Monday, June 24, 2013

How has Social Media Changed Company Policies? | SocialSpark

The Internet has, without a doubt, changed numerous aspects of modern life. We shop online, we date online and we communicate with friends online. What?s more, it has transformed modern businesses, enabling employees to work more effectively.

However, the Internet also gives workers more opportunities to procrastinate. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are just three of the many social networks that could distract employees from completing tasks, by chatting with friends on Facebook, following the latest news on Twitter or even looking for a new job on LinkedIn.

As a result, companies all around the world have been forced to either adapt or create policies that guide employees in how to go about their daily business. While some companies are as strict as possible and insist that employees do not log on to any social networking sites during working hours, others allow employees to visit these sites on their lunch break or in between tasks.

Social Media Company Benefits

Some companies even recognize that social networking sites, particularly Twitter and LinkedIn, can provide company benefits. With Twitter often breaking news, employees can follow industry-specific developments, as well as industry thought leaders that offer great recommendations, advice and innovative insight.

LinkedIn can also be beneficial because the site?s industry discussion groups often provide intellectual stimulation and new ideas that employees can integrate into their own work. Also, for companies with profiles, LinkedIn can provide alternatives to formal training programs. For example, online seminars provide a creative and interactive learning environment that can help employees continue their training ? all from their office desk. In the current financial environment, this is an attractive alternative to costly and timely formal training programs and conventions.

However, while saving on training expenses is one of the business perks of LinkedIn, many businesses are cautious of the fact that, through following rival companies on LinkedIn, staff could become aware of employment opportunities at these companies. Not only could employees read a full job description, but it is possible that they could go as far as submitting an application, using their LinkedIn profile to build their application form in a matter of minutes.

It?s a Fine Line

Clearly, companies around the world need to be wary about how they control employee Internet usage. Too strict, and they could risk pushing strong workers away and losing them to rival organizations. Not strict enough and they could find some employees taking advantage of company policy ? completing only the minimum amount of work required and spending large amounts of their working days online, talking to friends and eating up valuable company time.

About the Author: Sebastian is a Learning and Development Consultant at the leading project management training consulting company, Thales Training & Consultancy. With a background as a corporate presenter and trainer, Sebastian specializes in behavioral change and emotional intelligence. He is also a qualified MSCEIT practitioner.

Tags: Sebastian Bos, Thales Training & Consultancy

Source: http://socialspark.com/how-has-social-media-changed-company-policies/

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Apple releases iOS 7 beta for iPad and iPad mini

Apple releases iOS 7 beta for iPad

The just-released iOS 7 beta 2 has now hit Apple's developer portal and the big news is -- an iPad version is now available for download alongside the iPhone and iPod touch version. Two weeks ago, at WWDC 2013, Apple released iOS 7 beta 1 but restricted it to iPhone and iPod touch only, saying an iOS 7 beta for iPad would coming in the following weeks.

Looks like those weeks have followed. If you're an iPad developer and you've been waiting on it, go get it at developer.apple.com.

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/CdSjPdP-oSs/story01.htm

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Religious advice should not involve political interest ... - Minivan News

Religious advice should not involve political interest, says Nasheed thumbnail

The Maldivian public are often misinformed of authentic Hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) because some local scholars offer religious advice with the intention of serving their political interests, former President Mohamed Nasheed said last night (June 23).

Speaking at a ceremony at the Male? City Hall to launch a second volume of Dhivehi translation and interpretations of Sahih Muslim?s Hadiths by former State Minister for Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed, Nasheed said genuine religious advice should not involve personal interest or a political ?agenda.?

While a politician might present statistics in a way that would favour his party, ?religious advice should not be given in a way that would benefit a political ideology.?

One of the biggest problems facing the country today was the ?mixing up? of politicians and religious scholars, Nasheed added.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate said Sheikh Hussain Rasheed?s book should be made widely available for the public so that Maldivians could distinguish between inauthentic and authentic Hadiths.

The Hadiths were compiled by Imam Bukhari and Muslim during the Abbasid caliphate, Nasheed observed, which was a ?golden age? for Islam and the pursuit of knowledge.

?It is said that there were 700 libraries in Baghdad during that period,? he said.

Sheikh Rasheed?s second volume of Hadith translations are available for MVR 250 (US$16).

The former Adhaalath Party President?explained at last night?s ceremony that the complete translations of the 5,263 sayings would be published in a planned 12 volumes.

Parts two and three of Sheikh Rasheed?s books on prayer instructions were also released last night by former Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari and Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid.?


Source: http://minivannews.com/society/religious-advice-should-not-involve-political-interest-says-nasheed-60131

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Russian rights group evicted from Moscow office

By Steve Gutterman

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Authorities forcibly evicted a prominent Russian human rights organization from its office in the early hours of Saturday in a raid its director said he believed was ordered by officials in President Vladimir Putin's administration.

For Human Rights is one of the best-known of the hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which have been subjected to state inspections under a law Putin signed last year requiring NGOs with foreign funding to register as "foreign agents".

Western powers and rights groups view the legislation and inspections as aimed at intimidating activists and silencing criticism of Putin, who started a new six-year term in May 2012.

Putin, who has accused Western governments of using NGOs to spy on Russia and influence the political situation, says the law is needed to ensure transparency and that the checks are to enforce legal compliance.

The U.S. ambassador Michael McFaul tweeted on Saturday that "the USA is concerned about reports of the forcible seizure of the office of the NGO For Human Rights," adding that this was "another case of intimidating civil society".

Riot police and Moscow mayor's office representatives entered the building housing the office of For Human Rights at about 2 a.m. (2200 GMT Friday), ejecting at least six employees and supporters, said the group's director, Lev Ponomaryov.

"They treated us very roughly. I was dragged across the floor and then kicked," the 72-year-old said by telephone. He said he and five others were taken by ambulance to a first-aid clinic with bruises and scrapes, but none were in hospital.

A Moscow government property official, Maxim Gaman, told state-run news agency RIA on Friday that For Human Rights was being evicted because its lease on the city-owned premises had run out in February and had been terminated on May 27.

A police spokesman said officers had been sent to help city officials evict the group because its lease had run out.

About a dozen people gathered to protest outside the building on Saturday, undisturbed by the police.

FOREIGN AGENT LAW

Ponomaryov said the group had not received an eviction notice. He said the eviction may have been motivated by the group's refusal to give prosecutors documents they had demanded under the foreign agent law.

"I don't know if Putin is behind it but there must have been a decision at a very high level, in the Kremlin," he said. He also blamed Kremlin-appointed mayor Sergei Sobyanin for the eviction.

The presidential press service declined to comment, and Sobyanin's office could not immediately be reached.

The Moscow division of Russia's Interior Ministry on Saturday defended the actions of the police, saying the removal of the employees had been carried out by a private security firm, with police officers only involved in maintaining order outside the building.

Ponomaryov said he had expected to extend the lease as he had done in previous years, and that he was up to date on rent payments. "It's all entirely illegal," he said, adding that a court decision was required to carry out an eviction.

Russia's human rights ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, said city and law enforcement authorities had "tried to resolve a dispute between two parties unilaterally without involving the courts".

He said he had been barred from the scene of he raid in what he called a "crude violation of federal constitutional law", Interfax news agency reported.

Interfax also reported that a special meeting of the Kremlin's Human Rights Council would be held on Wednesday to discuss the incident, with Mayor Sobyanin and the heads of the Moscow police and prosecutors invited to attend.

(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Jason Bush and Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-rights-group-evicted-moscow-office-094115267.html

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Surgeon Uses Google Glass and iPad To Capture Live Procedure and Stream It

I'm torn on that one.

On the one hand, good. Patients deserve to KNOW if their doctor fucked something up. Every now and then you hear horror stories about sponges, clamps, and god knows what else being left inside a patient, or a doctor that removes the wrong body part. Video playback could also help in a malpractice defense in which the patient claimed the doctor was distracted, intoxicated, or made a critical error.

On the other hand, knowing that there's a camera and live feed watching your every move isn't something I'd want to deal with while I was elbow deep in someone's gizzard.

The act of observing something changes the behavior of the people being observed. I'm not sold on this, save in particular training circumstances.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/aSRw5s2OZgg/story01.htm

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Analysis: Oracle's sales miss magnifies fears about cloud missteps

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON (Reuters) - "What the hell is cloud computing?" Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison said during a diatribe against the whole concept at an investor Q&A in 2008.

Asked to describe his strategy for expanding into a then-small but rapidly expanding sphere, the software giant's head said he had no idea what people were talking about when they referred to cloud computing, describing it as "nonsensical" and those writing about it as "insane".

Five years after Ellison's rant went viral on YouTube, the billionaire is struggling to fit his ageing IT giant into a newly cloud-centric world - a hard scramble spotlighted by what analysts said was Oracle's first fourth-quarter miss on new software sales in a decade.

Its rivals have grown, winning business from corporate and government customers seeking cloud-based software that is cheaper and faster-to-deploy than traditional offerings housed in massive inhouse datacenters.

Oracle is now striving to catch up with its own line of cloud software, built up partly through acquisitions. Ellison has forged alliances with long-time bitter rivals Microsoft Corp and Salesforce.com Inc to drum up new business. On Thursday, Ellison said he will announce those partnerships next week, but provided few details.

Oracle stuck for years to building high-end multi-million dollar "engineered systems" that bundle hardware and software in one package. It started selling them with Hewlett-Packard Co in 2008 and then partnered with ailing computer maker Sun Microsystems, which it agreed to buy in 2009.

Oracle says the engineered systems strategy has been a big success, helping woo business from rivals IBM and SAP

"They spent the last four years focusing on engineered systems when the bigger industry trend was the cloud," JMP Securities analyst Pat Walravens said. "They now have a structural problem."

Oracle's shares plummeted 9.3 percent on Friday, their biggest one-day drop since releasing another weak set of results in March.

Investors took the disappointing results hard because it was the first time in more than a decade that Oracle missed software sales estimates in its traditionally strongest fiscal fourth-quarter, according to analysts. That's when sales representatives hustle to close deals to qualify for year-end bonuses.

And it was the third miss in the past seven quarters for Oracle, Walravens said.

Cloud companies such as Salesforce price their products below the levels at which Oracle can make a decent return, analysts say. Some rivals even sell their products at a loss. Salesforce, for example, posted a net loss of $270 million last year.

Less quantifiably, industry executives have said that emergent business software providers such as Workday started from scratch by focusing on ease of use and simpler interfaces, while old-school IT giants like Oracle have been hampered by legacy systems and software products that they were slow to re-tool.

"This is causing a real disruption in Oracle's business," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer with Solaris Group, which manages about $1.5 billion. "It is going to pressure their business for a while."

SAILING ALONG?

Ellison, a renowned sailing enthusiast who is now devoting time and energy to his company's entry in this summer's Americas Cup, built Oracle from a scrappy operation building a database for the Central Intelligence Agency into one of Silicon Valley's foremost corporate icons.

In past months, he has championed Oracle's resurgent foray into cloud software, at his annual Oracle OpenWorld conference for clients and developers, even while continuing to buy up assets in Hawaii, such as commuter airline Island Air. He bought almost all of the island of Lanai last year.

He and Oracle executives dispute the view that the company is failing in the cloud. They blamed their quarterly miss on the economy, particularly in Asia and Latin America, during a conference call on Thursday.

In the previous quarter, executives blamed disappointing software revenue on poor execution by its salesforce.

"Our success in the cloud is significant and undeniable," Oracle President Mark Hurd said on a Thursday conference call with analysts. He said Oracle had added 500 new customers during the quarter including eBay Inc , Intuit Inc and Yahoo Inc .

Fred Hickey, editor of The High-Tech Strategist, a newsletter widely read by investors, said he does believe a bad economy was behind Oracle's rough quarter, pointing to problems in Brazil, China, India and Mexico and similar comments from other old-guard tech giants including EMC Corp , IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co .

Even up-and-coming cloud software provider Workday had mentioned "economic pressures" in its earnings conference call.

Other analysts said Oracle's installed user base - forged over decades in the business on a reputation of reliability - will be hard to displace in the short term.

"Does Oracle have pressure from the cloud over time? Yes," said Hickey. "Is it imminent? No. They are too big and entrenched."

Cowen & Co analyst Peter Goldmacher, who describes 68-year-old Ellison as "the most brilliant enterprise software person ever," also said that Oracle's problems are structural. He believes there is little Ellison could have done to avoid the slowdown the company is now seeing.

Ellison has grown profits at a healthy clip over the past decade by acquiring other makers of software that customers run in their own data centers, selling customers software up front and then cajoling them into buying long-term maintenance contracts that are highly profitable for Oracle.

That business model does not work with cloud computing because companies like WorkDay and Salesforce do not charge extra for maintenance. The cost of the software and support is combined into a single subscription fee, which generates far lower margins than the products Oracle has traditionally sold.

"The inevitable is the inevitable," Goldmacher said. "You can get as many tummy tucks and face lifts as you as want, but it doesn't make your heart and liver and kidneys any younger."

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Edwin Chan, Patricia Kranz, Martin Howell and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-oracles-sales-miss-magnifies-fears-cloud-missteps-120605766.html

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

These Are the Ten TV Shows That Pirates Like the Most

These Are the Ten TV Shows That Pirates Like the Most

With the spring TV season drawing to a close (MAD MEN SEASON FINALE TOMORROW YOU GUYS!!), TorrentFreak has done the wonderful service of rounding up a top 10 list of the most torrented shows out there this time around. Can you guess number one? (You can definitely guess number one.)

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/yRWCg89Pisg/these-are-the-ten-tv-shows-that-pirates-like-the-most-543716912

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LeBron leads Heat to second straight title

MIAMI (AP) ? LeBron James and the Miami Heat remain atop the NBA, and not even a proud push from the San Antonio Spurs could knock them down.

James led the Heat to their second straight NBA title, scoring 37 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a 95-88 victory Thursday night in a tense Game 7 of the NBA Finals that lived up to its billing.

Winning the title they needed to validate the best season in franchise history ? and perhaps the three-superstar system they used to build it ? the Heat won the second straight thriller in the NBA's first championship series to go the distance since 2010.

James continued his unparalled run through the basketball world, with two titles and an Olympic gold medal in the last 12 months.

He made five 3-pointers, defended Tony Parker when he had to, and did everything else that could ever be expected from the best player in the game.

The Heat became the NBA's first repeat champions since the Lakers in 2009-10, and the first team to beat the Spurs in the NBA Finals.

Players and coaches hugged each other after the game, the respect between the franchises that was obvious when the series started becoming even more apparent after two straight classics.

Fans stood, clapped and danced across the final minutes, when every score was answered by another score, each stop followed by a better stop. The Heat pushed their lead to six points a few times midway through the fourth but the Spurs would never be deterred.

The Spurs, so close to a fifth title just two nights earlier, couldn't find a way to grab it in this one, perhaps the last shot Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili will ever get together.

They were trying to become the first road team to win a Game 7 on the road since Washington beat Seattle in 1978, but those old guys ran out of gas just before the finish.

Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, but missed a shot and follow attempt right under the basket with about 50 seconds left and the Spurs trailing by two.

James followed with a jumper ? the shot the Spurs were daring him to take earlier in the series ? to make it 92-88, sending San Antonio to a team a timeout as Glenn Frey's "The Heat is on" blared over the arena's sound system.

He then came up with a steal and made two free throws for a six-point lead, and after Ginobili missed, James stalked toward the sideline, knowing it was over and he was the last one standing again.

Dwyane Wade had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who overcame a scoreless Chris Bosh by getting six 3-pointers and 18 points from Shane Battier.

Streamers fell from the arena ceiling onto the white-clad fans for the second year in a row, but this one meant so much more after how close the Heat were to losing it.

They were down 10 in the fourth quarter of Game 6 before James led the charge back, finishing with a triple-double in Miami's 103-100 overtime victory. This one was nearly as tight, neither team leading by more than seven and the game tied 11 times.

Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Spurs, who had been 4 for 4 in the championship round. Manu Ginobili had 18 points but Parker managed just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

The Heat collected the Larry O'Brien again from Commissioner David Stern, presiding over his final NBA Finals before retiring next February.

James avenged his first finals loss, when his Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs on 2007. That helped send James on his way to South Florida, realizing it would take more help to win titles that could never come alone.

He said he would appreciate this one more because of how tough it was. The Heat overpowered Oklahoma City in five games last year, a team of 20-something kids who weren't ready to be champions yet.

This came against a respected group of Spurs whose trio has combined for more than 100 playoff victories together.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lebron-leads-heat-second-straight-title-035241582.html

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Danielle Bradbery: Signed to Taylor Swift's Record Label!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/danielle-bradbery-signed-to-taylor-swifts-record-label/

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Friday, June 21, 2013

Iranian expectations soar after Rohani's election

As Iranians erupted in celebration over the victory of Hassan Rohani, they knew what they wanted from their president-elect: more social freedoms, a better economy, and less ?resistance? to the rest of the world.

The centrist cleric has promised them as much. But Iranian politics are an unruly tangle in which moderate agendas have often been wrecked by hard-line factions. Will Mr. Rohani be able to bring change without upending the Islamic Republic? Has this regime insider ? who declared in 1999 that student protesters ?would be punished as corrupt on earth who waged war on God? ? learned lessons from those chaotic days and those of the 2009 Green Movement protests? And will he have the mettle to achieve the promised transformation?

?It will be challenging for Rohani to make changes. People need to be more patient; they cannot expect to see immediate results,? says Azadeh, an engineer and mother in central Tehran who asked that only her first name be used. ?It?s not just up to the president. But because he is a strong personality and has a lot of support from influential politicians, he can succeed.?

Rohani was able to defeat the five conservative candidates in a surprise first-round win because of endorsements from two reformist former presidents: Mohammad Khatami, who won landslide victories in 1997 and 2001 on promises of change, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Their support ? and their apparent faith in an electoral process that many Iranians had given up on after the fraud-tainted 2009 vote ? swept Rohani to what he called a ?victory of wisdom and moderation? over extremism, although he remains close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

?People want more freedom and civil rights and economic prosperity,? says a bearded musician in Tehran who plays classical Persian music. ?I think that even with the factions within the establishment, Rohani will be able to fulfill his promises because the [ruling system?s] goal right now is to calm society.?

MIXED RECORD

Even though Rohani took an uncompromising line against pro-democracy protesters in 1999, his own children are believed to have links to the opposition Green Movement activities, as do the offspring of many senior officials.

Rohani never spoke out about the protest and crackdown in 2009, but he says he will work to release Green Movement leaders and former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi from house arrest.

?In the suppression of the Green Movement, Rohani did not stand up for protesters,? notes Azadeh. ?Maybe it was his tactic to save face to become a presidential candidate. But let?s see what he does in the future.?

Those events were a learning experience for Rohani and to a degree Mr. Khamenei, reflected in his call just days before the election for those ?who don?t want to back Islamic system? to vote anyway, for the nation.

Rohani has promised a ?civil rights charter? and has spoken frequently about broader political and social rights and less government interference in people?s lives. The conservative establishment has lined up to praise his victory, and police have clearly been ordered not to prevent street celebrations.

?These are signs of wisdom, that they have learned from the previous mistakes,? says an Iranian analyst in Tehran. ?There is this strange capability of the Islamic regime for survival. Under tremendous pressures they get very close to the precipice, and something happens and they turn back ... to avoid very, very big disasters.?

?I don?t think Hassan Rohani is faking it,? says the analyst. ?The question is, will he make it? Will he be allowed ? or will he be able ? to have room enough to do that??

BALANCING ACT

The answer may depend on how Rohani balances competing pressures. He knows many Revolutionary Guard commanders from his role managing the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, but he is also close to figures like Mr. Rafsanjani, who were pilloried by hard-liners for fomenting the 2009 ?sedition? that shook the regime to the core.

?There has always been some apprehension about [Rohani] in the security and intelligence establishment, about his hard-line credentials being insufficient on national security,? says an Iranian political scientist in Washington. ?So he?s going to have some problems with those guys, no matter what.?

His tough approach to the 1999 student uprising came amid fear of ?chaos and a real collapse of the system,? says the academic. ?That position does not necessarily repudiate the overall moderate orientation [today]. The time was different, and of course [Rohani] has grown and changed.?

As for chances of a resurgence of the vigilante groups that were active during the Khatami era, and deployed in the 2009 crackdown?

?There is a growing sense among even hardcore conservatives that those tactics are no longer paying off or could be deployed,? says the political scientist. ?I?m not ruling out the possibility of those vigilantes regrouping and starting again; that depends very much on how Rohani reacts and how Rohani plays the game.?

The Monitor correspondent and sources have been left unnamed for security reasons.

Related stories

Read this story at csmonitor.com

Become a part of the Monitor community

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iranian-expectations-soar-rohanis-election-144530559.html

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Ukraine's finance ministry denies "drunk" claims against minister

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's finance ministry denied on Thursday allegations by opposition politicians that a deputy finance minister had been drunk when he spoke to parliament on the budget this week.

Anatoly Myarkovsky, first deputy finance minister, had been suffering from high blood pressure, it said in a statement.

A parliamentary hearing was suspended on Tuesday after opposition deputies denounced Myarkovsky as drunk after he had presented a report on the 2012 budget.

"All the accusations are unjustified and unfounded," it said, adding that doctors had diagnosed him with "arterial hypertension" and he had been treated in hospital.

On Tuesday, Myarkovsky spoke for 10 minutes on the government's budget performance before opposition deputies assailed him with accusations of being inebriated.

Ukraine's parliament, where the Regions party holds a small majority against a boisterous opposition which is seeking the release of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from jail, is often the scene of tussles and even fist-fights among deputies.

(Reporting by Natalya Zinets; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-finance-ministry-denies-drunk-claims-against-minister-101446481.html

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Uncle: Patriots player had link to homicide victim

BOSTON (AP) ? New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez had a connection to a homicide victim found in an industrial park near the athlete's home, but family and officials were mum on the nature of their relationship, two days after police first visited the upscale division.

The body found about a mile from Hernandez's sprawling home in North Attleborough was that of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, according to a prosecutor's office. His cause of death wasn't released.

Lloyd was a semi-pro football player for the Boston Bandits and had a connection to Hernandez, whose home was searched by police, his family said Wednesday.

Hernandez attorney Michael Fee acknowledged media reports about the state police search of Hernandez's home as part of an investigation but said he and the player wouldn't have any comment on it.

"My son is a wonderful child," said, Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, as she cried outside the family home in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. "He's a family guy. He hasn't done anything to hurt anyone."

Ward would not say how Lloyd knew Hernandez and did not say if police told her how her son died. An uncle said Lloyd had a connection to Hernandez but wouldn't elaborate.

North Attleborough sits on the Rhode Island state line not far from the Patriots' stadium in Foxborough. They referred questions about the investigation to the office of Bristol District Attorney Samuel Sutter.

Sutter's office said investigators were asking for the public's help to find a silver mirror cover believed to have broken off a car between Boston and North Attleborough.

Sports Illustrated, citing an unidentified source, reported Tuesday that Hernandez was not believed to be a suspect in what was being treated then as a possible homicide.

Two troopers knocked on the door of Hernandez's house Wednesday morning, but no one answered. The night before, police spent hours there as another group of officers searched the industrial park.

Later Wednesday, at least seven state troopers searched both sides of a road just off the street where Hernandez lives. The officers used thin poles to pull back plants and search through undergrowth along the road.

Hernandez returned home during the early afternoon Wednesday. He did not speak to a crowd of reporters staked out about 100 feet away.

The Patriots drafted Hernandez out of Florida in 2010. Since then, he has combined with Rob Gronkowski to form one of the top tight end duos in the NFL. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury and had shoulder surgery in April but is expected to be ready for training camp. Last summer, the Patriots gave him a five-year contract worth $40 million.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team did not anticipate commenting publicly during the police investigation.

Sports Illustrated reported that the link between Hernandez and the case was a rented Chevrolet Suburban with Rhode Island plates that police had been searching for. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the report.

Lloyd's neighbor Larry Connors said a black Suburban with Rhode Island license plates was towed out of the yard of Lloyd's house after his body was found. Lloyd had been driving it for a few days, but Connors had never seen it before that.

Neighbor Paul Sandefur, a retired transit police officer, said he had known Lloyd since he was in diapers and was at a loss to explain what might have led to his death.

"He'd tease me about coming over to play basketball because I used to tell all the kids I could beat them," Sandefur said. "He was an exceptional kid. It's just inconceivable that something would happen to him."

Both neighbors thought Lloyd worked in construction, and neither knew of any connection between him and Hernandez.

Bandits coach Olivier Bustin, who last saw Lloyd on Saturday at a team scrimmage and heard on Tuesday he had been killed, said he never knew him to be in trouble.

"He was a personable guy, just a guy who was well-liked by everybody on the team," said the coach, who said Lloyd didn't start but played a big role on defense.

Lloyd's sister, Olivia Thibou, said her brother always had her back.

"And, you know, it's just tough that he's not here," she said. "As my mom said, just give us our time to grieve. And I hope that they find out who did it."

___

Niedowski reported from North Attleborough. Associated Press reporters Mark Pratt and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uncle-patriots-player-had-homicide-victim-061316549.html

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Friday, May 3, 2013

NRA to meet in Texas after blocking gun control in Congress

By Corrie MacLaggan

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of National Rifle Association members gather in Houston this weekend for the first time since the Senate rejected a plan last month to expand background checks for gun buyers, but officials say attendees will not sit back to celebrate victory.

"We view it as an opening battle in what will be a multi-year war," said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the NRA, which lobbied against the proposal. "We're definitely not resting on our laurels."

Polls show more than 80 percent of Americans support expanded background checks, but the proposal to extend background checks for sales made online and at gun shows fell six votes shy on April 17 of the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate.

The proposal, which supporters have vowed to revive, is a key part of President Barack Obama's gun-control effort sparked by the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

The vote was a sign of the influence of the gun lobby, particularly the NRA, which spent $18.6 million in the 2012 campaign cycle, according to the Sunlight Foundation. The NRA has more than 4 million members.

The NRA gathering in the nation's fourth-largest city, which starts Friday and continues through Sunday, is billed as a celebration of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution setting out the right to bear arms.

The event is expected to draw some 70,000 attendees who can stroll 400,000 square feet of displays to see the latest products from firearm manufacturers and hunting outfitters, check out wildlife art and shooting accessories, or sign up for hunting trips around the world. It will also draw protesters who plan to demonstrate for more gun-control measures such as background checks.

There will also be a Stand and Fight Rally with political commentator Glenn Beck, a country music jam featuring the Eli Young Band, and remarks from leading gun rights advocates including former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Since last year's NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in St. Louis, Missouri, a national debate about gun laws sprang up after the December shooting at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and six adults were killed. In the months that followed, states including Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland and New York have passed gun-control laws, while states such as Arkansas, Wyoming and South Dakota have loosened gun restrictions.

"Almost from the moment of the tragedy in Newtown, it became apparent that the ensuing push for a wide variety of new anti-gun laws had a lot less to do with school safety than it did with a decades-long crusade to destroy the Second Amendment," NRA chief executive officer Wayne LaPierre wrote in an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle published in advance of the national gathering.

NRA members proposed solutions such as fixing the mental health system, putting armed guards into schools and enforcing existing federal laws against drug dealers and gang members with guns, LaPierre wrote.

"NRA members exemplify everything that's good and right about America," he wrote.

Those members will be warmly welcomed by leaders in Texas, including Perry and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, both Republicans.

On Wednesday, Perry celebrated the recent move from California to Texas of a company called Shield Tactical, which sells firearm-related gear and training services. Perry's office said the governor has reached out to more than 30 firearms manufacturers in states that are considering curbing guns sales or manufacturing, urging them to move to Texas.

The NRA's opponents are also gearing up for the Houston event. The local chapter of a group called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America plans to demonstrate in support of background-check legislation. Military veterans who disagree with NRA positions on guns plan an "Occupy the NRA" event.

"The NRA leadership actively worked to block background checks for gun sales, spreading lies about the Senate bill," Lauren Weiner, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Americans United for Change, told reporters on Thursday. "The reality is that the majority of gun owners do, in fact, support these common-sense reforms."

An online Reuters/Ipsos poll released in January showed that 86 percent of Americans surveyed favored expanded background checks of all gun buyers. A CBS News/New York Times poll released on Wednesday showed that 88 percent of Americans support background checks for all gun buyers and that 59 percent are disappointed or angry about the recent Senate vote on gun legislation.

State Representative Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat whose district includes the convention center hosting the NRA meeting, will not be among the Texas politicians at the event.

"Clearly, the sales and promotion of firearms is big business," Coleman said. "This is business with politics as the cloak."

(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nra-meet-texas-blocking-gun-control-congress-181434598.html

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?In The Studio,? Sutter Hill's Sam Pullara Carves His Own Path From Technologist To Venture Capitalist

pullaraThose who know in the Valley know the name Sam Pullara. Whether it was his time as a repeat entrepreneur and technical founder, or stints as an EIR at some of the Valley's most premier venture capital firms, or his time as a lead technologist at two of the largest tech companies in the Valley (most recently at Twitter), Pullara has occupied nearly every seat at the table throughout his career. Now, after leaving Twitter and after years of being an angel investor, Pullara has moved himself and his blog, Java Rants, over to the venture capital side as a Managing Director?of Sutter Hill Ventures in Palo Alto, a firm which started back in the early 1960s and has focused on investing in SaaS, infrastructure, and other fundamental technologies.

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

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Early Hollywood teen star Deanna Durbin dies at 91

(AP) ? Deanna Durbin, the teen sensation whose soprano voice and girl-next-door looks made her one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, has died at age 91.

Family friend Bob Koster, whose father directed six of Durbin's films, tells The Associated Press on Wednesday that she died at age 91 in a village outside Paris in April.

The Canadian-born Durbin made her first feature film "Three Smart Girls" at age 13 and would go on to appear in 20 more.

At the height of her career she was among the world's highest paid actresses, won an honorary Oscar, and counted Anne Frank and Winston Churchill among her fans.

She retired at just 28 and moved to France, remaining out of the public view.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-02-US-Obit-Deanna-Durbin/id-473c850862134be494d2529639219660

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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Oslo's So Good at Recycling that It's Run Out of Trash

Norway's capital city has a serious waste management issue?they're way too good at it. Half of Oslo's 1.4 million residents rely on a steady stream of refuse to power their appliances and heat their homes. Problem is, there just isn't enough trash to go around.

Burning municipal waste?everything from household trash and industrial scrap to toxic, hazmat, and medical refuse?is big, big, business in Northern Europe. ?Northern Europe has a huge generating capacity,? Pal Mikkelsen, head of Oslo's waste-to-energy agency, told the NYT, with more than 400 waste-to-energy plants currently operating in the region thanks to a multi-decade boom in plant construction. ?There?s a European waste market ? it?s a commodity,? Rooth Olbergsveen, senior adviser for Oslo?s waste recovery program, added. ?It?s a growing market.? Unfortunately, this glut of capacity far outpaces the area's rate of trash production.

Overall, Northern Europe only produces about 150 million tons of burnable trash a year and yet they've built out their incineration capacity to support 700 million tons. The trash shortage has gotten so bad that municipalities have taken to not poaching disposal contracts from neighboring counties but importing it from other countries?England alone exports some 1,000 tons of trash annually. ?I?d like to take some from the United States,? said Mikkelsen. ?Sea transport is cheap.?

No matter how it gets to Oslo, the trash always ends up the same way: a pile of ash and a puff of flue gas. Incinerators burn municipal waste as a fuel source to produce heat, which boils a large amount of water into steam which then drives an electricity-generating turbine. This system is roughly 14 to 28% electrically efficient but with cogeneration systems that recycle the process waste heat into hot water for homes and flue gas condensers which recycle the fumes for biogas (which powers some of Oslo's metro bus lines), overall system efficiency jumps to between 80 and 100 percent. What's more, it reduces the garbage's mass by about 80 percent and its volume by about 90 percent, all while cooking contaminants and destroying toxins at high heat.

Unfortunately, there's no short term solution to Oslo's crippling trash shortage. Of course if city officials get really desperate, they can always check in with Naples, those guys are still digging out from the city's waste management crisis in 2011.

[NYT - Wikipedia 1, 2 - Image: Corepics VOF / shutterstock, Naples: AP Images]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/oslo-in-crisis-norwegian-recycling-town-is-running-out-486239887

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Three Things You Have To Know Before Investing in a Business ...

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Source: http://www.worldbrainbook.com/three-things-you-have-to-know-before-investing-in-a-business-franchise/

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Federal, Local Agents Raid Homes Of Moreno Valley Mayor, Councilmembers In Political Corruption Investigation

(credit: The City of Moreno Valley)

(credit: The City of Moreno Valley)

MORENO VALLEY (CBSLA.com) ? Federal and local agents Tuesday morning raided the homes of Moreno Valley?s mayor and five city council members.

The residences of Mayor Tom Owings, Jesse Molina, Richard Stewart, Victoria Baca and Marcelo Co were all served with search warrants by a joint political corruption task force, which includes members of the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Riverside County District Attorney?s Office.

Authorities also searched the offices of Highland Fairview, a commercial developer that, according to its website, plans to build a large corporate facility in the area.

The FBI and the Riverside County DA?s Office would only divulge that the search was part of an ?ongoing political corruption investigation.?

Owings asked the public for patience and said he was innocent of any wrongdoing, according to the Press-Enterprise.

?I don?t think I?ve ever done anything wrong in my whole life,? he said.

On Tuesday night, Owings and the rest of the council members got an earful from angry residents at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/04/30/federal-local-agents-raid-homes-of-moreno-valley-mayor-councilmembers-in-political-corruption-investigation/

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Will green tea help you lose weight?

Apr. 29, 2013 ? Evidence has shown that green tea extract may be an effective herbal remedy useful for weight control and helping to regulate glucose in type 2 diabetes. In order to ascertain whether green tea truly has this potential, Jae-Hyung Park and his colleagues from the Keimyung University School of Medicine in the Republic of Korea conducted a study, now published in the Springer journal Naunyn-Schmedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology.

The active constituents of green tea, which have been shown to inhibit intestinal glucose and lipid uptake, are a certain type of flavonoid called gallated catechins. The authors had previously suggested that the amount of gallated catechins necessary to reduce blood glucose concentrations can be achieved from a daily dose of green tea. However, the amount of green tea needed to decrease lipid uptake from the gut is higher and has been shown to have adverse effects in humans. Once in the bloodstream, gallated catechins can actually increase insulin resistance, which is a negative consequence especially in obese and diabetic patients.

For their study, the researchers tested the effects of green tea extract on body weight and glucose intolerance in both diabetic mice and normal mice fed a high-fat diet. To prevent a high dose of gallated catechins from reaching the bloodstream, the authors also used a non-toxic resin, polyethylene glycol, to bind the gallated catechins in the gut to prevent their absorption. They then looked at the effects on the mice of eating green tea extract alone, and eating green tea extract plus polyethylene glycol. They compared these against the effects of two other therapeutic drugs routinely prescribed for type 2 diabetes.

Results showed that green tea extract in isolation did not give any improvements in body weight and glucose intolerance. However, when green tea extract was given with polyethylene glycol, there was a significant reduction in body weight gain, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in both normal mice on a high fat diet and diabetic mice. The polyethylene glycol had the effect of prolonging the amount of time the gallated catechins remained in the intestines, thereby limiting glucose absorption for a longer period.

Interestingly, the effects of the green tea extract in both the intestines and in the circulation were measurable at doses which could be achieved by drinking green tea on a daily basis. In addition, the effects of green tea extract were comparable to those found when taking two of the drugs which are currently recommended for non-insulin dependent diabetes.

The authors conclude that "dietary green tea extract and polyethylene glycol alleviated body weight gain and insulin resistance in diabetic and high-fat mice, thus ameliorating glucose intolerance. Therefore the green tea extract and polyethylene glycol complex may be a preventative and therapeutic tool for obesity and obesity-related type 2 diabetes without too much concern about side effects."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer Science+Business Media.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Park, Jae-Hyung et al. Green tea extract with polyethylene glycol-3350 reduces body weight and improves glucose tolerance in db/db and high-fat diet mice. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, 2013 DOI: 10.1007/s00210-013-0869-9

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/TEmKqINLbLc/130429114739.htm

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Sniffing out schizophrenia

Apr. 29, 2013 ? A debilitating mental illness, schizophrenia can be difficult to diagnose. Because physiological evidence confirming the disease can only be gathered from the brain during an autopsy, mental health professionals have had to rely on a battery of psychological evaluations to diagnose their patients.

Now, Dr. Noam Shomron and Prof. Ruth Navon of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, together with PhD student Eyal Mor from Dr. Shomron's lab and Prof. Akira Sawa of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, have discovered a method for physical diagnosis -- by collecting tissue from the nose through a simple biopsy. Surprisingly, collecting and sequencing neurons from the nose may lead to "more sure-fire" diagnostic capabilities than ever before, Dr. Shomron says.

This finding, which was reported in the journal Neurobiology of Disease, could not only lead to a more accurate diagnosis, it may also permit the crucial, early detection of the disease, giving rise to vastly improved treatment overall.

From the nose to diagnosis

Until now, biomarkers for schizophrenia had only been found in the neuron cells of the brain, which can't be collected before death. By that point it's obviously too late to do the patient any good, says Dr. Shomron. Instead, psychiatrists depend on psychological evaluations for diagnosis, including interviews with the patient and reports by family and friends.

For a solution to this diagnostic dilemma, the researchers turned to the olfactory system, which includes neurons located on the upper part of the inner nose. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University collected samples of olfactory neurons from patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and a control group of non-affected individuals, then sent them to Dr. Shomron's TAU lab.

Dr. Shomron and his fellow researchers applied a high-throughput technology to these samples, studying the microRNA of the olfactory neurons. Within these molecules, which help to regulate our genetic code, they were able to identify a microRNA which is highly elevated in those with schizophrenia, compared to individuals who do not have the disease.

"We were able to narrow down the microRNA to a differentially expressed set, and from there down to a specific microRNA which is elevated in individuals with the disease compared to healthy individuals," explains Dr. Shomron. Further research revealed that this particular microRNA controls genes associated with the generation of neurons.

In practice, material for biopsy could be collected through a quick and easy outpatient procedure, using a local anesthetic, says Dr. Shomron. And with microRNA profiling results ready in a matter of hours, this method could evolve into a relatively simple and accurate test to diagnose a very complicated illness.

Early detection, early intervention

Though there is much more to investigate, Dr. Shomron has high hopes for this diagnostic method. It's important to determine whether this alteration in microRNA expression begins before schizophrenic symptoms begin to exhibit themselves, or only after the disease fully develops, he says. If this change comes near the beginning of the timeline, it could be invaluable for early diagnostics. This would mean early intervention, better treatment, and possibly even the postponement of symptoms.

If, for example, a person has a family history of schizophrenia, this test could reveal whether they too suffer from the disease. And while such advanced warning doesn't mean a cure is on the horizon, it will help both patient and doctor identify and prepare for the challenges ahead.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Friends of Tel Aviv University.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Eyal Mor, Shin-Ichi Kano, Carlo Colantuoni, Akira Sawa, Ruth Navon, Noam Shomron. MicroRNA-382 expression is elevated in the olfactory neuroepithelium of schizophrenia patients. Neurobiology of Disease, 2013; 55: 1 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2013.03.011

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/zHXUhnxaa7s/130429130548.htm

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NBA owner Michael Jordan marries over the weekend

Michael Jordan got married over the weekend in front of a few hundred of his family and closest friends.

The Charlotte Bobcats owner exchanged vows with 35-year-old former model Yvette Prieto on Saturday in Palm Beach, Fla., Jordan's manager Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press Sunday

The wedding took place at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with nearly 300 guests in attendance, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Ewing, Spike Lee and Ahmad Rashad.

The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla., a luxurious private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus. Jordan, 50, owns a home near the course.

There were fireworks at night as part of the celebration.

In lieu of wedding gifts, donations were made to the James R. Jordan Foundation. The wedding flowers were donated to the Jupiter Medical Center.

The six-time NBA champion and Prieto met five years ago and were engaged last December.

Prieto wore a French silk voile corseted sheer sheath gown by J'Aton Couture, in an ecru palette with accents of flesh tones, with handmade silk lace created especially for her, and enhanced with Swarovski crystals. The gown featured French seamed crinoline borders, which cascaded into a dramatic cathedral train finished in the lace, with accents of a peacock-feathered design.

The couple and their guests were entertained by DJ MC Lyte, singers K'Jon, Robin Thicke and Grammy-Award winner Usher and The Source, an 18-piece band.

Everyone enjoyed an all-white, seven-layer white rum wedding cake that was covered in white fondant and sugar crystals, and adorned with crystal brooches and the couples' monogram on the top layer.

Guests sat at tables that were a continuous candle-lit landscape with a myriad of crystal candelabras and mercury glass vessels, each filled with one variety of white flower, including roses, peonies and tulips, and one accent of purple.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nba-owner-michael-jordan-marries-over-weekend-202151649.html

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Rep. Mike Rogers: 'Some Action Needs to be Taken' on Syria (ABC News)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302174096?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Lawmaker: FBI checking training angle in bombing

FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2013 file photo, visitors pause at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in Boston. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2013 file photo, visitors pause at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in Boston. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 file photo, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct ranking member Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, arrives for a closed door executive session on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - This file image from a Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security joint bulletin issued to law enforcement and obtained by The Associated Press, shows the remains of a pressure cooker that the FBI says was part of one of the bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/FBI, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday that the FBI is investigating in the United States and overseas to determine whether the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing received training that helped them carry out the attack.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is charged with joining with his older brother, Tamerlan, who's now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The bombs were triggered by a remote detonator of the kind used in remote-control toys, U.S. officials have said.

U.S. officials investigating the bombings have told The Associated Press that so far there is no evidence to date of a wider plot, including training, direction or funding for the attacks.

A criminal complaint outlining federal charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev described him as holding a cellphone in his hand minutes before the first explosion.

The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents.

"I think given the level of sophistication of this device, the fact that the pressure cooker is a signature device that goes back to Pakistan, Afghanistan, leads me to believe ? and the way they handled these devices and the tradecraft ? ... that there was a trainer and the question is where is that trainer or trainers," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on "Fox News Sunday."

"Are they overseas in the Chechen region or are they in the United States?" McCaul said. "In my conversations with the FBI, that's the big question. They've casted a wide net both overseas and in the United States to find out where this person is. But I think the experts all agree that there is someone who did train these two individuals."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he thought it's "probably true" that the attack was not linked to a major group. But, he told CNN's "State of the Union," that there "may have been radicalizing influences" in the U.S. or abroad. "It does look like a lot of radicalization was self-radicalization online, but we don't know the full answers yet."

On ABC's "This Week," moderator George Stephanopoulos raised the question to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about FBI suspicions that the brothers had help in getting the bombs together.

"Absolutely, and not only that, but in the self-radicalization process, you still need outside affirmation," responded Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

"We still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with," he added.

At this point in the investigation, however, Sen. Claire McCaskill said there was no evidence that the brothers "were part of a larger organization, that they were, in fact, part of some kind of terror cell or any kind of direction."

The Missouri Democrat, who's on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "it appears, at this point, based on the evidence, that it's the two of them."

Homemade bombs built from pressure cookers have been a frequent weapon of militants in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen once published an online manual on how to make one.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, officials have said. He frequently looked at extremist sites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate.

In recent years, two would-be U.S. attackers reported receiving bomb-making training from foreign groups but failed to set off the explosives.

A Nigerian man was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb sewn into his underwear. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had tried to set off the bomb minutes before the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight landed.

The device didn't work as planned, but it still produced smoke, flame and panic. He told authorities that he trained in Yemen under the eye of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and one of the best-known al-Qaida figures.

A U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed al-Awlaki in 2011.

In 2010, a Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square also received a life sentence. Faisal Shazad said the Pakistan Taliban provided him with more than $15,000 and five days of explosives training.

The bomb was made of fireworks fertilizer, propane tanks and gasoline canisters. Explosives experts said the fertilizer wasn't the right grade and the fireworks weren't powerful enough to set off the intended chain reaction.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-28-Boston%20Marathon-Congress/id-8a6376da8014442fa115039bb649d7bc

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