THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

PASSOVER
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 98th day of 2012 with 267 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:39 p.m., it's fair , temp 50ºF [Feels like 50ºF], winds NW @ 20 mph, humidity 22%, pressure 30.17 in and falling, dew point 12ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

World News Capsules:
1. A populist's downfall exposes ideoloical divisions in China's ruling party.
....The ouster of Bo Xilai, the party chief in Chongqing, points to possibly the most serious division in the party elite since the leadership upheavals during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
2. Mubarak ally enters Egypt's presidential race, setting up a contest with Islamists.
....Omar Suleiman, a former deputy of the ousted Pres. Mubarak, announced his presidential candidacy, shaking up an already heated race..
3. France serial killer fears grow after 4 shootings.

....Investigators in France are hunting for a suspected serial killer after four fatal shootings with the same weapon in a Paris suburb in the past five months.
4. Storm continues after German writer's poem aginst Israel.
....The controversy over a poem by Günter Grass showed no signs of subsiding, even after he said that he meant to criticize the government and not Israel as a whole.
5. Greek statistician under scutiny for budget estimates before euro crisis.
....Andreas Georgiou, who was recruited in 2010 to help get Greece’s famously unreliable public accounting in order, has become the target of a criminal investigation.
6. As nuclear talks near, Iran softens criticism of Turkey.
....A veiled apology was offered after the Turkish prime minister, a crucial mediator, chastised Iran’s leaders for seeking to move talks from Turkey to Iraq or Syria.
7. For rebels in Mali, odds of establishing a nation are slim.

....Rebel fighters in the ancient crossroads of Timbuktu, Mali, announced the birth of a country called Azawad. But the declaration is unlikely to be embraced by anyone.
8. Avalanche buries scores of Pakistani soliders.
....An avalanche buried more than 100 Pakistani soldiers near the Siachen glacier on the border with India, officials said. Hectic efforts were being made to dig out the troops with other soldiers, sniffer dogs and helicopters all involved in the search.
9. In Spain, women nslaved by a boom in brothel tourism.

....While the rest of Spain's economy struggles, prostitution - almost all of it involving the ruthless trafficking of foreign women - is exploding into public view in small towns and big cities. .
10. Tunisia after the revolution.

....Yes, there are magnificent Roman ruins and lovely seaside villages, but a visit to this newly healing country also offers a chance to witness a pivotal moment in history
11. Turkey raises alarm to UN over worsening violence in Syria.
....Turkey’s foreign minister reported increased Syrian military attacks near the border and a relentless influx of refugees from Syria.

US News Capsules:
1. Kansan claims $218.6 million Mega Millions jackpot.

....The holder of one of three winning tickets in last week's record $656 million Mega Millions drawing came forward Friday to claim a share and chooses to remain anonymous.
2. California college postpones plan to charge much more for some popular courses.
....Santa Monica College met with vigorous student objections, and some people at a recent protest were hurt by pepper spray from the campus police.
3, Mixed reviews on program fo rimmigrants with records.
....An effort to identify illegal immigrants who committed crimes led to confusion among authorities before it started to yield results, according to two reports from the inspector general.
4. Pressed from all sides, Toys 'R' Us fights to reinvent itself.

....The last of the big toy stores struggles to revamp its business as management defects, sales decline, all the while debt and competition mount.
5. Troubling flaws in a heart device shake implant makers.
....A problem with wires in a heart defibrillator is the industry's third highly visible safety episode in seven years, inviting discussion of a greater role for the F.D.A.
6. Architecture's ugly ducklings may not get time to be swans.

....A Brutalist building faces demolition in Goshen, N.Y., raising questions about the future of unfashionably Modern midcentury structures.
7. A Taos field evokes the extraordinary.

....A field outside Taos, with Taos Mountain in the background. The earth here has been tended for at least a thousand years, and the setting may have inspired notable 20th-century art.
8. Texan teen set to be first US graduate of premier Russian ballet school.

....Joy Womack keeps an Internet blog and chats with her family on Skype, devours books on Kindle, listens to music and stresses about end-of-year exams. But this is where the similarities end. By the end of May she will become the first American to graduate from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, arguably the most enviable and demanding choreography school in the world.
9. California nuclear plant shut indeinitely.

....A large Southern California nuclear plant is out of commission indefinitely, and will remain so until there is an understanding of what caused problems at two of its generators and an effective plan to address the issues, the nation's top nuclear regulator said.
10. 100 years later, Titanic's allure still strong[/u].

....The Titanic Memorial Cruise will follow the route the Titanic took, and is scheduled to be in the exact spot at the exact time the Titanic struck an iceberg close to midnight on April 14, 1912, sending it to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean a little less than three hours later. More than 1,500 people lost their lives, and about 700 -- mostly women and children -- survived.
POLITICS:
1. Obama embraces national security as campaign issue.
....Pres. Obama is preparing to emphasize an issue that has long been the domain of the Republican Party.
2. Starting the day, and ending it, at Romney's side.
....Garrett Jackson is Mitt Romney's "body man," seeing to his every need and helping to keep him on time.
3. Alabama may revise new policies on migrants.
....Some of the more controversial sections of the law may be altered or eliminated.
4. Democrats ready to pressure GOP on 'Buffett Rule.'
....Pres.t Obama and Senate Democrats will kick off a coordinated push for a requirement that the rich pay at least 30% of their income in taxes.

Thought for Today
"Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no other can exactly do."
--[/i]William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), Unitarian clergyman.

Today's flower: Veronica spicata 'Rotfuchs' syn. Red Fox or Red fox veronica



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

EASTER
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 99th day of 2012 with 266 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:09 p.m., it's fair , temp 61ºF [Feels like 61ºF], winds W @ 16 mph, humidity 19%, pressure 29.80 in and falling, dew point 18ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.

World News Capsules:
1. Christians mark Easter Sunday at ancient site.

....1000s of Christians gathered in Jerusalem for Easter Sunday to commemorate Jesus Christ's resurrection, crowding into one of Christianity's holiest churches, worshipping, singing and praying. Catholics and Protestants took in turns to hold ceremonies within the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried.
a. Pope calls for peace in Syria.

....Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in sun-drenched, flower-adorned St. Peter's Square, before tens of thousands of people. He urged the Syrian regime to heed international calls to end bloodshed and commit to dialogue and prayed for peace in coup-struck Mali.
b. Worshippers hold candles during an Easter Mass in a church in Lahore, Pakistan, on Saturday

c. A Christian devotee re-enacts Jesus' path to his crucifixion during a performance in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday.

d. Fishermen dressed as Roman soldiers collapse as they re-enact a scene from the Bible as part of the Easter tradition at a church in Sumartin, Croatia, on Saturday.

2. Afghanistan gets veto power over NATO night raids.

....Afghanistan and NATO reached a deal to curb night raids on Afghan homes, giving Kabul a veto over the operations despised by most local people and clearing the way for a wider pact securing a US presence.
3. At the end of the Earth, seeking clues to the universe.

....High in the Chilean desert, scientists have installed one of the world's largest ground-based astronomical projects to look for clues to the origins of the universe.
4. US alert as China's cash buys inroads in Caribbean.
....A brand new $35 million stadium opened in the Bahamas a few weeks ago, a gift from the Chinese government. 'They are buying loyalty and taking up the vacuum left by the United States, Canada and other countries,' former diplomat says.
a. China said to detain returning Tibetan pilgrims.
....The detainees are being interrogated and ordered to denounce the Dalai Lama, according to groups who have conducted interviews with family members.
5. Tuna again? In fault-finding Britain, it's a cause for divorce
....Excessive servings of tuna casserole is just one example of marital distress from the divorce dockets of Britain, which does not have no-fault divorce.
6. India and Pakistan leaders meet and look to improve ties
.
....India’s prime minister, the host, said he would visit Pakistan, a trip that many analysts regard as instrumental to any major diplomatic breakthroughs between the countries.
7. US defines opening move in new talks with Iran.

....The Obama administration and its European allies plan to open new negotiations with Iran by demanding the immediate closing and ultimate dismantling of a recently completed nuclear facility deep under a mountain.
8. A friendship dating to 1976 resonates in 2012.
....The friendship between Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu, little known to outsiders, is now rich with political intrigue/
9. In mourning, Malawi swears in a new president.
....After Pres. Bingu wa Mutharika’s death was announced, his vice president, Joyce Banda, was sworn in as his successor.
10. Malaysian expatriates seek oversees voting rights.
....Current law allows only some of the 700,000 Malaysians living overseas to cast absentee ballots, leaving others feeling disenfranchised.
11. Junta in Mali to step down.
....The agreement by the coup leaders to yield power should free Mali to focus on its other big problem: a rebellion in the north.
12. Inside North Korea: Closely watched launch poses risks.
....North Korea will launch what is being described as a small observation satellite within days. A successful mission could raise Pyongyang's status, but the quest is - what would failure do?
13- Syria demands guarantees before a troop pullback.
....The new conditions by the Syrian government cast new doubt on a truce that was scheduled to begin this week.

US News Capsules:
1. 2 arrested in connection with Tulsa shooting spree.

....Cops investigate whether deadly Good Friday shootings in predominantly black area were racially motivated. After 24-hour manhunt, police arrested white men charged with killing three and wounding two others.
2. In Chicago, the boys (and girls) of winter.
....Hockey is popular among adults in Chicago, where new students in their middle years hold so many games that some have to play past midnight.
3. Packing up, moving on and selling the town,
....Buford, Wyo., which has billed itself as the nation's smallest town, was auctioned off by its sole resident.
4. Welfare limits left poor adrift as recession hit.

....In Arizona and other states, some recipients of the Clinton-era Temporary Assistance for Needy Families have taken desperate measures to make ends meet.
a. Rurak dustruct us stryggkubg ti naje unorivenebts,
....The 570-student Premont Independent School District in the South Texas district has made drastic moves to improve its finances — including cutting high school sports.
5. New rules seek to prevent invasive stowaways.
....A federal rule will require oceangoing freighters entering American waters to install onboard treatment systems to filter and disinfect their ballast water.
6. Spam invades a last refuge, the cellphone.
....Cellphone customers received roughly 4.5 billion spam texts last year, twice as many as in 2009, and remedies to the growing menace are few.
a. To stop cellphone cramming, don't let it start.
....Cramming — the act of tacking on an unrequested service fee to a phone bill. Why can’t cellphone carriers do more to thwart it?
7. In executive pay, a rich game of thrones.

(Lawrence Ellison of Oracle, Ronald Johnson of J. C. Penney and Philippe Dauman of Viacom)
....Although the growth in C.E.O. compensation slowed last year, the pay numbers are still eye-popping
POLITICS:
1. Sen. Grassley calls the president 'stupid.'
....Iowa's senior senator and prolific Tweeter, Republican Chuck Grassley, sent a harshly worded message Saturday that intentionally slighted the president. Aides say Grassley personally Tweeted: "Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law."

Thought for Today
"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope."
--Barbara Kingsolver/u] (b. 1955), author & activist.

Today's flower: Thalictrum aquilegifolium or cloud meadow rue

[pegasus]

ASTRONAUT DAY
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 100th day of 2012 with 265 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 5:29 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 54ºF [Feels like 54ºF], winds W @ 21 mph, humidity 28%, pressure 29.65 in and falling, dew point 21ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.

World News Capsules:
1. US transfers control of night raids to Afghanistan/

....An agreement on raids that are deeply unpopular in Afghanistan would give legal oversight to Afghan forces, putting American troops in a supporting role.
2. Food prices push rate of inflatin up in China.
....Unlike in Europe and the US, where inflation is subdued, China and other emerging economies have seen that prices have been pushed up by robust growth and rising costs.
3. Egyptian presidential candidate carries banner of the old order.
....Omar Suleiman, former Pres. Mubarak's intelligence chief and vice president, filed to run for president in Egypt, but his entry is unlikely to shake up the race.
4. Indian and Pakistani leaders excourage ties in a rare visit.
....India's prime minister, the host, said he would visit Pakistan, a trip that many analysts regard as instrumental to any major diplomatic breakthroughs between the countries.
5. Iran sends mixed signals ahead of nuclear talks.

....A senior official in Tehran was reported to hint at a modest compromise ahead of planned nuclear talks, while another official rejected preconditions for the discussions.
6. Israel bars German Nobel Laureate Grass over poem.
....Israel’s interior minister said that Günter Grass, a well-known German author, was not welcome in the country because of his controversial poem about the region’s nuclear crisis.
7. After suicide, new focus on Pakistain's acid attacks.
....Ten years after a vengeful man doused her face in acid, Fakhra Younas jumped to her death in Rome.
8. In Russia, charges are dropped in jail death.
....Investigators ruled that the statute of limitations had run out in the case of a physician charged with negligence after a lawyer under her care died in custody in 2009.
9. South Korea suspects that North may test nuclear device as well as rocket.

....A spokesman for the Seoul government said satellite images of a growing pile of earth outside a tunnel might signal plans for an underground blast.
10. Police clash with anti-government protesters in Central Tunis.
....Police clashed with 1000s of anti-government protesters in Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, defying a ban on demonstrations in the area — a focal point of the revolt that ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali more than a year ago.
11. Turkey says Syria killed refugees on its side of border.
....Prospects for a peaceful solution to Syria’s conflict appeared to recede further as Turkish officials accused the Syrian military of shooting at refugees inside Turkey for the first time.

US News Capsules:
1. Federal funds to train the jobless are drying up.
.....Money for the primary training program for dislocated workers is 18% lower than it was in 2006, even though there are six million more people looking for work now.
2. Tightening the lid on pain prescriptions.
....Experts say that doctors, despite the dangers, often keep patients on high-strength painkillers known as opioids for years without properly checking to see if their conditions improve.
3. Protecting face-to-face protest.
....Security is no excuse for disregarding the right to present petitions.
4. At Texas schools, making do on a shoestring.

....Budget cuts have increased class sizes, reduced services and supplies and thinned the ranks of teachers.
5. Comedy timing is bad as news and film collide.
....Twentieth Century Fox is changing its marketing strategy for the film Neighborhood Watch in the wake of the killing of a teenager by a community watch participant.
6. TV: Supremacy in jeopardy for "Today".
[/img]...."Good Morning America" is coming up fast in the ratings behind the consistently top-rated "Today" show.
7. Apps take positions in the Topps baseball lineup.
....The Topps Company, the leading baseball card manufacturer, is trying to breathe digital life into a once-cherished hobby with apps aimed at a techcentric youth market.
8. Grand jury won't be convened in Flria teenager's killing.

....State Attorney Angela Corey, who is investigating the shooting of the unarmed 17-year-old, said her decision “should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case."
9. Bail set at $9.1 million for suspects in Tulsa killing spree,
....Alvin Watts, 32, and Jacob C. England, 19, were facing three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with the intent to kill.
POLITICS:
1. 'Super PAC,' eyeing general election, aims blitz at Ovama
.
....Amid a growing perception that Mitt Romney will be the party’s nominee, the biggest of the Republican “super PACs” is set to begin its first major anti-Obama advertising campaign.
2. NRA expands its role from fight for gun rights to conservtive causes.

....This week, Coca-Cola and Kraft announced they are pulling their corporate memberships from the American Legislative Executive Council (ALEC), a conservative group that was behind the spread of "stand your ground" laws like the one highlighted in Florida by the Trayvon Martin case. The National Rifle Association worked with ALEC to spread similar laws that are on the books in at least 25 states. Less well known is that the NRA has also helped ALEC spread other conservative laws that have nothing to do with gun rights.

Thought for Today
"The main goal of the future is to stop violence. The world is addicted to it."
--[/i]Bill Cosby (b. 1937), comedian, actor, producer & writer.

Today's flower: Lavandula angustifolia 'Rosea or pink lavender



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

Happy Golfers or Siblings Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 101st day of 2012 with 264 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:52 p.m., it's fair , temp 47ºF [Feels like 47ºF], winds W @ 9 mph, humidity 42%, pressure 29.67 in and steady, dew point 25ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

World News Capsules:
1. Multiple bombings strike Aghanistan.
....Suicide bombers struck in busy areas of Herat and Helmand, killing as many 18 people, according to local police officials.
2. Killing of Bangladeshi labor organizer signals an escalation in violence.
....Aminul Islam, who was found murdered outside Dhaka last week, was a leader who had fought against low wages in the country’s garment industry.
a. Success in a land known for disasters.
....When it comes to the position of women, Bangladesh has made progress that would be unthinkable in many other Muslim societies.
3. Murder at center of Chinese scandl that tarred official.
....Bo Xilai, a Communist Party official, was stripped of his most powerful titles, and his wife was held in connection with the suspected murder of a British businessman.
a. Rights advocate given prison term in China.
....A Beijing court sentenced Ni Yulan and her husband on charges of creating a disturbance, an advocacy group said.
4. In French vote, sound and fury from the left.
....Jean-Luc Mélenchon draws large, passionate crowds, and with a field of 10, candidates of both the far right and left gain clout.
5. Hook-handed radical Muslim Abu Hamza can be sent to US with 4 others from Britain, court rules.

....A radical Muslim preacher can be lawfully extradited from Britain to the US to face charges that he helped set up an al-Qaida terrorist training camp in Oregon, a court in Europe ruled.
a. A fragile tourist attraction on the ocean floor.

....The US and the International Maritime Organization are drawing up recommendations for the operation of the mini-submarines that ferry visitors to the Titanic.
6. Despite warning, old handouts die hard for Greek politicians facing voters soon.
....With elections looming, lawmakers are scrambling to push through costly amendments to bills intended to meet the demands of foreign creditors.
7. [u[Tsunami projections offer bleak fate for many Japanese towns/u].
....An updated hazard map detailing the damage that could be unleashed by another quake of a similar magnitude has been met with alarm across the country.
8. Lush walls rise to fight a blanket of pollution/

....Eco-sculptures are the latest indication that Mexico City has become a leader in environmental efforts for the developing world.
9. North Korea: Our rocket is ready to launch.
....Space officials in North Korea told NBC Tuesday that all assembly and preparations for its new satellite and rocket have been completed, saying it will be launched sometime between Thursday and Monday.
10. In South Korea scandal, echoes of Watergate.
....The arrest of several presidential aides in a case involving accusations of illegal surveillance of citizens has given the opposition an opening ahead of parliamentary elections.
11. Sudans' dispute leaves southerners stranded at airport
.
....Hundreds of South Sudanese were stranded at the Khartoum airport after Sudan denied them permission to board, escalating tension between the two countries.
12. Syrian troops fire across Turkish border in clsh near refugee camp.
....The shooting, which killed 2 refugees and injured at least 23 people, including a Turkish officer inside a border camp, darkened prospects for a cease-fire.
9. Tunisia cracks down again on protesers defying a ban.
....In Tunisia and other countries that toppled governments in the Arab Spring, new regimes are struggling to impose order on the chaos left behind.

US News Capsules:
1. 7th graders save bus as driver passes out.

....When a school bus driver in Milton, Wash. lost consciousness on the way to school Monday morning, two seventh-grade boys jumped to action, Footage from the bus’s surveillance camera shows the driver suddenly seizing and a student started pushing on his chest to resuscitate him. From the back of the bus, Jeremy Wuitschick ran down the aisle. The 13-year-old later told KING that he has some driving experience because his mother allows him to drive down the driveway of their home.
2. Prosecutor in Martin case will alone determine its merits.

....Angela B. Corey, who was appointed special prosecutor in the killing of Trayvon Martin, must alone determine whether to charge the man who shot the unarmed teenager.
3. School workers split Maryland Mega Millions jackpot.

....Maryland Lottery officials announced that the record-breaking Mega Millions winning ticket was actually purchased by three people, all of whom have chosen to remain anonymous. The three friends -- a woman in her 20s, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s -- work in Maryland’s public education system.
4. A weight loss surgery sends some to Canada.
....Americans are heading north of the border for a weight-loss procedure not available here: the gastric balloon
5. Clicker shock: Cable TV bills rising by average 6% a year.
....Study finds that average monthly rate for pay TV has hit $86 a month while household income has hardly budged.
6. Family finds 1917 stock certificate, says Coke owes it $130 million.
....The family of Tony Marohn in California is in a legal battle with Coca-Cola, saying a stock certificate he bought at an estate sale in 2008 is worth $130 million in stock of the soft-drink maker, Reuters reported. The certificate, issued in 1917, for stock in the long-defunct Palmer Union Oil Co., should translate into 1.8 million shares of Coke, the family contends. The relationship of Coke to Palmer Union is murky at best, according to Coke documents. It appears Palmer Union merged with a company that then merged with Coke, though the soft drink maker said in a court filing "to the best of the company's knowledge shares of Palmer Union Oil were never convertible for shares of The Coca-Cola Company."
7. 2 Tulsa shooting suspects confess, police say.
....Alvin L. Watts, 32, and Jacob C. England, 19, are accused of killing three black people and wounding two others in a shooting spree that terrified the Oklahoma city over the Easter weekend.
8. Food stamps helped reduce poverty rate, study finds.
....A study by the Agriculture Department found that food stamps, one of the country's largest social safety net programs, reduced the poverty rate substantially during the recession.
9. Microsolft's AOL deal intensifies patent wars.
....The lofty price Microsoft paid AOL for 800 patents - $1.3 million each - reflects the crucial role patents are playing in the business and legal strategies of technology companies.
POLITICS:
1. A lie races across Twitter before the truth can boot up.
....An unfounded blog report claiming that Gov. Nikki R. Haley was about to be indicted rocketed into national circulation, the latest lesson in the perils of the instantaneous news culture.
2. Raising the floor on pay.

....Dan Cantor, of the New York State Working Families Party, has called for a living wage for all. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, or $15,080 a year for a person working full time at a minimum wage job, leading some to call for increasing it.
3. Obama to make case for 'Buffett Rule.'
....In a string of visits to Florida this week, the president will push his proposal to ensure the wealthiest Americans pay at least 30% of their income in federal taxes.
4. Santorum suspends run for president.

....The decision abruptly ends Rick Santorum’s quest for the Republican presidential nomination after weeks in which he has struggled to compete with Mitt Romney’s well-financed campaign apparatus.
5. Some explaining to do for Republican leader.
....It came as a shock when House Republicans learned that a PAC affiliated with Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia had donated $25,000 to a group devoted to taking out incumbents.
6. A shift in strategy in Pennsylvania for Romney.
....The Romney campaign removed ads critical of Rick Santorum after Mr. Santorum’s disabled daughter, Bella, was hospitalized.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

More police officers being killed despite drop in violent crime.

According to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 72 officers were killed by perpetrators in 2011, a 25% increase from the previous year and a 75% increase from 2008. The 2011 deaths were the first time that more officers were killed by suspects than car accidents, according to data compiled by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The number was the highest in nearly two decades, excluding those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
While the F.B.I. and other law enforcement officials cannot fully explain the reasons for the rise in officer homicides, they are clear about the devastating consequences. “In this law enforcement job, when you pin this badge on and go out on calls, when you leave home, you ain’t got a promise that you will come back,” said Sheriff Ray Foster of Buchanan County, Va. Two of his deputies were killed in March 2011 and two wounded — one of them paralyzed — by a man with a high-powered rifle. “That was 80% of my day shift,” he said.
The F.B.I., which has tracked officer deaths since 1937, paid for a study conducted by John Jay College that found that in many cases the officers were trying to arrest or stop a suspect who had previously been arrested for a violent crime. That prompted the F.B.I. to change what information it will provide to local police departments, the officials said. Starting this year, when police officers stop a car and call its license plate into the F.B.I.’s database, they will be told whether the owner of the vehicle has a violent history. Through the first three months of this year, the number of police fatalities has dropped, though it is unclear why.
Some argue that the rise in violence is linked to the tough economy. With less money, some states are releasing prisoners earlier; police departments, after years of staffing increases, have been forced to make cutbacks. The police chief in Camden, N.J., J. Scott Thomson, whose force of 400 was cut by nearly half last year because of financing issues, said that having fewer officers on the street “makes it that much more difficult to create an environment in which criminals do not feel as emboldened to assault another person, let alone a law enforcement officer.”
As part of the F.B.I.’s efforts to prevent officer deaths, the bureau trains thousands of officers each year, highlighting shootings like the one in Chattanooga to teach officers about situations in which they are most vulnerable. Those situations are typically pursuits, traffic stops and arrests, said Michelle S. Klimt, a top F.B.I. official at its Criminal Justice Information Services Center in Clarksburg, W.Va., who oversees officer training. “Every stop can be potentially fatal, so we are trying to make sure the officers are ready and prepared every single day they go out,” Ms. Klimt said. “We try and teach that every day you go out, you are going to be encountered with deadly force by someone trying to kill you.”

Thought for Today
"They say women talk too much. If you have worked in Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by men."
--Claire Booth Luce (1903-1987), politician, diplomat and playwright.

Today's flower: Clematis or wildfire clematis

[pegasus]

Hairstylist or Oatmeal Cookie Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 121st day of 2012 with 244 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:48 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 57ºF [Feels like 58ºF], winds ESE @ 9 mph, humidity 30%, pressure 30.15 in and falling, dew point 26ºF, chance of precipitation 45%.

Today in History:
1789--George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.
1803--the US purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.
1812--Louisiana (formerly the Territory of Orleans) became the 18th state of the Union.
1900--engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a train wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in a successful effort to save the passengers.
1911--a fire broke out in Bangor, Me, destroying much of the downtown area before it was brought under control the next morning; two deaths were blamed on the blaze.
1912--Universal Studios had its beginnings as papers were filed and recorded in New York State.
1926--Actress Cloris Leachman turned 86 today.
1932--Willie Nelson, country singer, is 79 today.
1939--the New York World's Fair officially opened with an address by Pres. Roosevelt.
1945--as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.
1958--the American Association of Retired Persons (later simply AARP) was founded in Washington, D.C.
1968--New York City police forcibly removed student demonstrators occupying five buildings at Columbia University.
1973--Pres. Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, along with Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean.
1980--Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicated and was succeeded by her daughter, Princess Beatrix.
1997--ABC-TV aired the "coming out" episode of the situation comedy Ellen in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, acknowledged her homosexuality.
2002--.Benevolence International Foundation, an Islamic charity based in suburban Chicago, and its director were charged with perjury; later pleaded guilty to racketeering, admitting he'd defrauded donors by diverting some of the money to Islamic military groups in Bosnia and Chechnya.
2007--a British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets, including a nightclub, power plants and shopping mall with bombs.
2007--an Israeli government probe faulted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for what it called "very severe failures" in Israel's war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
2011--in Moscow, Japan's Miki Ando defeated Olympic champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea at the world figure skating championships originally scheduled for Japan, which had been devastated by an earthquake and tsunami.

World News Capsules:
1. Bahrain court orders retrial for jailed activists.

....A political activist who has been on a hunger strike for nearly three months and 20 others convicted of protesting the ruling monarchy will remain in prison pending new trials.
2. In crisis over dissident, US sends official to Beijing.

....Days before scheduled talks between the US and China, the Obama administration sought to contain the matter of an escaped blind activist who is said to be in the US embassy.
3. In vast jungle, US troops aid in search for Kony.

....A hundred of America's elite Special Operations troops are helping African forces find a wig-wearing, gibberish-speaking rebel commander named Joseph Kony.
4. In Great Britain, scandal and scrutiny hem in Murdoch's empire.
....The phone-hacking scandal is taking a toll on Rupert Murdoch’s broader holdings, prompting worry at News Corporation that years of business dealings could draw new attention.
5. Experts believe Iran conflict is less likely.
....With the revival of talks - which went unexpectedly well - and domestic differences arising in Israel, the odds of imminent conflict have decreased, experts and American officials say.
6. Former Israeli premier assails Netanyahu on Iran.
....In a wide-ranging critique of Benjamin Netanyahu that drew boos at a New York conference, Ehud Olmert urged him not to rush into military action against Iran.
7. In Italy, fake euros that even the authorities admire.
....Counterfeiting is a cottage industry in the Campania region, accounting for more than half of the 550,000 to 800,000 fake euro notes pulled from circulation annually by the central bank.
7. In Mexico, a race recast by YouTube and Twitter.
....A law passed in 2007 that was intended to keep campaigning orderly and clean has been undercut by the unpredictable and uncontrollable Web.
8. Malaysian police to investigate violence at protest.
....A rally supporting free elections over the weekend spiraled out of control when protesters broke through barricades in central Kuala Lumpur.
9. Myanmar opposition yields in oath dispute.

....The party of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi backed down in a dispute over Myanmar’s oath of office, agreeing to enter Parliament for the first time
10. US drone strike underlines clash of interests in Pakistan.
....With officials from the two countries trying to reset badly stalled relations, an American attack killed three suspected militants in Pakistan’s tribal belt.
11. Peru investigates mystery pelican deaths.

....This environmental investigation of the death of over 580 pelicans comes on the heels of an incident earlier in April when 877 dolphins washed up dead on the same stretch of coast.
12. Philippines role may expand as US adjusts Asia strategy.

....The American military presence in the Philippines has grown recently amid fear of a rising China, and top American and Philippine officials are meeting to discuss further buildup.
13. Sudan declares state of emergency as clashes continue.

....Sudanese authorities along the border with South Sudan will have wide powers to make arrests and set up special courts.
14. Attackers fire rockets at Syrian Central Bank.
....Despite efforts to implant a cease-fire, Syrian authorities said that attackers had fired anti-tank rockets at the office of the Central Bank in Damascus.

US News Capsules:
1. Big purses, sore horses and deaath - Casino cash fuels use of injured horsss at racetracks.

....Large payouts to owners make it profitable for owners to field thoroughbreds that are past their prime, sometimes with fatal results.
2. Amid rural decay, threes take root in silos.

....Many decrepit silos have through happenstance transformed into unlikely nurseries for trees.
3. Obesity-linked diabetes in children resists treatment.
....Not only are more children developing type 2 diabetes, but the disease progresses more quickly and is more difficult to control, a new study has found.
4. Wal-Mart's US expansion plans complicated by bribery scandal.
....A scandal involving Wal-Mart's Mexican subsidiary is giving critics of the company new reasons to push to block its expansion into big American cities.
5. Start-ups look to the crowd.
....The Pebble, a watch being developed to work with smartphones, has raised more than $7 million in financing on Kickstarter, a case that has signified the site’s coming of age.
6. Energy Transfer to buy Sunoco for $5.3 billion.
....Energy Transfer agreed to buy the energy transportation and distribution company Sunoco for $5.3 billion, marking the latest deal in America’s fast-expanding oil and natural gas industry.
7. Microsoft to take stake in Nook unit of Barnes & Noble.
....Microsoft announced that it would invest $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s Nook division for a 17.6% stake. The deal values the e-reader business at $1.7 billion.
8. THEATER: Follish mortals, naughty fairies: The usual mischief
.

....A modern-dress production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Classic Stage Company, with Taylor Mac as Puck, is a feast of arresting imagery.
9. MOVIES: Humphrey Bogart's boat 'African Queen' saved from scrapheap.

....The historic vessel which provided the setting for Humphrey Bogart's only Oscar winning performance has been resurrected from the scrapheap by a movie loving Florida couple.
10. SUV flips, and falls 60 feet; 7 die near Bronx Zoo.

....Seven people, including three children, died when a vehicle flipped over a guardrail and plunged nearly 60 feet to the ground, landing upside down in an area of the Bronx Zoo that is closed to the public, officials said.
11. Tornado shelters being built across South, Midwest.

....When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers' paths had nowhere to hide. Now many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes.
POLITICS:
1. Ryan's rise from follower to GOP trailblazer.

....Rep/ Paul D. Ryan, the Republican Party's de facto head of economic policy, may be its most influential policy maker.
2. Hardly a close ally, Clinton teams with Obama to raise cash and votes.

....Pres. Obama is embracing the former Pres, Clinton as a wise man who can reassure both the public and well-heeled benefactors.
3. Wife of 3x-aide to resume in Edwards trial.

....Cheri Young, the wife of Andrew Young, the star witness against former Sen. John Edwards, was to take the stand again in his federal corruption trial.
4. Obama campaign grapples with new voter ID laws.
....Advisers to Pres. Obama’s re-election bid say many new laws put a heavy burden on the voter registration process.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

'Slaughtered for their ivory': Up to 35,000 elephants slain in one year, charity says.

In a scene of inconceivable horror, these slaughtered elephant carcasses show the barbaric lengths poachers will go to in their hunt for nature's grim booty. The bodies were among a herd of 22 animals massacred in a helicopter-borne attack by professionals who swooped over their quarry. The scene beneath the rotor blades would have been chilling - panicked mothers shielding their young, hair-raising screeches and a mad scramble through the blood-stained bush as bullets rained down from the sky. When the shooting was over, all of the herd lay dead, one of the worst such killings in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in living memory.
Up to 35,000 elephants were killed last year for their tusks, Charlie Mayhew, the chief executive of Tusk Trust, said: "What we have witnessed over the last 18 months or two years has been a significant escalation in the poaching of both rhino for rhino horn and elephant for ivory, fueled by sort of a dramatic increase in demand from consumers in the Far East. Poachers have slaughtered half of the elephant population in a Cameroon park. Mayhew added. "South Africa lost 434 rhino last year. This year we know that they've lost more than 170 rhino. That's more than an average of one every 15 hours and that is just South Africa alone."
Britain's Prince William and Princess Katherine have thrown their star power behind the organization. Speaking at the London premiere of documentary African Cats, which was held in aid of Tusk Trust, the price said: "We must act now, coherently and together if the situation is to be reversed and our legacy -- our global, natural legacy -- preserved. Tomorrow will be too late."

Thought for Today
"There's a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker."
—Charles M. Schulz, Acartoonist (1922-2000).

Today's flower: Clematis 'Bieszczady' orearthquake clematis that quickly covers fences, trellises and walls in a sea of large, vibrant, colorful flowers. Prolific blooms last several weeks each summer.

[pegasus]

MAY DAY
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 122nd day of 2012 with 243 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:23 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 59ºF [Feels like 59ºF], winds WNW @ 6 mph, humidity 77%, pressure 30.01 in and steady, dew point 52ºF, chance of precipitation 25%.

Today in History:
1786--Mozart's opera, Le nozze di Figaro, premieree in Vienna.
1851--the Great Exhibition opened to wide acclaim in the Crystal Palace in London.
1863--the Battle of Chancellorsville began.
1898-- at Manila Bay in the Philippines, the US Asiatic Squadron destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War.
1915--in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Congress of Women adopts its resolutions on peace and women's suffrage.
1926--Ford factory workers got the 40-hour work week.
1931--Pres. Hoover officially dedicated the Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turned on the building's lights.
1941--the Orson Welles classic movie Citizen Kane was released to theaters.
1958--Pres. Eisenhower proclaimed Law Day.
1960--an American U-2 spy plane was shot down by the USSR.
1972--North Vietnamese troops captured Quang Tri.
1997--the Labour party returns to power in Britain after 18 years, led by Tony Blair.
2003--a record-breaking wave of tornadoes began across the southern and midwestern US.

World News Capsules:
1. Obama visits Afghanistan, signs partnership.

....Pres. Obama spoke to U.S. troops and signed an accord with Afghanistan's president..
2. Details are refuted in tale of Bo Guagua's red Ferrari.
....Accounts of Bo Guagua's reportedly lavish arrival at Jon M. Huntsman Jr.'s home in China last spring have been disputed by several people involved.
a. Unease mounting, China and US to open military talks.
....Despite escalating tensions in the Asia and Pacific region, the two nations have been unable to agree on a serious agenda for the talks that open Wednesday.
b. On a tightrope, Pres. Obama prods China on human rights.
....Pres. Obama pressed China to improve its record on human rights, while declining to discuss Chen Guangcheng, the blind lawyer who escaped house arrest.
2. u]Fpr the leader of France's far right, neither Sarkozy nor Hollande will do[/u].
....The head of France’s National Front party refused to endorse either remaining candidate, and instead urged her supporters to “vote according to your conscience.”.
3. British panels finds Murdoch unfit to lead media empire/

....After months of investigation into the hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers in Britain, a panel concluded that Mr. Murdoch was “not a fit person” to run a huge international company.
a. Cameron stands to lose much as scandal wears on.
....Politicians and media commentators are asking whether Prime Minister David Cameron can survive any further revelations about his close ties with the Murdochs and with two former Murdoch executives.
b. European leaders to weigh new capital requirements on banks.
....Britain is among the countries likely to press for the right to require its banks to hold more capital than the European Union minimum.
3. Scores missing in fatal ferry sinking in India.
....Rescuers in eastern India searched for survivors on Tuesday after a ferry with more than 300 passengers capsized during a severe storm.
4. A tiny island is where Iran makes a stand.
....Pres. Ahmadinejad is enjoying a surge of support and nationalism in a feud with the United Arab Emirates over Abu Musa, a four-square-mile spit of sand with about 2,000 inhabitants.
5. Israeli defense minister keeps all options open on Iran.
....Ehud Barak offered a dim view of talks on Iran's nuclear program and said all options, including a military strike, remained on the table despite weeks of criticism over the stance.
a. After leadership defeat, Livni resigns from Israeli parliament
.
...Tzipi Livni, who recently lost the leadership of her centrist Kadima Party and her position as leader of the opposition, resigned from the Israeli Parliament but said that she was not quitting public life.
6. Malaysian police to investigate violence at protest.
....A rally supporting free elections over the weekend spiraled out of control when protesters broke through barricades in central Kuala Lumpur.
7. Loyalists of Mali's overthrown leader appear to be attempting countercoup.
....Those loyal to the president, who was overthrown in March, fired guns in what appeared to be an attempt to gain control from the ruling military junta.
8. Euro stress crosses border into the Netherlands.

....With their economy in recession and facing new belt-tightening measures, the Dutch are showing grim determination.
9. To US security official says 'Rigorous standards' are used for Pakistani drone strikes.
....John O. Brennan, Pres. Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, said strikes targeting suspected militants always come after extensive deliberations.
10. US reaffirms defense of Philippines in standoff with China
.
....The standoff under way in a disputed corner of the South China Sea began April 8.
11. Violence heavy in Syria despite monitors, UN says.
....The head of the UN peacekeeping efforts reported an “appalling” level of violence in the country nearly three weeks into the first deployment of cease-fire monitors there.

US News Capsules:
1. Obama, silent on dissident, urges freedom in China.
....Pres. Obama pressed China to improve its record on human rights, while declining to discuss Chen Guangcheng, the blind lawyer who escaped house arrest.
2. With Green Beret tactics, combating gang warfare.
....Two state troopers who were deployed in Iraq are using their counterinsurgency training for a program to combat drug and gang violence back home.
3. Clouds' effect on climate change is last bastion for dissenters.

....In recent years, climate change skeptics have seized on one last argument that cannot be so readily dismissed. Their theory is that clouds will save us.
4. This prom has everything, except for boys.

....A dream to take part in an American rite of passage came true for girls whose faith forbids them to date or dance with boys. Tharima Ahmed, 17, is a senior at Hamtramck High School, who organized an all-girls prom there so that Muslim girls could attend while abiding by their religious beliefs.
5. Insights from the youngest minds.

....Elizabeth S. Spelke studies infants and toddlers to understand how the brain works by determining what, if anything, humans are born knowing.
6. Five men arrested in Ohio bridge plot.

....The men had planned to blow up a bridge, but had considered landmarks in the Cleveland area, too.
7. California chefs to wild their spatulas in fight over foie gras ban.
....Some of California’s best-known chefs, such as Thomas Keller, began a full-course press on the state’s legislators, hoping to prevent the ban from taking effect.
8. HEALTH NEWS: Tasers pose risk to heart, a study warns.
....An analysis of eight people who went into cardiac arrest after receiving shocks from the devices highlights the risks they carry and the importance of using them properly.
a. ER doctors face quandary on painkillers.
....Overuse of narcotics and addiction are an issue, but emergency physicians often lack the training and tools to effectively help patients complaining of tooth pain and seeking prescription painkillers.
b. Should young athletes be screened for heart risk?
....Sudden cardiac death is far more prevalent among young athletes than previously believed, recent research has shown
9. A word heard often, except at the US Supreme Court..
....The justices do not want to hear the most versatile of the Anglo-Saxon swear words even when the case before them turns on it
10. Facebook is urging members to add organ donor status.

....In a rare foray into social engineering, Facebook announced a plan to encourage users to list their donor status on their pages, a move that organ transplant experts are calling historic.
11. Wall Street rallies on factory index.
....Shares rose after data on the manufacturing sector offered evidence of a faster economic recovery.
12. Wal-Mart's good-citizen efforts face a test.
....With controversy building over its role in a Mexican bribery scandal, Wal-Mart's desire to stay out of the limelight grows.
a. New York pension funds to challenge Wal-Mart..
....Concerned about Wal-Mart's reported cover-up of bribery, leaders of New York City's pension funds said they would vote their 4.7 million company shares against five directors standing for re-election.
12. SCIENCE: In birds' pursuit of love, new plant life blooms
.
....Male bowerbirds, through the extravagant structures they build to woo females, actually cultivate plant life, a study has found..
a. Best case scenario: two chances to mate.
....A study of mating behavior in one species of orb-web spiders, who can mate at most twice in one lifetime, has revealed interesting patterns of male monogamy.
b. Life in the sea found its fate in a paroxysm of extinction.
....Painstaking analyses of fossils from the Permian extinction, 252 million years ago, are providing startling new clues to the behavior of modern marine life and its future.
c. An underground fossil forest offers clues on climate change.
....A vast expanse of fossilized trees more than 300 million years old — called a “botanical Pompeii” — could extend as much as 100 miles underneath southern Illinois.
13. ARTS: [/iOnce leads the 2012 Tony Awards nominations.

....[/i]Once received 11 nods, including for best musical, director, actor, and actress, while Peter and the Starcatcher led the unusually strong pack of plays.
a. Seacrest assembles TV empire.
....Ryan Seacrest, the host of American Idol, is also working more behind the scenes as he tries to build an entertainment empire.
14. Living with fracking voolations.
i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120309024651-no-to-fracking-2010-c1-main.jpg/img]
....Pennsylvanians with natural gas wells on their land don't have to be told about safety violations. And for many landowners the royalties outweigh the potential dangers,
POLITICS:
1. Ties to Romney '08 helped fuel an equity firm.
....Tagg Romney, Mitt Romney's eldest son, and Spencer Zwick, a Romney campaign fund-raiser, turned to wealthy campaign donors for investments in their firm.
2. Wife of Edwards aide says she tried to document money trail
.
...Cheri Young says her efforts were an attempt to protect her and her husband from legal action.
3. Candidate for Senate defends past and genealogist finds record of Warren's American-Indian ancestry.
....Elizabeth Warren, who is running for the Senate in Massachusetts, was accused of claiming American Indian ancestry to advance her career. An 1894 marriage record reportedly lists Elizabeth Warren’s great-great-great grandmother as Cherokee, another twist in a dispute in the Massachusetts Senate race.
4. Providence mayor moves financial woes to fore.
....Mayor Angel Taveras of Providence, R.I., said the only way the city could avoid bankruptcy was by scaling back pension benefits..

Thought for Today
"Anyone who is satisfied to stand still should not complain when others pass him." — Italian proverb.

Today's flower: Sauromatum venosum or Voodoo lily with a jungle like appearance with its dark, intense colors. A single slender, purple-brown flower spike is surrounded by a speckled spathe.



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

BIG BROTHERS & SISTERS DAY
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 123rd day of 2012 with 242 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:52 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 69ºF [Feels like 69ºF], winds NE @ 8 mph, humidity 69%, pressure 30.0. in and falling, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 30%.

World News Capsules:
1. A visit well-timed to future uncertainties in Afghanistan.

....Pres. Obama's visit to Afghanistan for the first time in 17 months was a chance to make the most of a brief window when relations between the two governments are improving after months of crisis.
a. 6 Aghans die as suicide attacker strikes in Kabul.
....Less than two hours after Pres. Obama left Afghanistan, a large bomb exploded at the gates of the Green Village, a compound used by foreigners.
2. Dissident exits embassy after talkes between US and China.

....Following intensive negotiations, US officials say the Chinese government promised that Chen Guangcheng and his family would remain safe and could relocate to the port city of Tianjin.
a. Activist now wants to leave China.
....The blind Chinese activist at the center of a six-day diplomatic tussle between the U.S. and China said he fears for his family's lives and wants to leave China, hours after American officials announced an agreement with Beijing that was to guarantee his safety.
3. Baseball in their veins, but a new ball at their feet.

....Even with a less storied past than baseball, which has long been considered as Cuban as hand-rolled cigars, soccer has made inroads in Cuba in recent years.
4. 0 killed as fierce clashes erupt in Egypt ahead of vote.

....The violence followed days of a simmering standoff, and threw the upcoming presidential election into disarray as several candidates announced the suspension of their campaigns.
5. Austerity pain fills Europe with protests on May Day.
....Urging alternatives for economic growth, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Spain, Britain, France, Greece, Germany and beyond.
a. Unemployment reaches record hgh in Euro Zone.

....Unemployment rose to 10.9% in March, the 11th monthly increase in row, and is likely to add to tension ahead of national elections in Greece and France.
6. Broadcaster distances itself from News Corp.
....A day after a British parliamentary panel castigated Rupert Murdoch, BSkYB insisted that it was a “fit and proper” company to hold a broadcasting license.
a. With report, a tabloid editor is again part of the story.
....Colin Myler, editor of The Daily News and former editor of The News of the World, was targeted in a British parliamentary panel’s report on the phone-hacking scandal.
7. Group seeks suspension of Iran from IMF.
....An American advocacy group is seeking to pressure the International Monetary Fund to withdraw all its holdings in Iran’s central bank or to suspend Iranian membership.
8. Irish cardinal rejects new accusations on pedophile priest.
....The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland said he would not step down despite new accusations he allowed a serial pedophile priest to keep his job, allowing the abuse to continue.
a. European financial treaty faces skeptical Irish voters in tough referendum fight.
....Advocates say a “no” vote on the treaty could hurt Ireland’s ability to borrow internationally, while opponents say the pact’s limits on deficits and debt could prolong Ireland’s slump.
9. Israel army closes probe into deaths of 21 Gazns.
....The Israeli military said Wednesday it would not file any charges in what was one of the gravest incidents in the 2009 war in the Gaza Strip.
10. Mali uprising proves no threat to junta leder's vision of authority.
....Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, who led a coup in March, spoke of a continuing role in public life for the junta, which he called “the committee.
11. An extra-official touch for Russia's May Day.
....Russia’s leaders took part in a trade union parade with an estimated crowd of 150,000, as a nation re-enacted celebrations from the Soviet era.
12. Seoul says North Korea tries to disrupt air navigation.
....North Korea has sent out jamming signals since Saturday in an apparent attempt to disrupt civilian and military air and ground traffic in South Korea, officials said.
13. UN seeks more recruits to monitor truce in Syria.
....Only about half of the 300 people sought to monitor the cease-fire have made commitments to do so, the top United Nations peacekeeping official said.

US News Capsules:
1. Complacency and concerns as St. Louis faces vulnerability in deadly storms.

....A fast-moving storm that raced through downtown St. Louis raised questions about how seriously people in the area heed bad-weather warnings.
2. 13 charged in Florida A&M drum major's hazing death,

....The Orange County Sheriff's Office said charges would be brought against members of the school band involved in the death of Robert Champion.
3. Army will reshape training, with lessons from Special Forces.
....The changes institutionalize tactics adopted ad hoc in Iraq and Afghanistan, including putting some conventional units under Special Operations command.
4. Change in LAPD policy has immigrants hoping for more.
....Los Angeles’s decision to stop impounding the cars of all unlicensed drivers has heartened supporters of legislation granting drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.
5. Harvard and MIT team up to offer free online courses.
....The universities announced a new nonprofit partnership, known as edX, that will offer vast new learning opportunities for students around the world.
6. HEALTH: US lags in global measure of preterm births.
....The US is similar to developing countries in the percentage of mothers who give birth before their child is due, according to the World Health Organization and other agencies.
a. Debate over who should be allowed to administer anesthesia moves to courts.
....The dispute pits nurse anesthetists, who specialize in administering anesthesia and maintain that they are well equipped to treat patients on their own, against anesthesiologists (who cost more).
7. Fate of Postal Service awaits action in House.
....The House lags behind the Senate on legislation to help the debt-ridden Postal Service, which could begin closing post offices in two weeks.
8. Pfizer races to reinvent itself.
....With its best-selling drugs losing patent protection, Pfizer is shedding money-making but noncore businesses to focus on pharmaceutical sciences.
9. SPORTS: $ Saints players suspended.

....Four current or former Saints players (Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma) have been suspended without pay for varying length of times for their roles in a bounty program to try to injure opposing players.
POLITICS:
1. In pursuit of Mayor Bloomberg, the reluctant endorser.
....Though President Obama and Mitt Romney publicly disagree with New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on a range of issues, they are both determined to score his endorsement.
2. Romney foreign policy spokesman quits.
....Richard Grenell, an openly gay foreign policy spokesman for Mitt Romney’s campaign, quit amid pressure by some Republicans who criticized his appointment.
3. Gingrich to suspend campaign.

(A picture's worth a thousand words)
....Newt Gingrich will briefly mention presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and signal support for his candidacy when the former House speaker suspends his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, Gingrich's spokesman R.C. Hammond said..



Thought for Today
"What experience and history teach is this: that people and governments have never learned anything from history."
—-[/i]Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (1770-1831

Today's flower: Aster ericoides or snowdrift aster - shimmers like a freshly fallen mountain snow with its countless tiny,white daisies with bright yellow centers.Butterflies and bees love this low mounding ground cover.



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

National Day of Prayer
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 124th day of 2012 with 241 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:28 p.m., it's fair, temp 74ºF [Feels like 75ºF], winds Variable @ 5 mph, humidity 71%, pressure 30.02 in and falling, dew point 64ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.

World News Capsules:
1. A car chase, secret talks and second thoughts.
....New details of intrigue, heroics and ultimately what some people involved called a betrayal emerged from the 10-day saga of dissident Chen Guangcheng.
a. Activist asks to leave China, deepening US predicament.

....An American official said that Chen Guangcheng had reversed his position and now wanted to leave China, injecting new uncertainty into a tense diplomatic situation, overshadowing Secretaries Clinton and Geithner in their ecibinuc talks with China,
2. Dubai finesses ease of luxury shopping for Chinese,
....Some 214,000 Chinese tourists came to Dubai last year, a nine-fold increase from 25,000 visitors a decade earlier, and stores are responding with incentives and brand names.
3. Egypt's military rulers deny role in fatal clashes.

....The generals also defended their tenure, and said they were “committed” to handing over power to a civil authority by the end of June.
4. France approaches the end of a presidential campaign with a bitter debate.
....Pres. Sarkozy and his Socialist challenger, François Hollande, clashed on Wednesday night in their only televised debate before Sunday’s election.
5. Britons vote in bellwether midterm ballot.
....At a time of austerity and fallout from the phone hacking scandal, Britons were expected to use mayoral and local council elections as a rebuke of their country’ s coalition government.
a. Britain's biggest satellite broadcaster distances itself from Murdoch.
....Following a scathing British parliamentary report declaring Rupert Murdoch unfit to run a media empire, BSkyB insisted that its own track record should determine fitness to hold a broadcasting license.
6. Corruption case hits hard in a tough time for Greece.
....The case of the former defense minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, has raised emotional issues in a political culture widely seen as rife with corruption.
7. Sitting around, having a drink, joking about sex, on Iraqi TV.

....There Is Someone is a show that has attracted a huge following with the sort of talk that is popular with young men everywhere, but censors and religious groups are not laughing.
8. Pressure in Ireland grows on Catholic leader to resign.
....Abuse survivors, senior government ministers, serving priests, canon lawyers, newspaper editorials, police officials, human rights groups were among those calling on the primate to step down.
9. Israel military clears soldiers in deaths of Gaza civiliams.
....The Israeli military said that it had closed its inquiry into the deaths of at least 21 Palestinian family members during the 2009 Gaza war, and denied charges that forces deliberately attacked civilians.
10. UN committee puts 3 North Korean companies on a blacklist.
....The North Korean state companies were put on a blacklist of firms banned from international trade in response to the country’s launching of a rocket last month.
11. Fallout of Bin Laden raid: aid groups in Pakistan are suspect,

....Humanitarian work that helped millions of Pakistanis was compromised after it emerged that Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination scheme to help the C.I.A. locate Osama bin Laden,
a. Qaida rifts seen in documents found in Bin Laden hideout


....Al Qaida’s senior leadership was split by debates on tactics, strategy and even marketing in the months leading up to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
12. Palestinian resistance shifts to hunger strikes.
....With the peace process stalled, analysts see nonviolent resistance as a critical tactic for the Palestinian national movement.
13. Russian general threatens 'pre-emptive' attacks on missile-defense sites,
....Russian officials have said previously that the anti-missile sites could become targets in the event of war, but the threat of a pre-emptive attack on sites in Eastern Europe was new.
14. Deadly crackdown reported at university in Syria.

....Syrian security forces raided the public university in Aleppo after antigovernment protests there, killing at least four students, activist groups reported.
a. Chess leader visits Syria under cloud of ambiguity.
....Kirsan N. Ilyumzhinov held a three-hour meeting with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, but it was unclear whether he was acting on his own or unofficially on Moscow’s behalf.
15. European politics dims Ukraine's chance to shine.
....Ukraine’s hosting of the European soccer championships next month has become one of the most serious diplomatic disputes in its post-Soviet history.

US News Capsules:
1. US lags in global measure of premature births.
....The US is similar to developing countries in the percentage of mothers who give birth before their child is due, according to the World Health Organization and other agencies.
2. Flying between smalller cities is becoming a marathon.
....Even with the demand for seats increasing, the big airlines have not restored many of their flights, particularly on routes to small airports.
3. "The Scream" is auctioned for a record $119.9 million.

.... A version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream," one of the most recognizable images in art history, sold at Sotheby's for the most ever paid for artwork at auction.
4. Facebook sets stock target putting value at $86 billion.

....At the midpoint of its offering range, the social networking company is on track to raise $10.6 billion, with trading expected to begin May 17 or 18.
5. Border vigilante leader seen as gunman as 5 die in murder-suicide.

....The police believe that Jason Ready, a well-known opponent of illegal immigration, was the gunman in the attack.
6. Methodists vote not to change outlook on homosexuality.
....Church members will keep long-contested wording in “Book of Discipline” that calls homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching."
7. Stumbling across a rarity, even for the rare book room.
....A drawing, tucked into an old medical text, was signed “P. Revere Sculp,” and the librarian who found it knew it might be big.
8. Study finds concerns on readiness for cyberattacks.
....“While a great deal of work has been done” on cybersecurity, an official said, “more efforts need to be taken, and there needs to be further action."
9. California man's "drug holiday" becomes 4-day nightmare in holding cell.
....Daniel Chong, a University of California student, was swept up in a DEA raid and placed in a holding cell, where he said he was forgotten for four days, without food or water.
10. Signs of decision on accused Philadelphia priests.
....Priests from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia met Wednesday with Archbishop Charles J. Chaput ahead of an announcement about results of an investigation into claims of sexual abuse against 27 priests.
POLITICS:
1. Edwards lawyers try to chip away at main witness's credibility.
....In their questioning of several former aides, lawyers for John Edwards tried to cast doubt on the honesty of the lead witness in the federal government’s corruption trial.
2. Romney camp stirred storm over gay aide.
....Richard Grenell, a foreign policy spokesman for Mitt Romney, resigned after an unexpectedly messy and public dispute over his role and reputation.
3. A delicate new balance on national security.
....For Pres. Obama, the days leading up to his re-election kickoff have been spent straddling the precarious line between hawk and dove, and possibly redefining his party for years to come.

Thought for Today
"Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness."
—-May Sarton, poet (1912-1995)

Today's flower: Clematis or Ernest Markham clematis - this midsummer charmer ambles elegantly around a garden trellis, fence or pergola.

[pegasus]

INTERNATIONAL FIREFIGHTERS DAY
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the 125th day of 2012 with 240 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:54 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 69ºF [Feels like 71ºF], winds W @ 8 mph, humidity 78%, pressure 29.95 in and rising, dew point 62ºF, chance of precipitation 40%.

World News Capsules:
1. In-laws sentenced in Afghan girl's torture case.
....Three of Sahar Gul’s in-laws were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for inflicted painful injuries on the girl, including burning her scalp and pulling out some of her nails.
2. Brazil sending more troops to guard Amazon borders.
....n an effort to protect its wealth of resources, Brazil is increasing its military presence along the Amazon borders near Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana and Guyana.
3. Dissident's plea for protection from China deepens crisis.

....Facing criticism amid fraying relations with China, American officials privately acknowledged missteps in the handling of the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng.
a. Chinese dissident seeks exit.
....Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner continued economic talks with China, but they were overshadowed by the Chen Guangcheng case.
b. Nascent deal would let dissident from China study in US.
....Chinese officials will allow Chen Guangcheng to apply to study abroad, American officials said, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton cautioned that his case was not yet resolved.
c. US stresses concessions from China.
....For the first time, according to senior American officials, Chinese policy makers said they would commit to removing advantageous financing and regulatory conditions to state-owned enterprises.
4. Despite chaos above ground, Cairo's metro system runs smoothly.

....The Cairo subway continues to offer residents consistent, efficient service, while most others suffer in the year since the revolution.
a. Egyptian troops, protesters clash in Cairo.
....Protesters tried to march on the Defense Ministry, a flashpoint for a new cycle of violence only weeks ahead of presidential elections. The generals defended their tenure, and said they were “committed” to handing over power to a civil authority by the end of June.
5. French prosecutors looking into new sex allegations against Strauss-Kahn.

....French prosecutors in Lille said they are considering widening an investigation into former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged participation in a prostitution ring.
6. Early results show oppositions gains in Great Britain.
....Britons seemed to have turned against their national leaders in mayoral and local council votes that are seen as a midterm judgment on Britain’s coalition government.
a. British government seeks special status at hacking inquiry.
....The government applied for the status of a core participant, given to those with a special interest in the hearings’ outcome, days before two key figures in the scandal were set to testify.
6. Iranians vote in runoff parliamentary election.
....Conservative factions that already dominate the Parliament seemed to be cruising to victory in a second round of elections to the 290-member assembly.
7. Japan's leaders fret as nuclear shutdown nears.
....Japan will become a nuclear-free nation for the first time in more than four decades, but leaders are worried about power shortages, the economy and widespread opposition against turning the plants back on.
8. New doubts over reform as Jordan shifts cabinet.
....Since protests inspired by the Arab Spring rocked Jordan 15 months ago, King Abdullah II, who promised electoral changes, has replaced three prime ministers.
9. Three photographers found dead in Mexico.
....Days after the murder of a magazine reporter, the bodies of three photojournalists were found dismembered in the eastern state of Veracruz.
10. Suicide bomber attacks check post in Pakistan.
....An apparent Taliban suicide attack in a tribal district along the Afghan border killed 19 people and wounded 57, hospital and government officials said.
a. Recovered Bin Laden letters show a divided al-Qaida.
....Al Qaida’s senior leadership was split by debates on tactics, strategy and even marketing in the months leading up to the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
11. Palestinians go hungry to make their voices heard.
....With the peace process stalled, analysts see nonviolent resistance as a critical tactic for the Palestinian national movement.
a. A show of solidarity for hunger strikers.
....Scores of Palestinian prisoners have joined a hunger strike that officials say now counts more than 1,500 participants.
12. Double blast in volatile Russian region kills 13.
....At least 13 people were killed and over 100 injured in a double bombing at a police station in Russia’s tumultuous North Caucasus region.
a. Leaving the presidency in Russia, Medvedev fights for relevance.
....The announcement that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin would return as president dealt a heavy blow to Pres. Dmitri A. Medvedev’s profile, suggesting that he meekly stepped away from a position he badly wanted.
13. Forces storm university in Syria during protest, killing at leas 4, activists say.
....The bloody repression of the student protest on Thursday by Syrian forces further eroded a truce negotiated under United Nations auspices.

US News Capsules:
1. For craftsmen, fragile lifeline from Craigslist.
....Largely excluded from the economic recovery, carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other construction workers are pleading for work on the online classified advertising site.
2. Small investors may get to own a bit of Facebook.
....While shares of the hottest initial public offerings go almost entirely to Wall Street banks that oversee the stock sale, Facebook has discussed raising the number of shares that will go to retail investors.
3. Pension plan sues Wal-Mart officials over failures.
....The lawsuit says current and former executives and board members breached their fiduciary duty in their handling of allegations involving a Mexican subsidiary.
4. An oasis, once gilded, now greened.
....Duke Farms in Hillsborough, N.J., after a $45 million face-lift, has been turned into a secluded public park with a specific mission: Teach visitors to be good stewards of the environment.
5. US study cites worries on readiness for cyberattacks.
....A report assessing the nation's ability to respond to terrorist attacks and various disasters found that state and local officials are the most concerned about dealing with cyberattacks.
6. New US proposal on fracking gives ground to industry.
....Under a revised version of a rule proposed by the White House, companies drilling on public lands would have to identify the chemicals used, but not until after drilling is completed.
7. State Department revises foreign student job program after abuse complaints.
....The State Department responded to a wave of complaints about grueling work that students were forced to do.
8. New application submitted for Keystone pipeline.
....The revised route for the Keystone XL pipeline avoids the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region of Nebraska and restarts the clock on the review process.
9. 5 Philadelphia priests are defrocked in abuse inquiry.
....The priests were among 26 who were suspended early last year because of accusations of sexual abuse or improper sexual behavior.
10. Muslim woman bridges faiths to advance progressive goals.
....Faiza N. Ali, a Muslim trained by a Jewish agency to work with a coalition of mostly Christian churches, is a community organizer trying to increase the impact of the religious left in policy debates.
11. Panetta warns military over Afghanistan misconduct.
....Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said episodes of misconduct by some troops in Afghanistan had damaged the chances for battlefield success.
12. Tired of 'tainted' image, lobbyists try makeover.
....Some of Washington’s leading lobbyists are mounting a concerted push to earn, if not respectability, then at least something less than public disdain.
13. MOVIES: Superheroes, super battles, super egos.

....Joss Whedon's long-awaited superhero opus The Avengers arrives with a big cast, frequent battles and abundant banter among its characters.
a. Seven tickets to India, please, and reservations for an adventure.

....Retirement-age Britons travel to India, where adventures await in the ensemble comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
b. Comic guerrilla tries sticking with the script.
....The Dictator, the latest movie from Sacha Baron Cohen, features a new guise for that actor: an African despot who takes up residence in Brooklyn.
POLITICS:
1. 4 years later, race is still issue for some voters.

....Research suggests Pres. Obama’s mixed-race heritage can still be a powerful factor in economically distressed regions with high proportions of white working-class residents.
2. Virginia, a state in flux, is also a state in play.
....To win Virginia, political analysts say Pres. Obama will have to extend his 2008 inroads in the rapidly growing suburbs deep in the more traditionally Southern parts of the state.
3. On Sundays, tight Obama circle sizes up election.

....At the gatherings, the president, who will formally open his re-election campaign on Saturday, and a tight circle of advisers gird for the coming battle with Mitt Romney.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

"Super moon" to put shine on night-sky viewing.

Wait until dark Saturday. Dust off your telescope or binoculars. Grab the kids (dust them off too if needed). Go outside. Look up at the moon. Does it look bigger than usual? According to NASA, this May’s full moon is called a "super moon,” and it will look about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year.
Scientists call it a “perigee moon.” Perigee, as all good space and science geeks know, means the moon is as close to the Earth as it will get for a while. The exact time of perigee will be 11:34 p.m. EDT Saturday. (Apogee means far away – but we don’t care about a distant, tiny dim moon, do we?)
The best time to see the "super moon" is just as it crosses Earth's horizon. The moon always looks biggest then, although why is a bit of a mystery. Go online to find out when the moon rises in your area.

Doctors to examine Junior Seau's brain.

Junior Seau's family will let researchers study the former NFL linebacker's brain for evidence of trauma, San Diego Chargers chaplain Shawn Mitchell said. Since news broke that the former Chargers linebacker killed himself Wednesday with a gunshot to the chest, there has been speculation about whether repeated hits to his head over his 20-year pro career could have been a contributing factor.
The family made the decision to allow the research in hopes it will help NFL players and others in the future, Mitchell said. While there was no evidence Seau suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative disease brought on by multiple concussions, friends and family have stepped forward to say the legendary linebacker suffered a number of hits to the head during his career.

Thought for Today
"Goodness, armed with power, is corrupted; and pure love without power is destroyed."
—-Reinhold Niebuhr, theologian (1892-1971)

Today's flower: Helenium autumnale 'Rotgold-Hybrids' for a helenium mix

[pegasus]

CINCO DE MAYO
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 126th day of 2012 with 239 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:48 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 55ºF [Feels like 55ºF], winds variable @ 7 mph, humidity 67%, pressure 30.09 in and steady, dew point 45ºF, chance of precipitation 15%.

World News Capsules:
1. Clinton to push tolerance in Bangladesh.
....As Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in tumultuous Dhaka, she was expected to emphasize democracy and development in one of the world’s most impoverished nations.
2. Amid Brazil's rush to develop, workers resist.

....Brazil is leading a rush among South American nations to build hydroelectric dams in the Amazon, but workers demanding better pay and benefits are disrupting the projects.
3. For China, a dissident in exile is one less headache back home.
....Once exiled, nettlesome prisoners of conscience, like Chen Guangcheng, almost invariably lose their ability to grab headlines in the West and to command widespread sympathy both in China and abroad.
4. Faltering German party, a coalition partner to Merkel, faces an electoral test..
....The pro-business Free Democrats, also known as the F.D.P., have failed to even reach the 5% threshold for representation in five out of the last six state elections.
5. London's mayor aside, Conservatives fare poorly in British races.
....At a time of deepening austerity, Britons seem to have turned against their national leaders in bellwether mayoral and local council elections.
a. British government seeks special status at hacking inquiry.
....The government applied for the status of a core participant, given to those with a special interest in the hearings’ outcome, days before two key figures in the scandal were set to testify.
6. In elections, Greeks are expected to make old guard pay for turmoil.
....Along with French elections, and with a rising tide of anti-austerity sentiment across Europe, Greece’s vote is expected to have a clear impact on the future of the euro.
7. Iranians vote in a runoff for parliament.
....Conservative factions that already dominate the Parliament seemed to be cruising to victory in a second round of elections to the 290-member assembly.
8. Officials: US drone strike kills 8 in Pakistan.
....An American drone fired a volley of missiles into a house close to the Afghan border, killing eight suspected militants, officials said.
a. Suicide bomber attacks market in Pakistan, killing at least 25.
....An apparent Taliban suicide attack in a tribal district along the Afghan border killed 26 people and wounded 75, hospital and government officials said.
9. Serbs losing fervor for European Union accession.
....With the Serbian economy lagging, voters are expected on Sunday to show their disenchantment with the government of Boris Tadic, which has advocated for membership to the bloc.
a. Serbia, at a crossroads, prepares for elections.
....Facing a challenge from the right, the pro-Western president, Boris Tadic, will ask Serbian voters for a fresh mandate in voting.
10. In Sudan, give war a chance.
....An all-out civil war in Sudan may be the best way to permanently oust Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his brutal, corrupt government.
11. Explosions hit major Syrian cities, leaving at least 3 dead.
....Explosions in two major cities are further signs that rebels fighting to topple Pres. Assad are shifting tactics.

US News Capsules:
1. Reasons abound for ebb in job growth.
....Economists cited various possible factors behind the addition of only 115,000 jobs in April, but none are likely to comfort 13.7 million jobless workers.
2. Family battle offers look inside lavish TV ministry.

(The Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, Fla.,)
....A granddaughter of the couple that founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network has gone public with accusations of financial impropriety and excess, which TBN denies.
3. A repository for eagles finds itself in demand.
....American Indians, who use dead eagles for traditional ceremonies, face long waits for the animals when they submit applications to the National Eagle Repository outside Denver.
4. 9/11 Defendants disrupt hearing at Guantanamo.

....The hearing for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other detainees descended quickly into chaos, as the defendants refused to answer the judge’s questions.
5. Connecticut passes marijuana bill.
....The Connecticut Senate passed a bill legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, with tight restrictions.
6. An economic lifeline of barley and hops.
....In Bend, Ore. — with no Interstate, no university and the closest major city 160 miles away across steep and snowy mountains — beer has had room to make a difference.
POLITICS:
1. On Sundays, tight Obama circle sizes up election.
....At the gatherings, the president, who will formally open his re-election campaign on Saturday, and a tight circle of advisers gird for the coming battle with Mitt Romney

Thought for Today
"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, everyday, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity."
--[/i]Christopher Morley, writer & editor (1890-1087)

Today's flower: Verbena peruviana or Peruvian red verbena



[/size][/color]

[pegasus]

ASIAN-AMERICAN PACIFIC HERITAGE MONTH
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 128th day of 2012 with 237 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:32 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 62ºF [Feels like 62ºF], winds S @ 12 mph, humidity 75%, pressure 30.02 in and steady, dew point 54ºF, chance of precipitation 15%.

[World News Capsules:
1. US confirms airstrike wrongly killed 6 Afghan family members.
....The strike, which was called in response to a Taliban attack in Sangin district, resulted in the deaths of a mother and five of her children.
2. [Damming the Amazon in Brazil/u].
....Brazil is planning to build at least 20 hydroelectric dams in the Amazon region by 2020, but indigenous residents say they are threatened and so is the rainforest.
a, Amid Brazil's rush to develop, workers resist.
....As the country moves to tap one of the world’s last great reserves of hydroelectric power, the Amazon basin, strikes and worker uprisings at the biggest projects are producing delays and cost overruns.
3. In rise and fall of China's Bo Xilai, an arc of ruthlessness
.
....Bo Xilai's talents were counterbalanced by what friends and critics alike say was an insatiable ambition and studied indifference to the wrecked lives that littered his path to power.
4. Candidates in Egypt work to mollify the military.
....The generals’ willingness to submit to civilian authority will determine whether last year’s uprising lives up to its billing as a democratic revolution or amounts instead to a coup.
5. Austerity faces sharper debate after European elections.

....After voters in elections in France and Greece punished leaders pushing austerity, Europeans contemplated an untested political landscape shaped by demands for both austerity and growth.
6. François Hollande ousts Sarkozy in French presidential election.

....François Hollande became the first Socialist president of France since 1995, but his victory over Nicolas Sarkozy will also be seen as a challenge to the policy of austerity in the euro zone.
a. Election puts French Afghan force on notice.
.....French troops on course to leave Afghanistan by the end of this year awaited word on whether the new French president will speed up their withdrawal.
7. Merkel's coalition battered in northern state.
....The outcome of the vote was seen as setting the tone for next week’s election in the most populous of Germany’s 16 states, North Rhine-Westphalia
8. Splintered vote throws Greek politics further into confusion.
....The leader of the center-right New Democracy party struggled on Monday to form a governing coalition amid growing uncertainty about Greece’s political stability and staying power inside the euro zone
9. Honduras becomes the focal point in America's drug war.
....The United States military has brought lessons from the past decade of conflict to the drug war, constructing remote base camps with little public notice but with the support of the Honduran government.
10. Netanyahu calls for early elections in Israel.
....Parliament is expected to dissolve itself on Monday, with the popular vote scheduled for Sept. 4, rather than October 2013.
11. Arab Spring spurs Palestinian journalists to test free speech limits.
....Palestinian journalists and activists, imbued with the spirit of the Arab Spring, have become more daring, but the instinct of some in the Palestinian Authority has been to crack down
12. Amid protests, Putin returns to presidency in Russia.

....Vladimir V. Putin reclaimed the Russian presidency, saying “It is the meaning of my whole life,” as the police tried to stamp out a second day of protests in Moscow.
13. In Serbia, a populist makes gains in elections marked by anger over the economy.
....Sunday’s vote in presidential and parliamentary elections in Serbia could determine whether the nation lurches back toward nationalism.
14. Syrians vote in election dismissed by foes as farce.

....Syria held parliamentary elections on Monday, which the government billed as a step toward reform and the opposition dismissed as a farce that ignored demands for real political change.
15, Militant tied to ship bombing is said to be killed.
....Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, a Qaeda militant who has been on the F.B.I.’s Most Wanted list for the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole, was killed in an airstrike, Yemeni officials said

US News Capsules:
1. Foreclosed houses become homes for indoor marijuana farms.
....Marijuana growers are shifting to the suburbs from rural and commercial areas, helped by a housing crisis that created a glut of affordable houses for indoor farming.
2. Freight train late? Blame Chicago.

....A load of freight can make its way from Los Angeles to Chicago in 48 hours, then take 30 hours to travel across the city.
3. Retired military officers teaching at Ivy League schools.
....Campuses that once turned a cold shoulder to the military are now inviting former top officers to come and teach.
4. No suspects yet in killing at Kentucky Derby racetrack.
....The Louisville police interviewed more people in the killing of a Guatemalan immigrant whose body was found in a barn at Churchill Downs hours after the Kentucky Derby.
5. 9/11 defendants were protesting 'unjust system' at hearing, lawyers say.
....Lawyers for five men charged with conspiring in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 said the process was rigged to lead to the execution of their clients.
6. Move to outsource teacher licensing process draws protest.
....Student teachers at the University of Massachusetts are protesting a new national licensure procedure being developed by the education company Pearson and Stanford University.
POLITICS:
1. A scramble as Biden acks same-sex marriage.
....After the vice president's comments, the White House clarified that he was not articulating a change in policy.
2. Independent Senate run in Maine puts parties in a pinch.
....With his potential to make a majority on Capitol Hill, Angus King, a former governor of Maine, is trying to redefine the partisan fray.
3. romney lets enemies define him.

....Last week's resignation of Mitt Romney's foreign policy spokesman, who is openly gay, was another sign of the Republican candidate caving to the far right.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

La Nina gone, but El Nino may strike next.

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said the La Nina pattern blamed for a crippling drought in Texas and severe dry spells in South America has vanished as expected and is unlikely to reappear later this year. U.S. government forecasters are still uncertain if a feared El Nino anomaly will develop later in the year.
To the relief of U.S. farmers, La Nina has been fading since February and had disappeared by the end of April, the CPC said in a monthly report released on Thursday. This is inline with its forecasts over the last few months. La Nina is an abnormal cooling of waters in the equatorial Pacific which can last for years and wreaks havoc on weather conditions in Asia and the Americas, where it mainly causes crop-killing drought. Its more infamous counterpart, El Nino, leads to a heating of those waters, triggering drought in Southeast Asia and Australia and floods in South America.
The CPC could not pin down whether La Nina would be followed by an El Nino event this year. "There is considerable forecast uncertainty as to whether neutral or El Nino conditions will prevail, due largely to the inability to predict whether the warmer sea surface temperatures will result in the ocean-atmosphere coupling required for a sustained El Nino event," it explained. For now, there should be neutral conditions in the Pacific from July to September, and then this would be "followed by approximately equal chances of neutral or El Niño conditions for the remainder of the year," the CPC concluded.

Thought for Today
"We have learned the answers, all the answers:
It is the question that we do not know."
--Archibald MacLeish, poet and critic (1892-1982)

Today's flower: Clematis x 'Nelly Moser' - A fantastic performer that really steals the show with its standing room only when Nelly Moser shows off her big, beautiful bicolor blooms.

[pegasus]

Asian American Heritage Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me
This is the day of 2012 with days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 9:15 p.m., it's raining , temp 63ºF [Feels like 63ºF], winds W @ 3 mph, humidity 84%, pressure 29.76 in and steady, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 45%.


World News Capsules:
1. China expels Al-Jazerra channel.
....The expulsion, reportedly over official anger about a documentary on forced labor, among other programs, was seen as a signal of growing sensitivity about foreign news coverage.
2. Cuba's fortresses against a viral foe.
....As the ranks of those infected with HIV grew, the Cuban government imposed quarantines and set up a network of sanitariums. Now there are only three, with less restrictive living conditions.
3. After elections, Europe focuses on growth.

....After the Greek and French elections, growth is now a priority in Europe, but significant change may depend on how far Germany is willing to budge from austerity.
4, Change in Paris may better fit US econoic positions.
....France’s president-elect, François Hollande, may be better aligned with the US on economic matters, yet more likely to differ on diplomatic and military affairs.
a. French Center-Right assesses two unpalatable paths.
....Pres. Sarkozy’s party must consider allying itself with the far right or holding to the center and hoping against further losses in June.
5. Political tumult in Greece after uncertain elections.
....A day after the election, the prospect of the country leaving the euro zone loomed large.
a. Greek leftists rle out coalition with incumbents.
....The political disarray in Greece raised further doubts about the country’s future in the euro zone, as well as fears about the stability of the common currency itself.
6. Pinched aspirations of Iran's young multitudes.

....Young adults in Iran who came of age after the revolution have resigned themselves to making the best of a bad situation.
a. US and Europe press Iran before next nuclear talks.
....The US called on the Iranians to take “urgent, practical steps” to prove their sincerity in complying with obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
s. Nuclear inspecor dies in Iran crash.
....A South Korean nuclear inspector on a mission for the UN was killed, and a Slovakian inspector was injured, when their car overturned.
7. Interpol responds to Iraq's call for help in arresting Vice President.
....The international police organization responded to Iraq’s request for help in returning the country’s fugitive Sunni vice president on terrorism charges, stepping into a bitter political and sectarian fight in Iraq.
a. Kraqi court acts to free suspect in deadly raid on GI's.
....An Iraqi court has ordered the release of the last detainee handed over to Iraqi custody by the departing United States military, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute him
8. Israeli Centrist Party to join Netanyahu coalition.

....The leader of the opposition Kadima Party struck a deal in a surprise move that staved off early elections.
a, Israeli court rejects the release of hunger strikers.
....The Supreme Court, citing secret evidence of militant ties, refused to release two Palestinians held without charge and who have been on hunger strike for 69 days.
7. Armed men in Libya attack premier's office.
....A demand for suspended payments apparently sparked the attack on the office of Prime Minister Abdel Rahim el-Keeb, who reportedly was not present at the time.
8. Putin takes helm as police punish Moscow dissent.
....The clampdown underlined the challenge ahead for Vladimir V. Putin as he reclaims the Russian presidency.
9. Thai man jailed for insulting king dies in detentioin.
....Ampon Tangnoppakul, 61, who was sentenced in November to 20 years for sending text messages insulting Thailand’s monarchy, died in prison

US News Capsules:
1. An old Texas tale retold: the farmer vs. the oil company.
....Julia Trigg Crawford and her family have had multiple visits from TransCanada representatives regarding land rights to their farm in Sumner, Tex.
2. As car owners downsize, the market is strong for their used SUV's.
....A few years ago, rising gasoline prices pretty much destroyed the market for the big trucks, but they have become popular again.
3. Amazon leaps into high end of the fashon pool.
....Amazon is taking on the high-end clothing business in its typical way: go big and spare no expense.
4. Putting the guilt back in killing: game features zombies with a little soul.

....The video game of the comic book and television series The Walking Dead adds some character to a mindless enemy.
5. Herd's fate lies in preservation clash.

....Defenders of the native habitat of the Outer Banks of North Carolina fear that a recent increase in wild horses threatens the coastal ecosystem.
6. Cross River gorillas.

....The Wildlife Conservation Society has just released a particularly compelling bit of nature voyeurism: video from a camera trap in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary in Cameroon that gives a rare glimpse of Cross River gorillas. There are only about 250 gorillas of this subspecies remaining, according to the conservation society.
7. Research center to focus on cancer genes.
....A new center at the University of Pennsylvania will be dedicated to studying BRCA, a set of genes with ties to breast and ovarian cancer.
POLITICS:
1. For a blunt Biden, an uneasy supporting role.
....Vice Pres. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s effort to subordinate his own voice to the broader enterprise has been a struggle, especially for a man who delights in speaking bluntly.
2. Lugar loses primary challenge in Indiana.

.....Richard G. Lugar, one of the United States Senate’s longest-serving members, lost a hard-fought Republican primary to Richard E. Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer
3. Liberals steer outside money to grass-roots organizing.
....Major donors are preparing to inject $100 million into independent groups that plan to avoid the type of advertising campaigns financed by conservatives.
4. Republicans in Senate block bill on student loan rates.
....Republicans oppose the Democrats’ approach to paying for the program, which reduces some student loan interest rates.
5. Colorado same-sex union bill gains GOP supporters.
....House sponsors of the bill, which passed the Senate last week, were trying to win approval before the legislative session ends.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Gay student who fired stun gun to ward off bullies is expelled,

A gay student who said he fired a stun gun in the air at school when bullies threatened him has been expelled, according to the school district. Darnell “Dynasty” Young, a junior at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, may return to school in the district on Jan. 7, 2013, Indianapolis Public Schools said Tuesday in an e-mail statement.
The district said it had accepted the decision of an examiner, who presided over Young’s hearing last week, to expel him. “While the district does not condone bullying, it also does not allow weapons to be brought on our school campuses for any reason. Students who violate this rule will be held accountable,” Mary Louise Bewley, director of the district’s Office of School and Community Relations, said in the e-mail statement.
Young's mother, Chelisa Grimes, said she couldn’t believe her son had been expelled. She had given her son the stun gun for protection, saying school authorities weren’t doing enough to protect him. “I had to do something to protect my child. I was in fear of losing my child, either at the hands of the bullies or either at the hands of himself," she said.
Carolyn Laub, Executive Director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, denounced the district's decision. “Dynasty, like many other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people, was pushed out of school by an administration that failed to keep him safe and by school discipline policies that remove students instead of resolve the problem,” Laub said in an e-mail statement. “When schools use a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to school discipline, they unfortunately reinforce an environment of fear and punishment and fail to create a climate of inclusion, safety, and respect for all students.”
And so the bullies reign supreme. Their victim vanquished. Shame on the school district for punisheing the victim and leaving his tormentors alone.


Thought for Today
"If you can't convince them, confuse them."
--Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the US (1884-1972)

Today's flower: Gazania splendens or gazaania daisy kiss mix

[pegasus]

Happy Blood Pressure Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 131st day of 2012 with 134 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:14 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 51ºF [Feels like 51ºF], winds NW @ 17 mph, humidity 50%, pressure 129.70 in and steady, dew point 33ºF, chance of precipitation 40%.


World News Capsules:
1. Parents of POW reveal US talks on Taliban swap.

....Frustrated by stalled negotiations, the parents of an Army sergeant abruptly disclosed that he was the subject of secret negotiations.
a. Afghan ploice forces deflect Taliban attack on governor.
....Fighting that killed three police officers put the spotlight on the local Afghan police forces that are seen as a critical hedge against the Taliban as Western forces begin their withdrawal.
b. Afghan refugee children perish in harsh winter.
....A new study by a French aid agency said the cold claimed more lives than originally thought.
2. Family and lawyers of Chinese activist ace harassment, they say.
....A cousin of Chen Guangcheng is being investigated, according to lawyers and activists, and those aiding him have been put under various forms of detention.
a. China-Philippine dispute over island gets more heated.
....China escalated its quarrel with the Philippines over an island in the South China Sea, halting Filipino bananas at customs for longer inspections.
b. Data signals economic trouble in China.
....Growth in both imports and exports slowed notably in China last month and was well below forecasts, raising concerns over weakness in the world's second biggest economy.
3. Egypt court suspends vote, but ruling is disputed.
....An administrative court determined that the election’s May 23 starting date had been wrongly set, but legal experts said the ruling was expected to have little effect.
4. British hacking panel questioned former Cameron aide.
....Andy Coulson, a former editor of The News of the World Sunday tabloid who later became Prime Minister David Cameron’s communications director, testified.
5. Can anyone govern Greece: Greeks look to Socialist to form government.

....The Socialist leader, Evangelos Venizelos, the third party chief to try to form a coalition, said he might be able to establish common ground.
6. New Russian aircraft chashes during a promotional flight in Indonesia.

....The wreckage of a demonstration airplane for a Russian-made jet that vanished over Indonesia was found, and there were no signs of survivors among 50 people aboard the plane.
7. [u[Group sees sign of Iran cleanup at nuclear site[/u].
....The Institute for Science and International Security said satellite imagery showed activity that may be related to cleaning at a suspected explosives testing chamber.
8. Via e-mails, Italians give full voice to frustration.
....Italians are taking full advantage of an opportunity to strike back at an ill-regarded privileged class.
9. Japan to nationalize Fukushim utility.
....A 10-year, $12.6 billion bailout plan for Tokyo Electric Power, operator of the nuclear plant damaged in the 2011 tsunami, includes replacing top executives and board members.
10. Slivers of hope amid the melancholy in a Mexican border town.
....Ciudad Juárez is still a violent city, but homicide rates have decreased significantly from their peak in 2010, and young people in particular are stepping out.
11. Morocco struggles to rein in soccer hooligans.
....The beating death of a fan during riots has put the spotlight on the nation's systemic youth problems.
12. Model West Bank city loses a crime fighter.

....The death of a respected West Bank governor, Qadoura Moussa, is the latest sign that lawlessness is creeping back into Jenin, a beacon of Palestinian self-rule.
13. Putin to skip Group of 8 session, delaying post-election meeting with Obama.
....Russia's newly inaugurated president, Vladimir V. Putin, will not attend a summit meeting of world leaders next week, the White House said.
a. Protesters in Moscow alter approach to avoid arrests.
....Police have been arresting anyone they think is an antigovernment demonstrator, so protesters have adopted new tactics, such as using flash mobs and practicing yoga in public parks.
14. Long-running antiterrorism work with Saudis led to airline plot's failure.
....Saudi Arabia and the US have worked closely together against a militant network in Yemen, most recently foiling an effort to smuggle a bomb onto a jetliner.
15. In Spain, debt crisis built on corporate borrowing.
....The debt load of Grupo A.C.S., a giant construction company based in Spain, reflects the country's severe financial struggle.
a. Spain takes control of its top real estate lender.
....The Economics Ministry described the Bankia intervention as "a first step to guarantee its solvency," suggesting that it would follow up with a capital injection.
16. Two Sudans brace for a war boththought was over.

....Years of fighting were supposed to be over when South Sudan won its independence from Sudan last July, but instead both countries are once again mobilizing for war.
16. Explosions kill dozens in Damascus, Syria.

....The two powerful explosions outside an intelligence headquarters in the capital Thursday peeled open a new, more treacherous front in the struggle for Syria.
a. Though disparate, Syria rebels tenacious against crackdown
.
....Those who have taken up arms in the Syrian uprising acknowledge that they lack a workable chain of command to coordinate operations, even as they ask for international help.\
b. Though disparate, Syria rebeels tenacious against crackdown.
....Those who have taken up arms in the Syrian uprising acknowledge that they lack a workable chain of command to coordinate operations, even as they ask for international help.
17. Pious Turks push for labor justice.
....Young Muslims have been congregating to critique the reign of the mildly Islamist government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "capitalism with ablutions.".

US News Capsules:
1. New cautions about long-term use of bone drugs.
....The Food and Drug Administration published an analysis that suggested caution against long-term use of the drugs, but fell short of issuing specific recommendations.
2. Solar installers offer deals, gaining converts.
....Installers, often working through big-box chains, are taking advantage of hefty tax breaks, creative financing and cheap Chinese-made panels to make solar power accessible to the mass market.
3. Bing to be revamped in war for search engine supremacy.

....A Microsoft-Facebook alliance plans an overhaul of Bing in an effort to loosen Google’s grip on the search engine market. Qi Lu, president of Microsoft’s online services division, said Bing's new search would mine people’s online social connections to provide personal results.
4. MOVIE: Dark Shadows - A vampire thirsty and bewildered.
....Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins in this comedy from Tim Burton (their eighth movie together), based on the soap opera from the 1960s and ’70s.
5. ART: $44.8 million, going twice at Sotheby's.

....Classic images by Roy Lichtenstein ("Sleeping Girl") and Francis Bacon brought identical prices of $44.8 million at Sotheby’s contemporary art sale. "Sleeping Girl" has been exhibited only once before — at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 1989-90. It's among a series of sexy comic book-inspired images Lichtenstein created in the 1960s.
6. Justice Department sues Arizona sheriff.
....Federal officials sued Joe Arpaio, a prominent Arizona sheriff known for his crackdowns against illegal immigration, accusing him of discrimination and retaliating against his critics.
POLITICS:
1. Obama says same-sex marriage shouold be legal.
....By publicly endorsing same-sex marriage in a television interview, the president took a definitive stand on one of the most contentious and politically charged social issues of the day.
2. Romney reaffirms opposition to marriage, or unions.
....The question of precisely what legal status and protections should be granted to gay couples is emerging as an issue of the sharpest possible contrast between the two presidential candidates.
3 Cal for legislature to revive Colorado's civil union bill.
....A call for a special legislative session by Gov. John W. Hickenlooper could revive a bill that would have allowed civil unions for same-sex couples in Colorado.
4. With primary over, a new battle for Indiana Senate seat begins.
....Democratic leaders see a chance to win against Richard E. Mourdock, the Indiana Republican Senate nominee, whom they will likely paint as too conservative.
5. Report casts harsh light on lawmaker's fund-raising.
....Ethics investigators said that Rep. Vern Buchanan appeared to have tried to illegally influence the testimony of an ex-business partner regarding allegations of campaign finance violations.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

The gay marriage windfall.

If more states legalize gay marriage, all of that pent-up demand could trigger a wedding boom, sparking economic activity as more couples book venues, buy wedding cakes, jewelry and marriage licenses, and secure hotel rooms for guests. Gay marriage is currently legal in seven spots, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and D.C. Already those economies have benefited as a result. "In New York, we saw what legalizing gay marriage could do for a city," said Kristin Koch, TheKnot.com's senior editor. "Weddings mean more business for hotels, wedding venues, caterers, airlines, bakeries, photographers and videographers." The city's comptroller's office estimated that the economic impact of marriage equality would add $142 million to New York City's economy from wedding-related purchases and tourism revenue in the three years after its law passed in 2011, and another $184 million in spending to the state's economy.
In Massachusetts, the Williams Institute estimated that marriage equality added $111 million to the state's economy in the first five years after legalizing same-sex marriages in 2004. That's thanks to wedding spending by same-sex couples who live there, in addition to an influx of same-sex couples coming from elsewhere to say "I do." Other states that give same-sex couples the right to marry will experience a similar boon, said Lee Badgett, the Williams Institute's research director and professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "There's nothing bad that's going to happen to local economies; in fact, there's a positive business effect," Badgett said.
Pres. Obama's support of marriage equality for same-sex couples could spur more states to allow gay couples to legally marry and the eventual repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 federal law that reserves marriage for a man and a woman. If same-sex marriage rights were granted nationwide, same-sex weddings would generate a net $1 billion each year for the Federal budget over the next 10 years, according to a 2004 report by Congressional Budget Office. That's after taking into account lower income and estate tax revenues as well as increased spending for health-care benefits and Social Security.


Thought for Today
"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude."
--[/i]Karl Barth, Swiss theologian (1886-1968)

Today's flower: Dahlia or sea urchin dahlia - The deep maroon color of Sea Urchin resembles rich velvet and is spectacularly showy and uncommonly beautiful.



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[pegasus]

WORLD TURTLE DAY
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 144th day of 2012 with 221 days left in the year.
Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 3:56 p.m., it's mostly cloudy , temp 71ºF [Feels like 71ºF], winds NE @ 3 mph, humidity 63%, pressure 29.99 in and steady, dew point 58ºF, chance of precipitation 15%.

World News Capsules:

US News Capsules:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.”
--Tom Krause, coach, teacher and motivational speaker (b. 1934)

Today's flower: Lilac

[pegasus]

68th Anniversary of D-Day
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me
This is the 158th day of 2012 with 207 days left in the year.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Post offices, Ellis Island join endangered list.
Hundreds of historic post offices nationwide face uncertain futures as the Postal Service downsizes, so preservationists have added these American institutions to the list of the country's most endangered historic places. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is citing the bureaucratic process for disposing of 1000s of post offices, saying developers and community groups interested in rehabilitating the historic buildings end up walking away when they don't get timely or clear answers from the Postal Service.
The group also said New York's Ellis Island hospital complex is threatened, even though it's a popular historic destination, because the facility where thousands of immigrants received medical treatment upon their arrival has been left open to the elements.
This is the 25th anniversary of the listing of endangered places. Over that time 242 historic sites have been added to the listing. Only 10 sites of those have been lost, while others are still endangered, officials said. Princeton Battlefield, the site of a pivotal American Revolution episode in New Jersey, also is facing imminent danger from housing development that would change the landscape, preservationists said.
"This isn't about taking on the post office," she said. "Of course we don't quibble with the post office having to do what they have to do to manage their business, but we do want to make sure there's a thoughtful process in place for managing the historic resources."
The Postal Service on Wednesday said its plans have changed for many post offices since a study last summer. As of May 2012, the agency plans to consolidate about 460 mail processing centers in phases. Of more than 31,500 post offices nationwide, only 55 are officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places, agency spokeswoman Sue Brennan said. If the Postal Service seeks to sell any historic property, Brennan said the agency follows State Historic Preservation Office guidelines to identify historic elements that must be saved.

Other sites are facing even more imminent threats.
1. President Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota's Badlands, which inspired his views on conservation, is facing development of a road and bridge project that would "mar" the landscape and "stain Roosevelt's legacy of conservation," the group said.
2, Joe Frazier's gym in Philadelphia where he trained to take on Muhammad Ali.
3. The boyhood home of Malcolm X in Boston .
4. Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Historic District, where Martin Luther King Jr. was born and later preached.
Diverse communities are often underrepresented in the preservation of cultural resources. Only 3% of the sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places represent diverse communities, Meeks said.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is one of my favorite charities, one a contributed to on a monthly basis. Too often developers destroy places of historic significance in their desire to "modernize"/"upgrade" an area. We are too quick to dismiss anything that isn't representative of the latest trend. I'm not advocating that every single post office building be preserved, but at least let each be evaluated for its significance before being destroyed forever.

HEALTH: Morning-after pill labels may be wrong about implantation.
Labels inside every box of morning-after pills, drugs widely used to prevent pregnancy after sex, say they may work by blocking fertilized eggs from implanting in a woman’s uterus. Respected medical authorities, including the National Institutes of Health and the Mayo Clinic, have said the same thing on their Web sites. Such descriptions have become kindling in the fiery debate over abortion and contraception.
Based on the belief that a fertilized egg is a person, some religious groups and conservative politicians say disrupting a fertilized egg’s ability to attach to the uterus is abortion, “the moral equivalent of homicide,” as Dr. Donna Harrison, who directs research for the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, put it. Mitt Romney recently called emergency contraceptives “abortive pills.” And two former Republican presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, have made similar statements.

But an examination by The New York Times[/u] has found that the federally approved labels and medical Web sites do not reflect what the science shows. Studies have not established that emergency contraceptive pills prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the womb, leading scientists say. Rather, the pills delay ovulation, the release of eggs from ovaries that occurs before eggs are fertilized, and some pills also thicken cervical mucus so sperm have trouble swimming. It turns out that the politically charged debate over morning-after pills and abortion, a divisive issue in this election year, is probably rooted in outdated or incorrect scientific guesses about how the pills work. Because they block creation of fertilized eggs, they would not meet abortion opponents’ definition of abortion-inducing drugs. In contrast, RU-486, a medication prescribed for terminating pregnancies, destroys implanted embryos.
The notion that morning-after pills prevent eggs from implanting stems from the Food and Drug Administration’s decision during the drug-approval process to mention that possibility on the label — despite lack of scientific proof, scientists say, and objections by the manufacturer of Plan B, the pill on the market the longest. Leading scientists say studies since then provide strong evidence that Plan B does not prevent implantation, and no proof that a newer type of pill, Ella, does. Some abortion opponents said they remain unconvinced.
The medical editor in chief of the Web site for the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Roger W. Harms, said “we are champing at the bit” to revise the entry if the Food and Drug Administration changes labels or other agencies make official pronouncements. “These medications are there to prevent or delay ovulation,” said Dr. Petra M. Casey, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mayo. “They don’t act after fertilization.” Scientists say the pills work up to five days after sex, primarily stalling an egg’s release until sperm can no longer fertilize it. Although many people think sperm and egg unite immediately after sex, sperm need time to position themselves.
99%of the emergency contraception market in the United States consists of Plan B (approved in 1999 and now sold as Plan B One-Step) and its generic versions, Next Choice and levonorgestrel tablets. They are available without prescription for women ages 17 and older. The other pill, Ella, became available by prescription only in the United States in late 2010. Emergency contraceptive use has steadily increased, with about 12 million packages sold last year, according to IMS Health and the SymphonyIRI Group, health information and market research companies.

Sport Headlines of Interest:


(Mario Gutierrez rides I'll Have Another past Mike Smith and Bodemeister to win the 137th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 19)

BELMONT STAKES: Outside post isn't bad for I'll Have Another
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another will begin his 1 1/2-mile journey toward the Triple Crown by breaking from post 11 in Saturday’s $1 million Belmont Stakes and will be able to stalk the competition for the final stretch. A field of 12 has been entered for the 3rd jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, which covers one lap of the sweeping Belmont Park oval in New York.
I’ll Have Another was made the 4-5 morning-line favorite, and the outside draw should cause few problems for the son of Flower Alley. All the speed is to the colt’s inside, and with nearly a quarter-mile run to the turn, I’ll Have Another has the early foot to get in decent stalking position while avoiding a wide journey around the first bend. The key to I’ll Have Another’s performance is what happens on the long journey down the backside. If able to stay in the clear while avoiding a wide trip, I’ll Have Another should have every chance to show what he has when called upon by jockey Mario Gutierrez.

The two horses expected to show early speed are Unstoppable U and Paynter. Allowance winner Unstoppable U will break from post 2, and will likely hug the rail while trying to go as far as he can. A more dangerous rival with speed is Paynter, who breaks from post 9. He’s trained by Bob Baffert, who’s had Triple Crown prospects foiled three times with the likes of Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem. Paynter was light on experience when fourth to I’ll Have Another in the Santa Anita Derby in only his second career start. However, the colt enters on a major upswing following a strong Pimlico allowance score on the Preakness undercard.
Union Rags, the 6-1 3rd choice on the morning line, has some tactical speed and will break from post 3. Dullahan, the 5-1 2nd choice on the morning line, is a deep closer so post position was not much of a factor for him. He’ll break from post 5. Most of the other longshots in the Belmont field are closers and their post position draws were not of critical importance.

So join me Saturday to see if we'll get the first Triple Crown winner in three plus decades, I'll be rooting for I'll Take Another. How about you?
BELMONT STAKES - Saturday @ 4:30 p.m. EST on NBC.


Thought for Today
"We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection."
--[/i]Dalai Lama, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner as Head of the Dge-lugs-pa order of Tibetan Buddhists (b. 1935).
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