android-4-1-2-jelly-bean-update-for-the-galaxy-note-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=samsung-releases-android-4-1-2-jelly-bean-update-for-the-galaxy-note-2

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Troops use humor to disparage new medal

By Jennifer Hlad
Published: February 15, 2013

The Distinguished Warfare Medal was established to acknowledge the most modern technology, but servicemembers and veterans are responding to the award?s creation in a decidedly old-school way: Mocking it mercilessly.

Along with an avalanche of Whiskey Tango Foxtrots and a tsunami of outrage, troops are circulating a photo of a gold-plated X-Box controller and the skull-emblazoned ?Call of Duty? medal as ?prototypes? of the new award, which honors servicemembers like drone pilots and computer hackers who impact combat operations from afar. The medal is being called the Chairborne Medal, the Distant Warfare Medal and the Purple Buttocks, among other names.

The Onion-esque military website ?The Duffel Blog? poked fun at the new medal by posting two related stories: ?Drone Pilot To Receive First Air Force Medal of Honor Since Vietnam? and ?Heroic Predator Drone Is First Recipient of Distinguished Warfare Medal.?

?Doctrine Man,? an Army officer and purveyor of military humor, referred to the medal as a ?pledge pin? and drew a comic suggesting that some drone pilots could earn the medal by flying a mission from the safety of the head. Then, drawing parallels to ?A Few Good Men?s? Col. Jessup, he posted the comic in mouse pad form with the quote, ?You need me on that joystick!?

So while the first servicemember to earn the medal will need to be an exceptional drone pilot or cyber whiz, he or she may also need a thick skin to wear it in public.

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Source: http://feeds.stripes.com/~r/stripes/all/~3/zrJlNUWxQ3Y/troops-use-humor-to-disparage-new-medal-1.208114

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Sale price of Brickell tower at center of teachers union flap

In negotiating the sale of an affordable apartment building that sits on prime real estate stretching from Biscayne Bay to Brickell Avenue, the leaders of United Teachers of Dade say they?re chasing ?the best offer? on the table.

But with union elections just days away, an executive with a prominent Miami developer says the Stanley Axlrod UTD Towers is being sold at a substantial discount after a better, more lucrative deal was ignored for months.

Nelson Duque, vice president of acquisitions for Fortune International Realty, told The Miami Herald that an investor he represents has offered $20 million cash for the tower at 1809 Brickell Ave., with the first offer going back more than a year. He said the union never responded and instead entered into negotiations to sell the land and tower for $14 million ? an issue that has now become political.

?Why would UTD accept $6 million less than already offered?? asks an anonymous election mailer published on the eve of Tuesday?s vote for six-figure-salaried leadership positions. ?Ask yourself. Ask them.?

Union President Karen Aronowitz, who is not running for reelection, declined Friday to specifically address Duque?s statements. She said she can?t talk about confidential negotiations privy only to the executive board of the union, which also serves as the board for the nonprofit that owns the property. But she issued this statement: ?We absolutely explore every option to get maximum value for our members. Unfortunately, our internal elections bring out the worst in some candidates who pretend they care about UTD. For the longest time, people have come out of the woodwork making offers, most of which are not real.?

The union, which had the UTD Towers built more than 40 years ago to ensure retired teachers would be able to continue to live in Miami, has been looking to sell the property for more than a decade. Because of a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, it must remain an affordable living facility for tenants 62 and older until 2019. HUD must approve a buyer.

Aronowitz acknowledged last week that leaders have a letter of intent signed with an unnamed party and are working toward a contract. She said any profits would go toward a nonprofit that funds members? professional development.

But Duque, who said he also represents independent investors outside Fortune, said his client?s $20-million offer was structured to comply with federal housing regulations and made more than a year ago. He said the union only responded this month through an attorney to say it was now in exclusive negotiations and unable to talk about the sale.

?I represent a very prominent investor in South Florida with a proven track record who?s made an offer, all cash, closing in less than seven days, that is at least 35 percent better than what?s on the table,? Duque said. ?I?ve personally visited UTD more than half a dozen times. I?ve sent it [the offer] via courier, Fed Ex and via email with confirmation receipt at least another dozen times. I?ve sent it attached to a flower arrangement with 1-800 Flowers with a receipt. And it?s never been answered.?

Out of frustration, Duque said he began sending his emails to other members of the executive board. He said that last month someone anonymously sent him minutes of an executive meeting of the board for Stanley Axlrod UTD Towers, showing the pending sale is worth just $14 million. Now, his statements have become election fodder for union candidates. Some of his emails were published in a campaign mailer that questioned Aronowitz and her two top lieutenants, Artie Leichner and Fedrick Ingram, who are running against four others for the $134,000 job of president.

Ingram couldn?t be reached for comment.

Leichner, the union?s first vice president, said he could not discuss details of the pending sale but said the property has been appraised at about $14 million. He said he never saw Duque?s offer until after current negotiations were under way.

?This is a surprising thing that it would come out right before the election,? he said. ?Or maybe not.?

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/15/3237169/sale-price-of-brickell-tower-at.html

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'HIMYM' star Hannigan gets restraining order

Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof in 2012.

By Natalie Finn, E! Online

Alyson Hannigan is putting family first. The "How I Met Your Mother" star has obtained a temporary restraining order against a New Hampshire man whom she alleges has repeatedly threatened -- in postings to Facebook and a fan site -- to kill her and husband Alexis Denisof.

According to court documents filed today and obtained by E! News, Hannigan states that 43-year-old John Hobbs is "mentally unstable," has possessed a pistol permit since 2000 and was recently discharged from a mental hospital.

"How I Met Your Mother" renewed for ninth and final mother-meeting season

Per a judge's order, Hobbs must stay at least 100 yards away from Hannigan, Denisof and their two daughters, as well as refrain from posting anything about them online.

View the documents

"With that said, in 2013 I still can marry you tomorrow. I can kill you tomorrow too. Cause I simply like and love you as you live life. Aly...It doesn't end. Even after death," read a Jan. 3 Facebook post attributed to Hobbs and included in the court filing.

"Aly, many years ago I said we were 'Soulmates' Well, the only way you are going to see that now is by talking in person," read another post dated Jan. 14. And, on Jan. 15, he allegedly wrote, "Going to the casinos and a trip to Ca this year," and "So Alexis, I guess this means you better watch your wife, a little bit more than normal."

"HIMYM's" Cobie Smulders flashes wedding ring

Hannigan states in her filing that, due to his online activity, Nashua, N.H., police went to his home, where Hobbs "fully acknowledged his interest in Alyson Hannigan" and agreed to visit a mental-health clinic, after which he still insisted that he was going to California to visit the actress.

See more famous family pics right here

A report from the Nashua Police Department backs up Hannigan's version of events. A hearing is scheduled for March 6 on whether to make the restraining order permanent.

More in Entertainment:

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Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/14/16960459-alyson-hannigan-obtains-restraining-order-over-alleged-death-threats?lite

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Feds roll out cyber plan, say threat is escalating

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Warning that American companies are the target of an intensive cyber-espionage campaign, President Barack Obama's top security officials on Wednesday said they are struggling to defend the nation from attacks on its private computer networks and called on Congress to pass legislation that would close regulatory gaps.

The executive order, which Obama signed Tuesday, relies heavily on participation from U.S. industry in creating new voluntary standards for protecting information. The order also expands the government's effort to share threat data with companies.

But lawmakers and cyber experts say that Obama's directive is missing what U.S. businesses need most: legal protection so they don't get sued if they acknowledge they've been hacked or share that data with competitors. That can only come from Congress, which hasn't been able to agree on how to protect businesses and consumers alike.

"The government is often unaware of malicious activity targeting our critical infrastructure," said Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

"These blind spots prevent us from being in a position of helping critical infrastructure defend itself and it prevents us from knowing when we need to defend the nation," Alexander told industry and government officials at the Commerce Department.

In Obama's speech Tuesday, he said America's enemies are "seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy."

He added, "Now, Congress must act as well by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks."

Obama's executive order has been months in the making and is the product of often-difficult negotiations with private sector companies that oppose any increased government regulation.

Largely symbolic, the plan leaves several practical questions unanswered: Should a business be required to tell the government if it has been hacked and U.S. interests are at stake? Can a person sue her bank or water treatment facility if those companies don't take reasonable steps to protect her? If a private company's systems are breached, should the government swoop in to stop the attacks ? and pick up the tab?

Under the president's new order, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has a year to finalize a package of voluntary standards and procedures that will help companies address their cybersecurity risks. The package must include flexible, performance-based and cost-effective steps that critical infrastructure companies can take to identify the risks to their networks and systems and ways they can manage those risks.

The order also calls for agencies to review their existing regulations to determine whether the rules adequately address cybersecurity risks.

Congress has been struggling for more than three years to reach a consensus on cybersecurity legislation. Given that failure and the escalating risks to critical systems, Obama turned to the order as a stopgap measure with the hope that lawmakers will be able to pass a bill this year. Leaders of the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday plan to reintroduce their bill that encourages the government to share classified threat information, empowers companies to also share data and provides privacy and liability protections.

The White House says it believes cybersecurity legislation is necessary to address gaps in the executive order. But last year, the Obama administration threatened to veto the House bill after privacy advocates warned that provisions in the bill could drastically expand government surveillance.

Liz Gasster, a vice president at the Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs at such corporations as Target and Coca-Cola, said companies probably aren't going to alert federal officials after being hacked ? then turn around and share that information with their competitors ? "until companies are given sufficient liability and anti-trust protections."

Gasster and other industry representatives say business leaders know the cyberthreat is real and it would be in their favor to work closely with the federal government to prevent the next big attack, or at least deal with it more effectively.

"To them, it gets to the core of their business ? their profitability," Gasster said of the CEOs she represents.

___

Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-13-US-Cybersecurity/id-37583585882c4b96818967ffbef9c4d6

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Video: Most Tweeted Moment

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50791424/

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Monitors criticize Belgium on Zimbabwe diamonds

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) ? A world monitoring group on conflict diamonds said Wednesday it wants restrictions on the sale of Zimbabwe diamonds tightened after calls to relax them by diamond companies in Belgium.

Belgium has argued the controls hurt revenue filtering down to ordinary Zimbabweans. But Global Witness insisted in a statement circulated Wednesday the European nation's interests were "closer to home" in its diamond center of Antwerp that promotes diamond gifts around St. Valentine's Day, marked Thursday.

The eastern Zimbabwe fields of Marange, where diamonds are mined, have long been mired in allegations of killings, human rights violations and corruption.

The group warned against what it called "a love triangle" between Belgium, its diamond dealers and Zimbabwe.

"European Union members seeking to promote democracy and stability in Zimbabwe should avoid a menage-a-trois with Belgium and its diamond dealers this Valentine's Day," it said.

It said Belgium is pressing for a European Union embargo on the state Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, at the forefront of diamond sales, to be lifted immediately.

Global Witness called for the corporation to remain strictly bound by European restrictions and said Anjin, a Chinese joint venture diamond mining company with links to senior Zimbabwean military officials, should be added to the European sanctions list, along with Sam Pa, a powerful Chinese mining magnate accused of involvement in illicit diamond trading.

European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Monday to review the bloc's economic restrictions on Zimbabwe after years of human rights violations and political and economic turmoil. But union officials say any relaxation of the measures will depend on the holding of a credible referendum on a new constitution slated for March or April and parliamentary and presidential elections later in the year.

A coalition between longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was brokered by regional mediators after violent and disputed elections in 2008.

Last year, Global Witness said illicit diamond revenues had provided off-budget financing to security forces controlled by Mugabe's ZANU-PF party that had a history of violence and intimidation surrounding elections.

The group said Wednesday any easing of curbs on Zimbabwe's diamond industry would likely mean more cash for Mugabe's loyalist police and military just months before 2013 elections.

"The European Union should hold a steady course and restrict trade with diamond mining operations in Marange until free and fair elections have taken place," Global Witness said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monitors-criticize-belgium-zimbabwe-diamonds-150354978.html

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San Jose's Casino M8trix timeline (San Jose Mercury News)

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