Experienced Regional Sales Managers - Join CPM's Brand New ...

Experienced Regional Sales Managers - Join CPM?s Brand New Business to Business Field Sales Team

CPM is Irelands leading Field Marketing Company involved in a wide range of activities including?sales, retail services/management, merchandising & auditing, on behalf of many of the largest brands in Ireland and has over 25 years of proven ability in the Irish Marketplace. Having 35 CPM offices around the world means that we can leverage experiences and learning?s from our global offices to ensure our insights are not just Irish based but also based on the global market.

We are currently recruiting a brand new CPM Business to Business Field Sales Team to represent our client eircom selling their fixed & mobile telecommunications services to small to medium sized businesses (SME).

We currently have 3 brand new Regional Sales Manager Vacancies for the Dublin, Cork, and Galway & Limerick Regions.

Basic ???????????????????????????????????? ?50,000

Bonus ????????????????????????????????? 30% OTE

Additional Benefits ?????? Car Allowance, Mileage, Laptop, Mobile

Previous Experience

We are looking for experienced Sales Managers who have a proven track record of Managing or Coaching a Field Sales Team.

Desirable?

• Experience managing? B2B Field Sales Team
• Previous experience in Telecommunications or Utilities products

?

Apply today to not miss out all start date for these positions are May 2013

Location ? Southwest Cork/Limerick Payment ?50K basic + 30% OTE Category Managers / Supervisors, Sales - ?35k+. Terms Permanent, Full-time Last updated 29/03/2013 Contact Andrea Hughes

Source: http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1249355

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North Korea threats predictable but Kim Jong Un is not, analysts say

KCNA via EPA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a meeting with his generals where he ordered strategic rocket forces to be on standby to strike U.S. and South Korean targets.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

Analysis

Is Kim Jong Un crazy -- or crazy like a fox?

Analysts said Friday there's a familiar method to the madness coming out of North Korea, where the rookie supreme leader has put rockets on standby, threatened to "settle accounts" with the U.S., and posed near a chart that appeared to map missile strikes on American cities. On Saturday, North Korea said it had entered a "state of war" against South Korea, according to a statement reported by the north's official news agency, KCNA.?

Kim Jong Un's father and grandfather were also serial saber-rattlers when they headed the secretive regime, and experts said there are clear strategic reasons why the world's youngest head of state is ramping up the rhetoric now, after little more than a year in power.

But if the bluster is predictable, the results may not be.

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Jon Chol Jin / AP

North Koreans punch the air during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms.

North Korea has enhanced its nuclear capabilities and Kim Jong Un has something to prove to his people and the world. Some outside observers are warning that a misstep, or overstep, by Pyongyang could bring north Asia to the brink of war.

"I think there is always room for miscalculation and things spiraling out of control," said Sung-Youn Lee, professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.?"But he is following the playbook set by his father and grandfather."

North Korea is "very adept at engaging at psychological warfare," Lee said. It cranks up the tensions, putting pressure on Seoul and Washington, and is rewarded with aid and concessions when it tones things down, Lee said.

"No leader wants a foreign policy crisis created by North Korea on their hands ... the impulse is to de-escalate," Lee added. "North Korea has been very good at playing this game -- nuclear diplomacy, even extortion -- for the past 20 years."

This time around, foreign-policy watchers said, a confluence of circumstances have set the stage for Kim Jong Un's provocations:

-- Pyongyang is stewing over the U.N. Security Council, with the support of China, tightening sanctions after satellite and nuclear testing that suggested they could one day attack the U.S.

-- There are new administrations in South Korea, China and Tokyo, and President Barack Obama is making second-term changes to his defense and national-security leadership, so the timing is right to test the waters.

-- Kim Jong Un may need to consolidate his political power at home. A strong response by the U.S. or South Korea, such as this week's B-2 bomber flyover, helps rally domestic support and distract from economic problems.

-- North Korea's last nuclear test showed progress.?"You feel you can afford to threaten because you feel you have a deterrent," said Scott Snyder, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.?

Joel Wit, visiting fellow at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said that from the North Korean perspective, Kim Jong Un and his lieutenants "aren't crazy" and are falling back on a tried-and-true strategy.

"They're a very small country dealing with much more powerful countries, and they can't show any weakness. For them, the best defense is a good offense," he said.

Yet Snyder said Kim Jong Un's standing as a new, untested ruler is "the real wild-card factor that makes this different."

The 30-year-old appears to be modeling himself on his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who is more revered inside the country than the recently departed Kim Jong Il, he said.

"But you have to remember that even though Kim Il Sung came into power in his 30s, the first thing he did was start a war with South Korea," Snyder said.

Stephen Noerper, senior vice president of the Korea Society, noted that 2013 has special significance: it's the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended that war.

Kim Jong Un's decision to cut the hotline used to arrange cross-border crossing by workers with Seoul was "worrying," he said.

"The wordage is hot and what you don't want is the evolution of a hot conflict," he said. "There should be heightened vigilance even if the expectation is that it will blow over."

A hit on U.S. targets seems highly unlikely and would be "suicidal," Lee said. But South Korea and Japan are within striking distance, and many experts say it's not impossible that Kim Jong Un could act rashly.

"While these weapons can't reach the U.S., it's an extremely tense situation, and wars don't always start logically," Wit said.

Experts were waiting to see the actual impact of North Korea's "state of war" declaration early Saturday.

"Talk is one thing, actions are another," Snyder said.

Related:

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Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a24f4f5/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C290C17518490A0Enorth0Ekorea0Ethreats0Epredictable0Ebut0Ekim0Ejong0Eun0Eis0Enot0Eanalysts0Esay0Dlite/story01.htm

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Zumba teacher could get jail in prostitution case

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? The dance instructor who used her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution could face up to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty Friday in a case that captivated a quiet seaside town known for its beaches and picturesque homes.

The agreement that followed two days of plea negotiations spares Alexis Wright from the prospect of a high-profile trial featuring sex videos, exhibitionism and pornography. She's scheduled to be sentenced May 31.

Wright quietly answered "guilty" 20 times when the judge read the counts, which include engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.

"We're very satisfied with it. It's an appropriate outcome, given the gravity of her actions," Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said after the brief court hearing.

The 30-year-old Wright was accused of conspiring with insurance agent Mark Strong Sr. to run a prostitution business in which she kept detailed records indicating she made $150,000 over an 18-month period. She was also accused of using a hidden camera to record sex acts without her clients' knowledge.

She was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanors, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted this month of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and sentenced to 20 days in jail. He was originally charged with 59 counts.

The scandal became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, leading to a guessing game of who might be named publicly in the coastal town of Kennebunk. Attorneys who have seen the client list say it included some prominent names. Those who have been charged so far include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.

Working together, Strong and Wright represented an unusual pairing.

Wright had attended college classes and ran dance classes for the local parks and recreation program before opening her studio in Kennebunk. But she was also engaging in paid-sex acts in the studio, in her apartment and in her office, law enforcement officials said.

Overseeing the operation and watching the sex acts live on his office computer 100 miles up the coast was Strong, a married father of two who ran a successful insurance agency in Thomaston.

It came as no surprise that Wright would seek a plea agreement because evidence presented in Strong's trial was so overwhelming. A video played for jurors showed Wright engaging in sex acts with a man who then inquired about her rate before leaving $250 cash on her massage table.

After the man left, the video showed Wright pocketing the money.

There was plenty of electronic evidence because the two kept in touch via text and email and because Wright videotaped the clients and Strong watched live via Skype. Videos showed them speaking openly of ledgers, payments and scheduling.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will seek restitution of $57,250 from Wright after she's released from jail.

Defense lawyer Sarah Churchill said Wright is married and employable, and she expects Wright will be able to enter into a payment plan. Churchill left the courtroom without talking to reporters.

Residents of Kennebunk were frustrated by the media coverage of the scandal.

Names of purported clients trickled out as they were charged, leading to speculation about who else might be on the list. But residents soon grew weary of the media's attention, especially after it became clear that only a few of clients were locals.

So far, 66 people have been charged as clients, York County Deputy District Attorney Justin McGettigan said. The state will continue to pursue charges against additional people identified on Wright's ledger if the evidence is strong enough to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt, she said.

Things have largely returned to normal in Kennebunk. And on Friday night, a free dance was being held at Wright's old Pura Vida Studio, where Zumba continues under new management and a new name, Danceworks.

Jeremiah Ouellette, manager of New Morning Natural Foods Market, across the street from the fitness studio, said residents have put the prostitution episode behind them.

"I think people have really lost interest," Ouellette said Friday evening. "People really don't care anymore."

___

Follow David Sharp at http://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zumba-teacher-could-jail-prostitution-case-071102032.html

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Apple sued by Chinese animation studio over pirated materials in apps

Apple is being sued by a state-run animation studio in China over apps that contain unlicensed material from the studio. Shanghai Animation Film Studio is seeking total damages of 3.3 million yuan, or $530,000. The studio says that Apple violated the copyright of 110 of their films, which resulted in siginificant financial losses for the studio. According to M.I.C. Gadget:

The studio found Apple selling pirated copies of their works back in July last year, causing huge economic losses to the company while bringing profits to Apple as well as the application developers. Allegedly, a Chinese court has accepted the case, but there?s no details on when the first hearing will be.

This is another in a recent string of legal problems for Apple in China. They previously lost a similar case regarding unauthorized distribution of a Chinese encyclopedia. Additionally, they have been sued by a company claiming that Siri violates one of their patents. Last year, they were ordered to pay Proview $60 million over the Chinese trademark for the iPad.

Source: Sina Tech, via M.I.C. Gadget

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/hUK2kjBgv0w/story01.htm

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North Korea readies rockets after U.S. show of force

By David Chance and Phil Stewart

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea put its missile units on standby on Friday to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a rare show of force.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a midnight meeting of top generals and "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation", the official KCNA news agency said.

The North has an arsenal of Soviet-era short-range Scud missiles that can hit South Korea and have been proven, but its longer-range Nodong and Musudan missiles that could in theory hit U.S. Pacific bases are untested.

On Thursday, the United States flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea, responding to a series of North Korean threats. They flew from the United States and back in what appeared to be the first exercise of its kind, designed to show America's ability to conduct long-range, precision strikes "quickly and at will", the U.S. military said.

The news of Kim's response was unusually swift.

"He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA (Korean People's Army), ordering them to be on standby for fire so that they may strike any time the U.S. mainland, its military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea," KCNA said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported there had been additional troop and vehicle movements at the North's mid- and long-range missile sites, indicating they may be ready to fire.

"Sharply increased movements of vehicles and soldiers have been detected recently at North Korea's mid and long-range missile sites," Yonhap quoted a South Korean military source as saying.

It was impossible to verify the report which did not specify a time frame, although South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Friday that it was watching shorter-range Scud missile sites closes as well as Nodong and Musudan missile batteries.

The North has launched a daily barrage of threats since early this month when the United States and the South, allies in the 1950-53 Korean War, began routine military drills.

The South and the United States have said the drills are purely defensive in nature and that no incident has taken place in the decades they have been conducted in various forms.

The United States also flew B-52 bombers over South Korea earlier this week.

The North has put its military on highest readiness to fight what it says are hostile forces conducting war drills. Its young leader has previously given "final orders" for its military to wage revolutionary war with the South.

ECONOMIC ZONE

Despite the tide of hostile rhetoric from Pyongyang, it has kept open a joint economic zone with the South which generates $2 billion a year in trade, money the impoverished state can ill-afford to lose.

Pyongyang has also canceled an armistice agreement with the United States that ended the Korean War and cut all communications hotlines with U.S. forces, the United Nations and South Korea.

"The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous," U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.

"We must make clear that these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously and we'll respond to that."

The U.S. military said that its B-2 bombers had flown more than 6,500 miles to stage a trial bombing raid from their bases in Missouri as part of the Foal Eagle war drills being held with South Korea.

The bombers dropped inert munitions on the Jik Do Range, in South Korea, and then returned to the continental United States in a single, continuous mission, the military said.

Thursday's drill was the first time B-2s flew round-trip from the mainland United States over South Korea and dropped inert munitions, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

Victor Cha, a North Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the drill fitted within the context of ramped-up efforts by the Pentagon to deter the North from acting upon any of its threats.

Asked whether he thought the latest moves could further aggravate tensions on the peninsula, Cha, a former White House official, said: "I don't think the situation can get any more aggravated than it already is."

South Korea denied suggestions on Friday that the bomber drills contained an implicit threat of attack on the North.

"There is no entity on the earth who will strike an attack on North Korea or expressed their wishes to do so," a spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry said.

Despite the shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang, few believe North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will risk starting a full-out war.

Still, Hagel, who on March 15 announced he was bolstering missile defenses over the growing North Korea threat, said all of the provocations by the North had to be taken seriously.

"Their very provocative actions and belligerent tone, it has ratcheted up the danger and we have to understand that reality," Hagel said, renewing a warning that the U.S. military was ready for "any eventuality" on the peninsula.

North Korea conducted a third nuclear weapons test in February in breach of U.N. sanctions and despite warnings from China, its one major diplomatic ally.

(Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Warren Strobel, Paul Simao and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-readies-rockets-u-flies-stealth-bombers-020309202.html

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Feds want $18 million back from timber counties

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) ? The U.S. Forest Service's demands that rural timber counties pay back millions of dollars in federal subsidies under automatic budget cuts have outraged members of Congress from both parties and caused concern in those counties with struggling economies.

Thirty-one members of the House this week sent a letter to the Obama administration protesting demands that they return $17.9 million in revenues that pay for schools, roads, search and rescue operations in rural counties as well as for conservation projects.

"For the administration to announce three months after the disbursement of these payments that they are subject to the sequester, and that states will receive a bill for repayment of funds already distributed to counties, appears to be an obvious attempt by President Obama's Administration to make the sequester as painful as possible," said the letter organized by House Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and signed by 30 others, including Democrats.

Forest Service Chief Thomas L. Tidwell sent letters to 41 states telling them they need to repay $15.6 million disbursed in January under the Secure Rural Schools Act, which since 2000 has sent billions of dollars to 700 rural counties to make up for reductions in federal logging revenues due to fish and wildlife protections. The top recipients have been Oregon, California and Washington.

Tidwell also demanded the return of $2.3 million in other payments. He said the money needed to be repaid because it was sent out in fiscal year 2013, and is included under the 5.1 percent across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration.

Many rural counties in the West also will be hit hard by Department of Interior cuts to the Payment In Lieu of Taxes Program, which reimburses counties for tax revenues they have lost by having federal lands within in their borders. The PILT program paid $393 million to over 1,850 counties last year, and this year those payments are also being cut by 5.1 percent ? about $20 million.

Members of Congress questioned the need to repay money disbursed by the Forest Service because the money had been appropriated in fiscal year 2012.

Forest Service spokesman Larry Chambers told The Associated Press he had nothing to say beyond what was in the chief's letter.

Many rural counties in Oregon were already struggling as money from the Secure Rural Schools Act was reduced over the years. The law has expired, and the last payments went out in January.

Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson, president of an association of Oregon timber counties that receive the funds, is hoping Gov. John Kitzhaber will offset the $3.6 million Oregon would have to repay by taking it from funds already dedicated to conservation projects on federal lands. That would spare struggling counties from having to come up money they have already spent.

"We never see that money anyway," Robertson said. "It'll work out."

Bob Rolston, a Sheridan County commissioner and president of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association, said commissioners across Wyoming are concerned about losing PILT funds, which amount to 25 percent of the annual budget in some counties.

"These are taxes that are due to the counties from the federal lands that lie within those counties," he said. "The way we look at it, if you don't pay your taxes, the sheriff's going to sell your property on the courthouse steps. They seem to think they don't have to pay the taxes, and that's the way it goes."

Jessica Kershaw, press secretary with the Interior Department in Washington, D.C., said "Interior was not afforded discretion to exempt PILT from the sequester."

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has expressed frustration that federal agencies are dribbling out word of how they're implementing the funding cuts.

Earlier this week, Mead said he was outraged that the Department of Interior announced it is cutting $53 million in federal mineral royalty payments to the state, the nation's leading coal producer.

___

AP reporter Ben Neary reported from Cheyenne, Wyo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-want-18-million-back-timber-counties-225659049.html

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Robotic ants successfully mimic real colony behavior

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Scientists have successfully replicated the behaviour of a colony of ants on the move with the use of miniature robots, as reported in the journal PLOS Computational Biology. The researchers, based at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, USA) and at the Research Centre on Animal Cognition (Toulouse, France), aimed to discover how individual ants, when part of a moving colony, orient themselves in the labyrinthine pathways that stretch from their nest to various food sources.

The study focused mainly on how Argentine ants behave and coordinate themselves in both symmetrical and asymmetrical pathways. In nature, ants do this by leaving chemical pheromone trails. This was reproduced by a swarm of sugar cube size robots, called "Alices," leaving light trails that they can detect with two light sensors mimicking the role of the ants' antennae.

In the beginning of the experiment, where branches of the maze had no light trail, the robots adopted an "exploratory behaviour" modelled on the regular insect movement pattern of moving randomly but in the same general direction. This led the robots to choose the path that deviated least from their trajectory at each bifurcation of the network. If the robots detected a light trail, they would turn to follow that path.

One outcome of the robotic model was the discovery that the robots did not need to be programmed to identify and compute the geometry of the network bifurcations. They managed to navigate the maze using only the pheromone light trail and the programmed directional random walk, which directed them to the more direct route between their starting area and a target area on the periphery of the maze. Individual Argentine ants have poor eyesight and move too quickly to make a calculated decision about their direction. Therefore the fact that the robots managed to orient themselves in the maze in a similar fashion than the one observed in real ants suggests that a complex cognitive process is not necessary for colonies of ants to navigate efficiently in their complex network of foraging trails.

"This research suggests that efficient navigation and foraging can be achieved with minimal cognitive abilities in ants," says lead author Simon Garnier. "It also shows that the geometry of transport networks plays a critical role in the flow of information and material in ant as well as in human societies."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

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. Simon Garnier, Maud Combe, Christian Jost, Guy Theraulaz. Do Ants Need to Estimate the Geometrical Properties of Trail Bifurcations to Find an Efficient Route? A Swarm Robotics Test Bed. PLoS Computational Biology, 2013; 9 (3): e1002903 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002903

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/most_popular/~3/tNBJskzfrCY/130329090614.htm

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Top 10 Ways to Breeze Through Laundry Like a Boss

Laundry is possibly the world's most boring chore (heck, you're probably bored just reading this). But it's something we have to do every week, and there are a ton of ways to do it faster, better, and boredom-free. Here's how to take laundry day from snoozefest to?well, less of a snoozefest.

10. Wash Your Clothes Less Often

The most obvious way to avoid doing so much laundry is to...well, not do it. Not every item of clothing needs to be washed right away; in fact, you could probably wear lots of clothes more than once before you wash. Shirts can survive multiple wears if worn with an undershirt, and many people don't even wash their jeans at all (though you can throw them in the freezer to keep them fresh). Check out our reader thread on the subject for more info and see what others have to say?you might find that you're washing some clothes too often. Photo by Harika Reddy.

9. Get Stains Out Right Away

Don't waste time trying to scrub out that stain later on, after you finally found your Tide to Go pen. You can remove nearly all of life's horrible stains right away using simple house hold items, like club soda, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, and more. We've shared more clever stain removers than we can count, but for a good roundup check out WonderHowTo's DIY Stain Removal infographic. If you have to, pin it on your laundry machine so you never forget it. The less time you spend getting those stains out, the quicker you can get that laundry clean and folded back in its home.

8. Eliminate Sorting with Multiple Hampers

One of the best tricks I ever put into practice was putting two laundry baskets in my closet: one for whites, and one for colors. That way, when you take off your clothes before bed, you can sort them with almost zero effort, instead of having to rifle through everything later on. It seems like a small annoyance, but come laundry day, you'll be happy everything's sorted out for you.

7. Wash Everything Properly

Ever look at your clothing tags and see those little symbols? They're supposed to tell you how to wash that item, but heck if any of them make sense without a description. This handy chart will help you figure out what all those symbols mean so you can get it right the first time (and avoid ruining your clothes). Weblog Apartment Therapy recommends sorting your laundry by fabric instead of color, too. If you wash on cold, color doesn't matter, and you'll save time on drying cycles if you have all your lights in one, easier-to-dry load. It's not for everyone, but it could make your life a bit easier. Make sure you don't use fabric softener on towels, either?they'll lose their absorbency.

6. Declare Sock Bankruptcy

Sometimes it feels like half of laundry day is spent looking for that missing sock, or trying to pair everything together. If you're tired of sorting socks, it may be time to declare sock "bankruptcy" and buy a whole new set of socks. Buy only a few colors, all from the same brand, in large quantities. You'll never have to fold or sort them again. Just throw them all in your dresser and as long as you grab two socks of the same color, they'll be sure to match. Plus it helps a bit with that whole "lost sock" problem.

5. Load and Unload Like a Pro

Don't have a basket? Can't carry a basket? You don't need one: all you need is a towel or some item of clothing large enough to wrap everything else up. You can transport an entire load of laundry down to the washer just by wrapping it up in a pair of pants, no hamper required. Similarly, you can throw a clean towel into the dryer after it's finished, rotate the dryer, and use that towel as a little laundry bag that you can carry with one hand. Never drop anything on your way back up the stairs again!

4. Use Less Detergent

Okay, so this one won't save you a ton of time, but it can save you money. Many of us use way too much detergent in our laundry, and while you could make your own at a fraction of the price, the easiest way to save money is to just use less. You know how much soap the manufacturer recommends using? Use less than that. A lot less. Your clothes will be just as clean and you'll save lots of money.

3. Clean Your Appliances

It's weird to think about cleaning the thing that cleans you clothes, but it can make everything work a whole lot better. Cleaning your washing machine every few months can help get rid of excess dirt, soap gunk, and other things that may be invading your laundry, while cleaning the dryer can make it dry more effectively in a smaller amount of time (especially if you clean that moisture sensor). Your clothes and your patience will thank you. Photo by Patricia H.

2. Fill Your Drawers from Front to Back

Do you stack clothing in your drawers from top to bottom? If so, you've probably noticed how much of a pain it is to find what you're looking for and get it out later on. The next time you fill your drawers, fill them from front to back as shown in the picture here. You'll be shocked how much easier it is to see what you have and pick something out. Alternatively, you can hang shirts in your drawer like a filing cabinet, too.

1. Fold and Hang Your Clothes in Seconds

You may have seen the Japanese folding method that gets your t-shirts folded in two seconds, but have you seen the instant t-shirt hanging method, too? What about the saddle row fold, which keeps your pants from falling off the hanger? There are a ton of more efficient ways to fold and hang your clothes, and we've shared a ton of them over the years. Check out this video for 10 of our favorite clothing tricks, explained in 60 seconds. Once you've seen them, you'll never go back to your old way of folding laundry.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/oWbr3hhgT7o/top-10-ways-to-breeze-through-laundry-like-a-boss

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Researchers engineer plant cell walls to boost sugar yields for biofuels

Mar. 29, 2013 ? When blessed with a resource in overwhelming abundance it's generally a good idea to make valuable use of that resource. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic material on Earth. For thousands of years it has been used as animal feed, and for the past two centuries has been a staple of the paper industry. This abundant resource, however, could also supply the sugars needed to produce advanced biofuels that can supplement or replace fossil fuels, providing several key technical challenges are met.

One of these challenges is finding ways to more cost-effectively extract those sugars. Major steps towards achieving this breakthrough are being taken by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI).

"Through the tools of synthetic biology, we have engineered healthy plants whose lignocellulosic biomass can more easily be broken down into simple sugars for biofuels," says Dominique Loque, who directs the cell wall engineering program for JBEI's Feedstocks Division. "Working with the model plant, Arabidopsis, as a demonstration tool, we have genetically manipulated secondary cell walls to reduce the production of lignin while increasing the yield of fuel sugars."

JBEI is a scientific partnership led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) whose mission is to advance the development of next generation biofuels that can provide the nation with clean, green and renewable transportation energy that will create jobs and boost the economy. Loque and his research group have focused on reducing the natural recalcitrance of plant cell walls to give up their sugars. Unlike the simple starch-based sugars in corn and other grains, the complex polysaccharide sugars in plant cell walls are locked within a robust aromatic polymer called lignin. Setting these sugars free from their lignin cage has required the use of expensive and environmentally harsh chemicals at high temperatures, a process that helps drive production costs of advance biofuels prohibitively high.

"By embedding polysaccharide polymers and reducing their extractability and accessibility to hydrolytic enzymes, lignin is the major contributor to cell wall recalcitrance," Loque says. "Unfortunately, most efforts to reduce lignin content during plant development have resulted in severe biomass yield reduction and a loss of integrity in vessels, a key tissue responsible for water and nutrient distribution from roots to the above-ground organs."

Lignin has also long posed problems for pulping and animal feed. To overcome the lignin problem, Loque and his colleagues rewired the regulation of lignin biosynthesis and created an artificial positive feedback loop (APFL) to enhance secondary cell wall biosynthesis in specific tissue. The idea was to reduce cell wall recalcitrance and boost polysaccharide content without impacting plant development.

"When we applied our APFL to Arabidopsis plants engineered so that lignin biosynthesis is disconnected from the fiber secondary cell wall regulatory network, we maintained the integrity of the vessels and were able to produce healthy plants with reduced lignin and enhanced polysaccharide deposition in the cell walls," Loque says. "After various pretreatments, these engineered plants exhibited improved sugar releases from enzymatic hydrolysis as compared to wild type plants. In other words we accumulated the good stuff -- polysaccharides -- without spoiling it with lignin."

Loque and his colleagues believe that the APFL strategy they used to enhance polysaccharide deposition in the fibers of their Arabidopsis plants could be rapidly implemented into other vascular plant species as well. This could increase cell wall content to the benefit of the pulping industry and forage production as well as for bioenergy applications. It could also be used to increase the strength of cereal straws, reducing crop lodging and seed losses. Since regulatory networks and other components of secondary cell wall biosynthesis have been highly conserved by evolution, the researchers feel their lignin rewiring strategy should also be readily transferrable to other plant species. They are currently developing new and even better versions of these strategies.

"We now know that we can significantly re-engineer plant cell walls as long as we maintain the integrity of vessels and other key tissues," Loque says.

A paper describing this research in detail has been published in Plant Biotechnology Journal. The paper is titled "Engineering secondary cell wall deposition in plants." Loque is the corresponding author. Co-authors are Fan Yang, Prajakta Mitra, Ling Zhang, Lina Prak, Yves Verhertbruggen, Jin-Sun Kim, Lan Sun, Kejian Zheng, Kexuan Tang, Manfred Auer and Henrik Scheller.

This research was supported by the DOE Office of Science.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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. Fan Yang, Prajakta Mitra, Ling Zhang, Lina Prak, Yves Verhertbruggen, Jin-Sun Kim, Lan Sun, Kejian Zheng, Kexuan Tang, Manfred Auer, Henrik V. Scheller, Dominique Loqu. Engineering secondary cell wall deposition in plants. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2013; 11 (3): 325 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12016

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_environment/~3/VnUOT6b1alA/130329161247.htm

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Business, labor close on deal for immigration bill (The Arizona Republic)

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Obama must support global Arms Trade Treaty

The global arms trade is out of control. In armed conflicts from Syria to Sudan, Mali to Myanmar, and Congo to Columbia, thousands of people are slaughtered by weapons of war that are transferred by governments into the hands of unscrupulous regimes, criminals, illegal militias, and terrorist groups.

The unregulated global arms trade, which increases the availability of small arms and ammunition in conflict zones, is fueling wars and human rights abuses against civilians. More than 740,000 men, women and children die each year as a result of armed violence.

The deaths caused each year are at the center of a larger tragedy. The poorly regulated arms trade makes development in war-torn countries more difficult. For example, the prevalence of AK-47?s and ammunition in the rural areas of South Sudan, a country plagued by five decades of war, is having devastating effects on peace-building and poverty-eradication efforts.

OPINION: 5 ways US must promote nuclear nonproliferation

The time for action to reduce the illicit, unregulated flow of weapons and ammunition is now.

Rather than watching this destruction from afar, the international community has an opportunity to offer a solution. Diplomats from the United States and more than 150 other countries are at the United Nations in New York for the ?final? round of negotiations (set to conclude tomorrow) for a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty. The treaty would restrict the flow of weapons across borders and close the loopholes unscrupulous traders now navigate with impunity.

Last July, the US was among a handful of states that failed to join a consensus on the treaty during the last hour of negotiations, saying "more time was needed" to complete the process. Now, the Obama administration has had that time.

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry must now work with other countries at the United Nations to close the deal on a robust, effective Arms Trade Treaty with the highest possible standards. The Arms Trade Treaty will not, by itself, prevent all illicit and irresponsible arms trafficking, but it will help reduce the enormous toll of armed conflict around the globe.

Mr. Obama should join other leaders to finalize a treaty that outlaws arms deals where the exporter knows or should know that the weapons will be used to commit the world?s worst crimes. No country should be able to hide behind ambiguous international law to aid and abet genocide, crimes against humanity, serious war crimes, or a consistent pattern of serious human rights abuses.

The treaty should also require each country to assess the risks associated with an arms deal prior to transfer and be required to not transfer the weapons if there is a substantial risk that the arms will be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights, the laws of war, or acts of terrorism.

The implementation of an Arms Trade Treaty based on this standard would prevent, or at least make it more difficult to justify, the ongoing supply of weapons to the Assad regime in Syria, for example.

While the US has some of the strictest regulations governing the export and import of weapons, less than half of the countries in the world have any basic laws governing arms trade. That?s why the treaty must mandate that countries adopt and enforce comprehensive legal regime to regulate the import and export of all conventional weapons and ammunition. Arms dealers have no problem finding countries to base their operations and escape law enforcement. The treaty must close this lethal loophole.

The treaty must also avoid other loopholes ? like the one sought by India and opposed by the US ? that would exempt arms deals made under previous defense cooperation agreements from the treaty. And finally, the treaty should ensure that states make their reports on arms transfers available to the public to improve accountability.

THE MONITOR'S VIEW: For Obama's second term, a call to arms control

The Arms Trade Treaty is about making it harder for irresponsible states and arms dealers to put profits ahead of people. It is a vital tool to help protect civilians, aid workers, and missionaries from the violence fueled by the illicit arms trade. Its time is now.

Daryl G. Kimball is the executive director of the Arms Control Association.

Raymond C. Offenheiser is president of Oxfam America.

ALSO BY DARYL KIMBALL: Time to curb the illicit global arms trade

ALSO BY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER: How to make US foreign aid work

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-must-support-global-arms-trade-treaty-140817424--politics.html

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Silly Rabbit, Eggs Aren't Just For Kids at Phoodie.info: The New ...

? And Center City jawn?R2L?is stickin? to that for this year?s Easter shenanigans. Their Easter brunch will be available this Sunday from 11:30 AM ? 4 PM, with three courses for $65 per person and $25 for kiddies 12 and under.

Not only is R2L having a buffet style and a la carte brunch menu, but there will also be a lil? contest to satisfy your sweet tooth: Pastry Chef Pete Scarola?s whipping up some gourmet large chocolate eggs, and putting a Willy Wonka twist to it, by placing a ?golden ticket? in one of the eggs and the lucky duck that wins will get a dinner for two on the house. Now who says you can?t do an Easter egg hunt past age 5?

By the way, here?s some of what the joint is serving up for brunch:

Buffet Offerings
>>> Raw Bar, crab legs, shrimp cocktail, lobster salad, tuna sashimi, oysters, clams
>>> Artisan Cheese + Charcuterie
>>> Gravlax + Smoked Salmon Table
>>> Pastries and Assorted Bread

A La Carte Main Courses?(Choice of One)
>>> Slow Poached Salmon
>>> Lamb Steak + Eggs
>>> R2L Benedict with Veal Lomo +Green Peppercorn B?arnaise

R2L, 50 S. 16th St, (215) 564-5337

Source: http://www.phoodie.info/2013/03/27/silly-rabbit-eggs-arent-just-for-kids/

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Halle Berry & Nahla Hit the Beach in Hawaii!

Halle Berry and her daughter spend spring break in Hawaii! Plus, see more photos of celebs spending time with their loved ones!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/star-snapshots-celebrity-kids-and-family-photos-2012/1-b-462723?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Astar-snapshots-celebrity-kids-and-family-photos-2012-462723

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White House to release budget plan on April 10

March 28 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy, playing for the first time since losing his world number one ranking earlier this week, got off to a shaky start at the Houston Open on Thursday where he dropped three shots over his opening eight holes. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman, who was replaced atop the world rankings by Tiger Woods this week, struggled to find his rhythm on an ideal day for low scoring at the Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas. He bogeyed the par-four second hole and made a double-bogey seven on the eighth hole to limp to the turn at three-over. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-release-budget-plan-april-10-200534446--business.html

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A User's Guide to Day 2 of Gay Marriage at the Supreme Court, DOMA Edition

Have you heard? The Supreme Court is finally reviewing the gay marriage issue that this country's been waiting literally decades to resolve. Tuesday, the justices heard oral arguments?and asked key questions on Hollingsworth vs. Perry, the case about California's Proposition 8. On Wednesday, it's time for United States vs. Windsor, the decisive case in determining whether the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is constitutional or not. Political stars like Nancy Pelosi and Tammy Baldwin, the nation's only gay senator, plan to attend. So do a lot of other people. Corporations, non-profits, and all their friends have weighed in with over 300 amicus briefs having been filed. It's a big deal, and compounded all the more by the will-they-or-won't-they hedge from Day One on same-sex marriage at the Court. But if you haven't been following this case for the past four years, or if the last 24 hours have been a little overwhelming with all the?legalese, don't worry. We've got you covered.

RELATED: How to Follow Today's Supreme Court Prop 8 Hearing, Voraciously

The Basics

Edith Windsor is a New York woman in her eighties who married Thea Speyer, her same-sex partner of 40 years, in Canada six years ago. In 2009, Speyer passed away, leaving her entire estate to Windsor who was slapped with a $363,000 tax bill. If it hadn't been for DOMA, the 1996 law that defined marriage at the federal level as the union between a man and a woman, she wouldn't have had to pay any taxes. So she reached out to some gay and lesbian advocacy groups, found a lawyer willing to start the fight, won the support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2011.?

RELATED: How the Supreme Court May Buck Public Opinion on Gay Marriage, in Charts

It was destined to be a big case from the start. Windsor's was one of the cases that Attorney General Eric Holder cited in his February 23, 2011 statement announcing that the Obama administration could no longer defend portions of DOMA that it believed to be unconstitutional. This set the stage either for Congress to repeal the law or for the courts to overturn it. In June of 2012, the Southern District Court in New York ruled Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional, pointing to the Fifth Amendment, and ordered for the federal government to give Windsor a tax refund. The Justice Department appealed a few days later, sending the case back to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court's ruling in October. The DOJ appealed again, and on December 11, the Supreme Court granted certiorari, paving the way for Wednesday's hearing.

RELATED: Jon Stewart on Conservatives' Big Gay Marriage Trap

All this stirred the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), a Republican-led group of congressmen and women who want to uphold the law in its current form, into action. The group disagreed with Obama administration which argued that sexual orientation was subject to heightened scrutiny, because gays and lesbians were discriminated against. BLAG later said that gays and lesbians are "one of the most influential, best-connected, and best-organized groups in modern politics, and have attained more legislative victories, political power, and popular favor in less time than virtually any other group in American history." BLAG has filed briefs along the way and argued that Congress doesn't infringe upon states' rights, as other's have claimed. While they're not technically defending DOMA in court, they've filed an amicus brief ahead of Wednesday's arguments and have played a major role in the case so far.

RELATED: Federal Court: DOMA Violates Married Same-Sex Couples' Rights

The Issues?

As many have pointed out, the challenges against DOMA have as much to do with how the country makes laws as they do with gay rights. The tricky thing is that the federal government actually agrees with the plaintiff that the law is unconstitutional, so the Supreme Court's first order of business will be to figure out if it even has the jurisdiction to hear the case. It's also unclear exactly what role, if any, BLAG should play in the case. As a result of the weird web of connections between the three parties, the Court appointed Harvard Law Professor Vicki Jackson as a friend of the Court to argue these two points. If everything checks out, the Court will proceed.

RELATED: The Annotated Transcript of the Prop 8 Oral Arguments, with For and Against

This is when things get really fun. The crux of the case rests on whether the federal government overstepped its authority when passing DOMA, but the more fundamental arguments regarding gay rights will play a key role. Windor's lawyers, like the Obama administration, maintain that the law violates the Constitution's equal protection clause.?"The law denies to tens of thousands of same-sex couples who are legally married under state law an array of important federal benefits that are available to legally married opposite-sex couples," writes Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli. These benefits include not only?tax breaks like Windsor missed out on but also immigration and medical benefits.

The other side of the argument represents a mix of tradition and uncertainty. Lawyers for BLAG, however, argue that the law is necessary to encourage responsible procreation ? in other words, to encourage couples to get married before having kids. Windsor's lawyers say that's "irrational, fantastical thinking." However, based on Tuesday's arguments in the case that will determine whether California's voters were within their power when they overturned a state Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriage, the justices themselves are split. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who many legal experts think?holds the deciding vote in the Prop. 8 case, wondered aloud Tuesday about the country having "five years of information to weigh against 2,000 years of history or more" in order to determine the impact of gay marriage on society. But some Court watchers insist that Tuesday's tepidness could have just been the justices teeing up to to strike down DOMA, which President Bill Clinton signed into law more than 16 years ago.

The Comparison

Many people are appropriately wondering how the Court is going to reconcile the DOMA case with the Prop. 8 case. It's not going to be easy. The New York Times's Adam Liptak?suggests that the justices in Tuesday's questioning may have left itself "with an all-or-nothing choice on the merits" of Prop. 8, hinting at a ruling that would be much broader and apply to the whole country. (Rulings on both cases are expected at the end of the Court's term in June.) Then again, as Justice Kennedy's statements suggest, there's been a fair amount of hesitation over whether or not now is the right time to make the final call on gay marriage. It's possible that they could go after a very narrow in one or both cases. Consensus seems to suggest that they might just strike down DOMA and wait for the Prop. 8 issue.

And striking down DOMA?would immediately trigger benefits in the ten states that currently have legalized same-sex unions: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. If the justices uphold it, well, nothing changes. Or Edith Windsor could just get her money back in Option No. 3, if the Court deems itself "powerless to decide."

So the bad news is that the fight for gay marriage still faces a pretty uncertain future ? at least until June, and maybe in two pieces when that decision day finally rolls along. The good news is that the wait won't be much longer. So hunker down, bookmark the?SCOTUS blog?for a little after 10 a.m. Eastern,?follow these people on Twitter coming out of the courtroom, and enjoy the show. We'll be right here to make sense of it all for you.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/users-guide-day-2-gay-marriage-supreme-court-051548776.html

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NJ boy, 4, found with dead mom was living on sugar

UNION, N.J. (AP) ? A naked, malnourished 4-year-old boy found inside an apartment with the body of his mother, dead for days, had resorted to eating from a bag of sugar and weighed only 26 pounds, well below normal, police said Wednesday as adoption offers poured in from around the world.

The boy's first request after being examined, police said, was a grilled cheese sandwich and a juice.

His mother, identified Wednesday as Kiana Workman, 38, of New York City's Brooklyn borough, was discovered dead Tuesday on the floor of her bedroom after maintenance workers at the apartment complex in northern New Jersey reported a foul odor. Because the chain lock was on, police said, the toddler couldn't get out.

Officer Joseph Sauer said the boy was naked but coherent and not crying when he kicked in the door and his partner lifted the youngster up by the arms and pulled him out of the overheated apartment.

"The only way to describe the little boy was it was like a scene from World War II, from a concentration camp, he was that skinny. I mean, you could see all his bones," Sauer told The Associated Press.

The apartment in this city 15 miles west of New York belongs to Workman's mother, who is recuperating from surgery at a nursing center, said police, who could not track down any other relatives.

The boy, now in state custody, remained in a hospital where he was being treated for malnourishment and dehydration, police said.

"Physically, he's fine. Whether there are any mental problems later on ... I'm not a child expert," Police Director Daniel Zieser said.

The boy was not strong enough to open the refrigerator and was unable to open a can of soup. Police said he told them he had been eating from a bag of sugar.

The boy could not say how long his mother had been dead.

Police said he put lotion on his mother, leaving behind handprints, in an attempt to help her.

Officer Sylvia Dimenna, who traveled in the ambulance with the boy and stayed with him at the hospital, said he was very bright and articulate but tired.

"He said he missed his mommy," she said.

Police initially estimated she had been dead five days before the discovery was made, but Zieser said Wednesday it may have been two to three. Nobody had talked to her for about a week.

The boy weighed 26 pounds, but at the age of 4? should have weighed 40 pounds or more, Zieser said.

"It's possible he was improperly cared for before the mother's death; we just don't know yet," Zieser said.

Autopsy results that would help them better determine the time of death were pending. Police said they did not suspect foul play.

Police said they were getting calls from around the world from people offering to adopt the child or donate money or toys.

"It's overwhelming," Zieser said.

"I just hope everything works out for the child," the police director said. "We're just going to take it one step at a time and do the best that we can for the child."

Police said they were trying to find someone in the family capable of taking care of the boy, including a brother of Workman believed to live out West. But he said it would be up to the state's child welfare agency to determine where the child is placed.

Zieser described the apartment complex as a well-maintained property with few problems.

But he said everyone there "basically stays to themselves."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nj-boy-4-found-dead-mom-living-sugar-212828288.html

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Delinquent Balances on Home Equity Lines Drop 28 Percent ...

According to Equifax's latest National Consumer Credit Trends Report, severe derogatory or charged-off balances, the bulk of student loan write-offs, for the first two months of the year hit $3 billion, an increase of more than 36 percent from same time a year ago ($1.9 billion) while balances in bankruptcy remained level at $0.5 billion.?In the home finance department, severely delinquent balances on home equity lines of credit declined 28 percent from February 2012 to February 2013, from $14 billion to less than $10 billion.?Severely delinquent balances on closed-end home equity loans declined 25 percent from February 2012 to February 2013, from $6.6 billion to $5 billion.?In that same time, severely delinquent balances on first mortgages declined 23 percent, from $490 billion to $375 billion. Sixty-five?percent of total severely delinquent balances on first mortgages are tied to loans opened from 2005-2007.?Similarly, 73 percent of delinquent balances on home equity lines of credit were opened in that same time period.

"Driven heavily by economic factors, including unemployed or under-employed consumers going back to school along with the rising cost of tuition, student lending has demonstrated consistent, year-over-year growth," said Equifax Chief Economist Amy Crews Cutts. "Continued weakness in labor markets is limiting work options once people graduate or quit their programs, leading to a steady rise in delinquencies and loan write-offs. Many policy options are being discussed regarding how to reduce some of the burden, including graduated payments that reflect the lower starting salaries of new graduates, and improve the performance of these loans."

Other changes in student loan characteristics from February 2012 to February 2013:

?Balances outstanding on student loans increased more than 14 percent, from $746.3 billion to $852.7 billion.

?The number of student loans outstanding increased nearly 13 percent, from 108 million to more than 123 million.

"Student loans are unique today in that they are the only major form of credit that is not rigorously underwritten on either a past credit-performance basis (such as using credit scores) or ability to pay based in income," said Crews Cutts.

?

Source: http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news35818/student-loans-highlighted-recent-equifax-report

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Video: HBT Extra: Not just the East's beasts

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

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51354436#51354436

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Stumbles of S. Korean leader distract month into job

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korean President Park Geun-hye's honeymoon was over before it even began.

Only a month on the job, Park has stumbled repeatedly in the face of bitter opposition to policy proposals and her choices for top government posts.

Half a dozen Cabinet appointees have quit under clouds. The latest is Han Man-soo, who withdrew his nomination for antitrust chief Monday amid allegations he stashed millions of dollars overseas to avoid taxes. Other claims that have brought down Park appointees include real estate speculation, a sex-for-influence scandal, bribery and links to an arms broker.

"A couple of flops would've been acceptable, but having a total of six failures in the first few months means that the problem lies with her style," said Lee Cheol-hee, head of the Dumon Political Strategy Institute think tank. "She seems to think she can just hand down a list of people she prefers, without thinking hard about whether those people's credentials and ethical records fit the jobs they will be handling."

Critics also complain that she's still short on specifics about how to deal with pressing issues including an increasingly belligerent North Korea and serious domestic anxiety about fewer stable jobs, heavy household debt and a wide income gap. Compounding her trouble was a long deadlock that ended just last week over her ambitious proposal to overhaul government structure.

"Because the launch of the new government has been delayed by one month, we should work harder to fulfill our vision," Park said Monday.

Presidential spokeswoman Lee Mi-yeon defended Park's candidates as fresh and different choices, highlighting nominee Jeong H. Kim, a Korean American who was the former head of Bell Labs in the United States, for head of a new science and technology ministry.

Kim resigned earlier this month, citing political wrangling over the responsibilities of the science and technology ministry. Opponents questioned Kim's links to the Central Intelligence Agency as an external advisory board member for four years until 2011.

"The president has chosen people based on their expertise and competence, and she has acquainted herself with them through various activities," Park's spokeswoman said. Lee said the failed appointments have to do with each nominee's credentials rather than with Park's style. Lee also said many key appointments have now been made and the government believes it has turned a corner.

The troubles of the country's first female president have a lot to do with the fiercely divided political and social landscape in this still relatively young and rambunctious democracy. She also carries the heavy historical baggage of being the daughter of a dictator whose legacy still divides South Koreans.

The 61-year-old president, who was elected in December and inaugurated Feb. 25, has long faced claims of being aloof and an "imperial" decision-maker. The genesis of this criticism comes from her upbringing.

She is the eldest child of late President Park Chung-hee, who led South Korea for 18 years in the 1960s and '70s and is both denounced for human rights abuses and praised as a strong leader. She grew up in the Blue House and served as her father's first lady for the last five years of his rule, after her mother was killed in 1974 by an assassin who said he was sent by North Korea.

"When her father ruled, no one questioned the president's picks," Lee, the analyst, said. "But things have changed since. ... It's like Park is driving a car with a navigator system that has only decades-old maps."

Even Park's own ruling Saenuri Party has been critical. A spokesman called for a better system of screening appointees, and said whoever vetted the failed candidates should be held responsible.

Park spent much of her first month in office negotiating with opposition lawmakers over an ambitious government reorganization plan that aims to focus on science and economic growth. An agreement was reached only last week, more than 50 days after Park's party floated the proposal.

Her economic team met for the first time since her inauguration only on Monday, and critics said there was little other than promises of major policy goals and specific plans in coming days and weeks. Her economic policies include buzzwords like "economic democratization" and "creative economy."

"These are slogans more rhetorical than real, and few seem to know exactly what they mean, let alone how to realize them," the Korea Times said in an editorial Wednesday.

Park has made some progress, including an announcement this week of the start of a $1.35 billion fund to provide debt relief for more than half a million people unable to repay loans. The fund, however, is less than one-tenth the size of the one she promised during her campaign.

Despite North Korean threats that have followed new U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, Park has pressed forward with a vow to create trust and renew dialogue after five years of tension and animosity under her hard-line predecessor. She approved a shipment of anti-tuberculosis medicine to North Korea last week.

Things, however, may get worse if political gridlock and bickering continues.

Park faces an opposition with a strengthened veto power, and the possibility of organized resistance to her foreign policy initiatives by prominent liberal groups, Park Ihn-hwi, a professor at Ewha Womans University in South Korea, wrote on the Council on Foreign Relations' website.

Some also see growing cynicism with Park among young South Koreans, many of whom voted for her liberal opponent.

"If a political issue emerges to turn apathy into opposition, there is a real possibility that street demonstrations similar to those that occurred in the early days of the Lee Myung-bak administration could further hamper Park's ability to get things done," Scott Snyder, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a blog posting Wednesday.

Lee, Park's conservative predecessor, saw tens of thousands take to the streets in 2008 to protest what opponents called a hasty government decision to allow U.S. beef imports to resume.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stumbles-skorean-leader-distract-month-job-015503480.html

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T-Mobile says its iPhone 5 has HSPA+ on AWS bands, HD Voice

We all know the iPhone is at last reaching T-Mobile -- but what you might not know is that it won't just be a one-for-one port of the existing hardware. Carrier CEO John Legere just stated that the T-Mobile iPhone 5 will support HSPA+ on AWS bands (1,700MHz and 2,100MHz) in addition to ready-made LTE support. If you wander outside of an LTE coverage area, you'll still have up to 42Mbps data on Magenta's network. There's more: it'll also support the same HD Voice calling that went nationwide in January.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple, T-Mobile

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/t-mobile-says-its-iphone-5-has-hspa-on-aws-bands/

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Study: Health overhaul to raise claims cost 32 pct

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Map shows projected change in medical claim costs by

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims on individual health policies under President Barack Obama's overhaul, the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts has estimated.

That's likely to increase premiums for at least some Americans buying individual plans.

The report by the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act.

While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report concluded the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase coverage directly from insurers.

The disparities are striking. By 2017, the estimated increase would be 62 percent for California, about 80 percent for Ohio, more than 20 percent for Florida and 67 percent for Maryland. Much of the reason for the higher claims costs is that sicker people are expected to join the pool, the report said.

The report did not make similar estimates for employer plans, the mainstay for workers and their families. That's because the primary impact of Obama's law is on people who don't have coverage through their jobs.

The administration questions the design of the study, saying it focused only on one piece of the puzzle and ignored cost relief strategies in the law such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick. The study also doesn't take into account the potential price-cutting effect of competition in new state insurance markets that will go live on Oct. 1, administration officials said.

At a White House briefing on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said some of what passes for health insurance today is so skimpy it can't be compared to the comprehensive coverage available under the law. "Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don't pay for anything unless you get hit by a bus," she said. "They're really mortgage protection, not health insurance."

A prominent national expert, recently retired Medicare chief actuary Rick Foster, said the report does "a credible job" of estimating potential enrollment and costs under the law, "without trying to tilt the answers in any particular direction."

"Having said that," Foster added, "actuaries tend to be financially conservative, so the various assumptions might be more inclined to consider what might go wrong than to anticipate that everything will work beautifully." Actuaries use statistics and economic theory to make long-range cost projections for insurance and pension programs sponsored by businesses and government. The society is headquartered near Chicago.

Kristi Bohn, an actuary who worked on the study, acknowledged it did not attempt to estimate the effect of subsidies, insurer competition and other factors that could mitigate cost increases. She said the goal was to look at the underlying cost of medical care.

"Claims cost is the most important driver of health care premiums," she said.

"We don't see ourselves as a political organization," Bohn added. "We are trying to figure out what the situation at hand is."

On the plus side, the report found the law will cover more than 32 million currently uninsured Americans when fully phased in. And some states ? including New York and Massachusetts ? will see double-digit declines in costs for claims in the individual market.

Uncertainty over costs has been a major issue since the law passed three years ago, and remains so just months before a big push to cover the uninsured gets rolling Oct. 1. Middle-class households will be able to purchase subsidized private insurance in new marketplaces, while low-income people will be steered to Medicaid and other safety net programs. States are free to accept or reject a Medicaid expansion also offered under the law.

Obama has promised that the new law will bring costs down. That seems a stretch now. While the nation has been enjoying a lull in health care inflation the past few years, even some former administration advisers say a new round of cost-curbing legislation will be needed.

Bohn said the study overall presents a mixed picture.

Millions of now-uninsured people will be covered as the market for directly purchased insurance more than doubles with the help of government subsidies. The study found that market will grow to more than 25 million people. But costs will rise because spending on sicker people and other high-cost groups will overwhelm an influx of younger, healthier people into the program.

Some of the higher-cost cases will come from existing state high-risk insurance pools. Those people will now be able to get coverage in the individual insurance market, since insurance companies will no longer be able to turn them down. Other people will end up buying their own plans because their employers cancel coverage. While some of these individuals might save money for themselves, they will end up raising costs for others.

Part the reason for the wide disparities in the study is that states have different populations and insurance rules. In the relatively small number of states where insurers were already restricted from charging higher rates to older, sicker people, the cost impact is less.

"States are starting from different starting points, and they are all getting closer to one another," said Bohn.

The study also did not model the likely patchwork results from some states accepting the law's Medicaid expansion while others reject it. It presented estimates for two hypothetical scenarios in which all states either accept or reject the expansion.

Larry Levitt, an insurance expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, reviewed the report and said the actuaries need to answer more questions.

"I'd generally characterize it as providing useful background information, but I don't think it's complete enough to be treated as a projection," Levitt said. The conclusion that employers with sicker workers would drop coverage is "speculative," he said.

Another caveat: The Society of Actuaries contracted Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, to do the number-crunching that drives the report. United also owns the nation's largest health insurance company. Bohn said the study reflects the professional conclusions of the society, not Optum or its parent company.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Online:

Society of Actuaries __ http://www.soa.org/NewlyInsured/

Associated Press

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