Rights groups slam UK town's under-16 restrictions

LONDON (AP) ? A British police force on Saturday defended its plan to impose nighttime restrictions on youngsters, saying it did not amount to a curfew, after civil liberties activists condemned the move.

Officials in Barnsley, northern England, have given police the power to remove under-16s from the town center between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless they are accompanied by an adult.

The trial rules take effect this weekend and operate for six months.

South Yorkshire Police said the measure would be applied with "discretion" and only target youths engaged in misbehavior.

Rights group Liberty criticized the move, saying the use of age as a basis for removal could face a court challenge. Emma Norton, a lawyer for the group, said "police should target offenders of whatever age, not show disrespect and distrust of a whole generation."

Nick Pickles of the group Big Brother Watch called the measure "a waste of time and resources."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rights-groups-slam-uk-towns-under-16-restrictions-220950011.html

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US appeals court grants Hobby Lobby full hearing (Providence Journal)

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UConn women run past Maryland 76-50

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) ? Breanna Stewart and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis each scored 17 points, leading top-seeded Connecticut over Maryland 76-50 on Saturday in the Bridgeport regional semifinals.

Stewart got help from fellow freshmen Moriah Jefferson, 10 points, and Morgan Tuck, eight points, in sending the top-seeded Huskies (32-4) to their eighth straight NCAA regional final.

Alyssa Thomas, who had averaged 28.5 points in the tournament, had 13 to lead Maryland, which finished its season at 26-8. Tianna Hawkins and Chloe Pavlech each had 11 points for the Terps.

UConn led 35-26 at halftime, then opened the second half on a 9-0 run.

The Huskies will play Kentucky in on Monday night in a rematch of last year's regional final, which was played just over 100 miles away in Kingston, R.I.

The Wildcats beat Delaware 69-62 earlier Saturday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uconn-women-run-past-maryland-76-50-203942886--spt.html

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Pilot ejected when swhile diving small airplane near Chattanooga; search under way

By Gil Aegerter, Staff Writer, NBC News

A student pilot was ejected from a small aircraft above an area east of Chattanooga, Tenn., in a freak accident Friday evening, and authorities were searching for him.

The accident occurred when the owner of the Zodiac 601XL plane was taking lessons from an instructor, NBC station WRCB of Nashville reported, citing police. A malfunction caused the plane to nose dive and the canopy flew open -- and neither man was wearing a seat belt, WRCB reported.

The accident occurred at about 2,500 feet,?the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.?

The instructor was able to land the aircraft back at Collegedale Municipal Airport, operations manager Chris Hancock confirmed to NBC News. He directed further questions to a Collegedale police spokesman who could not immediately be reached.

---

A ground search was under way in Bradley County, WRCB said. The Times Free Press said the owner-pilot had a cell phone with him and rescuers were pinging it in an attempt to find him.

Neither of the men was identified publicly by authorities.

WRCB said the plane had been owned by a man killed in a December crash and then was sold to the current owner, described as an experienced pilot who wanted more training in the Zodiac.

The Zodiac 601XL is a single-engine kit aircraft offered for home builders. Its two seats are side by side under a large domed, canopy.

?

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Navy SEAL dies in training accident

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? Authorities say one of two Navy SEALs injured during parachute training in southern Arizona has died while the other man remains hospitalized.

A U.S. Special Operations Command official said Friday that the SEAL died in a Tucson hospital Thursday but didn't have a condition update on the other man.

The names of the two SEALs were being withheld and the accident is under investigation.

Command spokesman Kenneth McGraw says the SEALs were practicing "routine military free-fall training" when the accident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

Pinal County Sheriff's officials say the injured men collided in mid-air and landed in separate areas. The incident was turned over to military investigators Thursday afternoon.

McGraw says the command has a parachute testing and training facility at the Pinal Airpark northeast of Tucson.

___

Information from: Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-navy-seal-dead-ariz-parachuting-accident-202709095.html

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Surging student-loan debt is crushing the system

Scott Cohn , CNBC ? ? ? 4 hrs.

Student-loan defaults surged in the first three months of 2013, while efforts to collect bad loans are faltering, according to credit analysts and government audits. It is the latest twist in a college debt crisis that is hanging over recent graduates and dragging on the broader economy.

Credit-rating firm Equifax said $3.5 billion in government and private student loans went bad in the first three months of 2013, the most since the company began keeping track. The U.S. Department of Education said 6.8 million federal student loan borrowers are now in default, representing $85 billion in debt. And the department's systems for collecting the bad loans are struggling to keep up.

The Department's Office of Inspector General found in December that more than $1.1 billion in defaulted student loans were stuck in a sort of computer limbo.

Read More: Study: Student Loan Balances Are Up, and So Are Delinquencies

"The Department is not pursuing collection remedies and borrowers are unable to take steps to remove their loans from default status," wrote Assistant Inspector General for Audit Patrick Howard in the Dec. 13 report, which blames a system installed in 2011 by Xerox that is supposed to transfer defaulted loan accounts from servicing companies to private collection agencies. Those collection firms have considerable power, including the ability to garnish up to 15 percent of a borrower's wages. But none of that can happen until the accounts are transferred.

A Xerox spokesman declined to comment, referring inquiries to the Department of Education.

"While we regret this delay, we are taking active steps to work with the vendor to resolve the problem," Department of Education spokesman Chris Greene said in an e-mail. He denied that borrowers who have cleared up their defaults are not being removed from defaulted status, but acknowledged "a small percentage" of bad loans have been caught up in the problem.

He said some $600 million of the affected loans will be transferred "in the coming weeks."

Read More:How the Student Loan Crisis Drags Down Home Prices

But government auditors say some damage is already done. The Inspector General's office says the collection problem led to a "material weakness" in the department's financial controls last fiscal year ? an issue Education Secretary Arne Duncan has vowed to address. Nonetheless, spokesman Chris Greene says the numbers came out right in the end.

"Taxpayers and borrowers can rely on the integrity and accuracy of our financial reporting," Greene said.

Critics say the collection issues are a sign of a much larger problem.

"I take personal responsibility for the situation beginning, but personal responsibility does not mean you spend the rest of your life financially compromised," said Jason Paskowitz, a financial analyst from Tenafly, N.J.

Read More: Student-Loan Delinquencies Now Surpass Credit Cards

Paskowitz is 46 years old, but still owes more than $39,000 on loans he took out to finance his college education at Binghamton University in New York in the 1980s.

He borrowed only about $20,000. But after Paskowitz fell ill during his first year of law school in 1989 and dropped out, his loans went into default. Interest and fees began piling up, so even though records show he has paid roughly $26,000, he still owes nearly twice his original principal ? 25 years after graduation.

He says he was hounded for years by collection agents ? "they called me every name in the book" ? and in 2008 was hit with an "administrative garnishment" seizing nine percent of his debt. He says the collection agencies did not give him the full range of options available to him under the law.

"Their primary motivation is just to get as much as they can as quickly as they can," he said.

Persis Yu, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Boston says keeping borrowers on the hook or not providing them with information can be in the collection firms' best interests.

"Their incentives aren't necessarily aligned with protecting borrowers' interests," she said.

Read More: Lenders Mobilize to Help College Kids Manage Student Loans

The Department recently attempted to address those concerns by lowering some of the commissions it pays the collection firms. Converting a defaulted loan to a "rehabilitation loan" ? which rolls outstanding loan balances and fees into a new loan that removes the borrower from default ? now pays the collection firm as little as eleven percent of the outstanding loan balance, compared to as much as 15 percent previously. But the option is still far more lucrative than a disability discharge, which wipes out the loan entirely and pays the collection firm a few hundred dollars in administrative fees.

"The Higher Education Act is a very complicated statute," Yu said, "and debt collectors aren't necessarily in the best position to explain options to borrowers."

But spokesman Chris Greene says the Department of Education is keeping tabs on the collection firms and looking out for borrowers' interests?including a new "one-stop" portal for complaints about the firms at https://www.myeddebt.com.

"Our entire approach to default collections is structured to encourage full repayment while ensuring borrowers understand both the consequences of their failure to repay and the options available to help them get out of default."

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Young, hot and blue

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Universe is an old neighbourhood -- roughly 13.8 billion years old. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is also ancient -- some of its stars are more than 13 billion years old (eso0425). Nevertheless, there is still a lot of action: new objects form and others are destroyed. In this image, you can see some of the newcomers, the young stars forming the cluster NGC 2547.

But, how young are these cosmic youngsters really? Although their exact ages remain uncertain, astronomers estimate that NGC 2547's stars range from 20 to 35 million years old. That doesn't sound all that young, after all. However, our Sun is 4600 million years old and has not yet reached middle age. That means that if you imagine that the Sun as a 40 year-old person, the bright stars in the picture are three-month-old babies.

Most stars do not form in isolation, but in rich clusters with sizes ranging from several tens to several thousands of stars. While NGC 2547 contains many hot stars that glow bright blue, a telltale sign of their youth, you can also find one or two yellow or red stars which have already evolved to become red giants. Open star clusters like this usually only have comparatively short lives, of the order of several hundred million years, before they disintegrate as their component stars drift apart.

Clusters are key objects for astronomers studying how stars evolve through their lives. The members of a cluster were all born from the same material at about the same time, making it easier to determine the effects of other stellar properties.

The star cluster NGC 2547 lies in the southern constellation of Vela (The Sail), about 1500 light-years from Earth, and is bright enough to be easily seen using binoculars. It was discovered in 1751 by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille during an astronomical expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, using a tiny telescope of less than two centimetres aperture.

Between the bright stars in this picture you can see plenty of other objects, especially when zooming in. Many are fainter or more distant stars in the Milky Way, but some, appearing as fuzzy extended objects, are galaxies, located millions of light-years beyond the stars in the field of view.

###

ESO: http://www.eso.org

Thanks to ESO for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127497/Young__hot_and_blue

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eBay seller auctioning Jim Carrey autographed photo to buy gun

Jim Carrey is facing plenty of backlash for his anti-gun song??Cold Dead Hand,??but one Second Amendment enthusiast is expressing his or her disagreement in a unique way ???by selling an?autographed Jim Carrey photo on eBay?to buy a new gun.

The eBay description reads, ?I?m selling this Jim Carrey Autographed B&W 8X10 Photo (mint condition) in hopes that I sell it for enough to buy a GUN to protect my family.?

This is probably not the response Carrey had in mind when he released his song on Monday, attacking gun owners and singing lyrics such as ?the psychos win no matter what you do because they?ll always buy more guns than you.?

The picture seller, astrobuzz, hopes to net at least $640 to buy a ?Glock G30S .45 ACP Pistol.? If the photo goes for more than the price of the gun, the seller promises to spend the extra cash on a laser for the gun along with gun safety classes and a concealed carry permit.

It looks like the seller will be toting around a new Glock in no time, as the bidding was already up to $860 on Wednesday, with 5 days left to bid.

In case there was any doubt, the seller said the choice to sell the item was in response to Carrey?s extremely offensive, anti-Second Amendment song.

?I lost all respect for Mr. Carrey after he released his ?Cold Dead Hands? video mocking responsible gun owners and Charlton Heston,? the seller wrote in the eBay description. ?I believe in the 2nd Amendment and my rights shall not be infringed! From MY cold dead hands Mr. Carrey!?

The picture itself is a portrait of Carrey along with his John Hancock and the message ?Spank you very much!? ? to which the future Glock owner says, ?And spank u. Jim.?

Yee haw!

Source: http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/03/27/ebay-seller-auctioning-jim-carrey-autographed-photo-to-buy-gun/

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Pistorius allowed to leave SAfrica with conditions

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2013 file photo, Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa A judge in South Africa says Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2013 file photo, Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius stands during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa A judge in South Africa says Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel, prepares for a hearing in the Pretoria, South Africa high court, Thursday, March 28, 2013. The state is opposing the relaxation of bail conditions in the charges against athlete Pistorius who is charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last month. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2012 file photo, South Africa's Oscar Pistorius wins gold in the men's 400-meter T44 final at the 2012 Paralympics in London. A judge in South Africa says Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

The defense team for Oscar Pistorius, led by Barry Roux, left, prepare for an appeasl against bail conditions in the Pretoria, South Africa high court, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Pistorius is charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last month. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, South Africa's Oscar Pistorius competes during Men's 100m T44 round 1 at the 2012 Paralympics in London. A judge in South Africa says Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? Oscar Pistorius could compete at this year's world championships after a South African judge eased his bail restrictions and ruled Thursday that the athlete, who faces a murder trial for the shooting death of his girlfriend, can travel overseas to run.

The international athletics body said that if Pistorius qualifies, it had no objections to him running ? an event that could eclipse the stir last year when he became the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics. Pistorius' agent told The Associated Press soon after the ruling that the world championships in Moscow in August could be a possibility if the runner wanted to return to the track on his carbon fiber blades.

Judge Bert Bam upheld the Olympic athlete's appeal against some of his bail restrictions, but said the 26-year-old Pistorius must travel under certain conditions. The athlete could face a life sentence if found guilty of murder for the Valentine's Day shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp.

His passport will be held by a court while he is in South Africa, and he can only leave the country if he provides an itinerary of his travel plans at least a week before he is due to leave. Pistorius must also hand his travel documents back to the court within 24 hours of returning home, Bam ruled.

"Based on this (the judge's decision), and if he is up for it and qualifies, the world championships will definitely be on the radar," Pistorius' agent, Peet van Zyl, told the AP by telephone.

The judge's decision was "fair," Van Zyl said, but any return to track would be up to Pistorius, who hasn't run competitively since September and hasn't trained for two months. The worlds are in August, while Pistorius' next court appearance is June 4.

"It's his call. He's the one under all the pressure for the court case and grieving for Reeva," the agent said.

Although Pistorius' lawyers said in the appeal hearing that he had no immediate plans to compete, he would likely need to return to track in the future to earn money, they said. Pistorius, widely known as the Blade Runner for his prosthetic legs, did not attend the court session.

"He has no desire to compete now but it might change and it will change," defense lawyer Barry Roux told the judge in arguing for Pistorius' travel restrictions to be eased. Roux said Pistorius would not try and evade trial if he is allowed to travel internationally, and would eventually need to run again "to earn an income."

"He is not going to run away and hide. He is going nowhere," Roux told the judge in the brown-walled courtroom in the high court, where television cameras and photographers were allowed in to record the proceedings. "Why stop him from traveling under controlled circumstances?" Roux added.

Pistorius says he killed Steenkamp accidentally when he fired shots through a door in his bathroom in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, fearing there was an intruder in his house. Prosecutors say he shot the model and reality TV star intentionally after they argued, and they have charged him with premeditated murder.

The IAAF, athletics' ruling body, reiterated that it wouldn't comment on the case involving Pistorius, but he would be allowed to run at the world championships if he met the sporting criteria.

"If he qualifies for (the) Moscow World Championships next August, then on the basis of (the) 'innocent unless proved guilty' principle he would be free to run," IAAF spokesman Yannis Nikolaou said in a statement emailed to the AP.

The decision on whether Pistorius could run at other events would be at the "discretion of meeting organizers" and not the IAAF, Nikolaou said.

British Athletics chairman Ed Warner said it was too early to say if Pistorius would be invited to the London Anniversary Games in July at Olympic Stadium, a meet to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Olympics. Any decision would be taken "with great care," Warner said.

Pistorius' last competitive race was his victory in the 400 meters final at the London Paralympics in September last year. He hasn't trained or "seen a track" for around nine weeks, agent Van Zyl said, but when he was ready they would consider both able-bodied and Paralympic events.

Van Zyl saw no reason why Pistorius shouldn't be allowed to run again by athletics authorities while accused of murder and said that he had been contacted by race promoters who wanted to see Pistorius return to competition.

"If they (track bodies) don't allow him to run and he walks out (of court) a free man, there might be a problem," Van Zyl said.

The judge also ruled in favor of Pistorius on three other bail restrictions.

He no longer has to be regularly supervised by a probation official and a ruling that he wasn't allowed to consume alcohol and could be tested at any time for alcohol and "prohibited substances" was lifted. Bam also slammed one of the bail conditions imposed by another court, saying a condition that Pistorius would be in breach of his bail if he was merely accused of another crime against women was "fraud." It went against Pistorius' constitutional right to be innocent until proven guilty, Bam said.

The high court judge's rapid ruling came three hours after the hearing began.

Two other restrictions ? that Pistorius was not allowed to return to his house, where he shot Steenkamp dead on Feb. 14, and had to report regularly to a police station ? should be "disregarded," the judge said.

It meant Pistorius' legal team succeeded in all its appeals. Pistorius' lawyers smiled after the judge ruled in their favor.

The prosecution wouldn't comment on how the ruling affected its case.

"Our focus is on the upcoming trial and we need to focus on that with all our minds," National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Medupe Simasiku said. "The investigation is going well and we believe that soon it will be completed."

The athlete's lawyers had earlier argued that he was being treated as a flight risk by his bail restrictions even though a magistrate ruled last month that he was not when he released Pistorius on 1 million rand ($108,000) bail.

Defense lawyer Roux also argued against a ruling that prevented him from speaking to residents near his home, saying he should be allowed to consult with them to prepare his defense.

Prosecutors had opposed the relaxing of Pistorius' bail restrictions and also said the appeal should have gone to the original magistrate's court that set bail for Pistorius, and not Pretoria's high court. Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair imposed the bail conditions on Feb. 22. Pistorius had been held in a police station until then. He hasn't been seen in public since and is believed to have been staying at an uncle's house.

Pistorius was not required to attend his appeal hearing and none of his family members were present at the court in the heart of South Africa's capital city.

At Pistorius' next court appearance in early June, the prosecution would aim to serve indictments, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court. Nel said there is a possibility that Pistorius' trial will begin by the end of the year.

___

AP Sports Writers Stephen Wilson and Rob Harris in London, and Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.

___

Follow Gerald Imray at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-28-Pistorius-Shooting/id-34943a117337404f9866d7b4c301bd5b

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Apple patent filing describes phone concept with wrap-around AMOLED display

Behold, the iPhone 6. Nah, we're only joking -- what you see above is a diagram lifted from an Apple patent application that popped up at the USPTO today, which describes a "consumer electronic product" that's nothing but screen. The patent involves building a device from an open-ended transparent body (of glass, for example) that becomes a full wrap-around display when a flexible AMOLED screen is unfurled within it. It doesn't imagine all that real-estate will necessarily be used at once, though, and includes details of a "detection mechanism," such as a camera and facial recognition software, which would determine how much of the screen you can see, so that power is only sent to the parts that are in view. It's important to note that, apart from mentioning some real-world applications, the concept and method of constructing a wrap-around display are all the application covers. In other words, this patent does not describe anything close to a complete device. Apologies if we've killed your buzz, but we're just managing expectations before we move onto some interesting spitballing from Apple about what other design features such a device could carry -- read on after the break for more.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Mobile, Apple

Comments

Source: USPTO (1), (2)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/apple-patent-wrap-around-amoled-display/

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Hollywood?s Favorite Big Ol? Booties

Hollywood’s Favorite Big Ol’ Booties

Some guys love nice legs, some are boob men, and some men love big ol’ booties! In Hollywood, there are some women that are as famous for their big backsides as they are their careers. Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, and Coco Austin are all known for their plump derrieres. There was a study done in the ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/hollywoods-favorite-big-ol-booties/

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China's 3 big airlines post sharply lower profits

HONG KONG (AP) ? China's three major state-owned airlines posted sharp drops in annual profit because of the weak global economy, higher jet fuel prices and smaller foreign currency gains.

China Southern, the country's biggest carrier by passenger numbers, said Wednesday that profit plunged by half compared with the previous year. Rivals Air China and China Eastern reported that earnings tumbled by about a third.

"Demand in the aviation industry in 2012 continued to be weak as a result of the slow recovery of the U.S. economy, the on-going European debt crisis and the global recession," Beijing-based Air China said. "Escalating operating costs from high jet fuel price and the intensifying competition added to the challenges faced by the industry."

China Eastern said the average price of fuel rose 2 percent. The Shanghai-based carrier reported that profit fell 35 percent to 2.95 billion yuan.

Jet fuel costs rose the most for China Southern. The airline, based in the southern economic hub of Guangzhou, said it spent 33 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) on fuel last year, 14.5 percent more than in 2011.

Fuel is the biggest single expense for the airlines. Chinese airlines can do little to keep their fuel bill under control. One reason is that fuel for domestic flights is supplied by a state-owned monopoly, which marks up prices "higher than an otherwise open market would allow," Barclays analyst Patrick Xu wrote in a report.

Chinese carriers also don't typically use hedging contracts to lock in part of their fuel bill, like other airlines do, because they lost a lot of money in 2008 using such techniques, Xu added.

The three airlines also reported sharply lower foreign exchange gains as the yuan's appreciation against the dollar slowed from the year before. Chinese airlines are vulnerable to currency fluctuations because while they mostly earn in yuan, their expenses for fuel and new airplanes are in dollars.

Air China, which said profit dropped 35 percent to 4.6 billion yuan last year, reported a net foreign exchange gain of 124 million yuan, compared with 3 billion yuan in 2011. The other two carriers also reported sharp declines in foreign currency income.

China Southern carried 86.5 million passengers last year, or 7.2 percent more than 2011, but earnings fell by half to 2.6 billion yuan. The airline warned that "demand for short and mid-distance aviation will be further suppressed" as China rapidly expands its high speed rail network. Authorities plan to expand the network to 18,000 kilometers (11,120 miles) by 2015, about double the 9,300 km currently.

___

Online:

Air China: http://www.airchina.com

China Eastern: http://www.ceairgroup.com/

China Southern: http://www.csair.com

Follow Kelvin Chan at twitter.com/chanman

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-3-big-airlines-post-sharply-lower-profits-074838787--finance.html

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Celebrity Real Estate - Curbed National

Tuesday, March 26, 2013, by Sarah Firshein

According to the shrewd celebrity journos at TMZ, Cher has unloaded her 4,000-square-foot Martyn Lawrence Bullard-designed condo in L.A. for $5.5M, exactly what the pop star wanted. She's also just listed her house in Venice Beach and is rumored to be quietly shopping around her Malibu compound for upwards of $40M. What's with the SoCal exodus? [TMZ; previously]

Source: http://curbed.com/archives/2013/03/26/celebrity-real-estate-189.php

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Three more charged in insider trading probe

By Bernard Vaughan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors announced criminal charges on Tuesday against three new defendants in the government's broad-based insider trading probe.

Authorities said David Riley, a former chief information officer at Foundry Networks Inc, leaked tips about the company's pending $3 billion takeover in 2008 by Brocade Communications Systems Inc , to hedge fund analyst Matthew Teeple.

The government said Teeple then tipped others, resulting in trades that led to more than $27 million in profits and avoided losses.

Teeple was an analyst at Artis Capital Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund launched in 2001 that invests mainly in public technology companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

"Artis has been cooperating fully with the government's investigation into this matter and has been advised by the U.S. Attorney's Office that the firm is a witness in the investigation," Bill McBride, a spokesman for the firm, wrote in an email.

Prosecutors said Teeple had also leaked information to Karl Motey, a California technology consultant who has pleaded guilty in the probe and been cooperating with prosecutors, the government said.

Riley, 47, and Teeple, 41, were each charged with three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said. They face up to 20 years in prison on each securities fraud count.

A third defendant, John Johnson, 46, pleaded guilty to one count each of securities fraud and conspiracy, Bharara said.

Johnson is the chief investment officer of the Wyoming Retirement System, which he joined as a senior investment officer in 2010, after the allegations in the complaint. The pension on Tuesday relieved him of all his investment and administrative responsibilities pending further review, according to Tom Williams, executive director.

Johnson had had various contacts with Teeple since 2005, when Johnson worked at a mutual fund, and made more than $136,000 on trades based on information about the Foundry takeover leaked to him by Teeple, prosecutors said.

Johnson told Williams about the charges Tuesday afternoon, Williams said.

"To the extent that these charges are true, we're very disappointed," Williams said.

All three defendants were also charged in separate U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil proceedings.

"When David Riley and Matthew Teeple chose to traffic in inside information involving high-tech companies, they embarked on a high-stakes game that has repeatedly proven to be unwinnable," Bharara said in a statement.

Nathan Hochman, a lawyer for Teeple, said his client intends to defend himself against the charges.

John Kaley, a lawyer for Riley, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Joshua Franklin, a lawyer for Johnson, declined to comment.

Riley and Teeple were arrested on Tuesday morning in California and were expected to appear later in the day in different federal courts in that state.

ARTIS INVESTED IN YOUTUBE

The arrests are the latest in a widespread government crackdown on insider trading in recent years.

Since October 2009, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office has charged at least 80 people, of whom at least 72 have been convicted or pleaded guilty.

Launched in 2001 by Stuart Peterson, Artis is known for having co-invested alongside Sequoia Capital in an $8 million round of financing in video-sharing website YouTube, before it was sold to Google Inc for $1.65 billion in 2006.

Artis is not named in court papers made public on Tuesday about the latest criminal charges.

Motey avoided prison time at his sentencing in February, at which a federal judge called him "a particularly impressive cooperator." He was ordered to submit $40,000 and serve a year of supervised release for conspiracy and securities fraud.

Motey kept a notebook "he often used to memorialize conversations he had with various individuals, including Teeple," the complaint states. Motey told investigators that a July 18, 2008, entry summarized a conversation in which Teeple explained that the Foundry acquisition might happen at $2.9 billion, according to the complaint.

Teeple also provided information about Palm Inc to Motey and Riley in exchange for the inside information on Foundry, according to the complaint.

In a June 15, 2009 telephone call that Motey recorded, Teeple said his firm owned "like 12 million shares" of the device maker, and that it was "gonna be a monster for a while."

When Motey asked Teeple where in Palm his contacts were, he said "one guy is in dev and then, one guy is kind of a, senior marketing guy," according to the complaint.

The cases are U.S. v. Riley et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-mag-00806; U.S. v. Johnson in the same court; and SEC v. Teeple et al in the same court, No. 13-02010.

(Reporting By Bernard Vaughan and Katya Wachtel; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Tim Dobbyn and Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/three-more-charged-u-insider-trading-probe-185916370--sector.html

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S.D. Sen. Johnson to retire, citing health and age

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) ? Entering the auditorium on a motorized scooter and delivering remarks in halting speech, South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson announced Tuesday that he would retire next year at the end of his term and acknowledged he remains limited by a 2006 health crisis that nearly killed him.

Smiling and joking at times as he made the announcement at a press conference in his hometown of Vermillion, the 66-year-old said the effects of his life-threatening brain hemorrhage had made speech and mobility increasingly difficult.

"I feel great, but I must be honest ... I appreciate my right arm and right leg aren't what they used to be, and my speech is not entirely there," Johnson said, his delivery slurred at times.

Johnson, who until recently relied on a cane to get around, has become dependent on the motorized scooter he used to enter the auditorium at the University of South Dakota where he made his remarks. He also said he hoped to spend more time with his five grandchildren and that "I think mostly it's time to go."

Johnson's departure helps solidify GOP prospects of claiming the state's first open Senate seat since 1978. Republican former Gov. Mike Rounds had announced plans last year to challenge Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and has rallied much of the state and national party establishment behind him.

In a sign Republicans are not yet lock-step behind Rounds, a Washington-based political action committee released a statement Tuesday criticizing Rounds' spending during two terms as governor, and calling for a more conservative candidate to run for Johnson's seat. The same fractures between tea party-aligned and more moderate Republicans cost the GOP seats that were seen as winnable in 2010 and 2012.

On the Democratic side, long-rumored possible successors including Johnson's son, South Dakota's U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, and former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

"I've talked to Brendan now and then, but I'm not leaning on him to run or not run," Johnson told The Associated Press after the event. "I gather he is undecided."

Brendan Johnson declined to comment on his political plans Tuesday. He has avoided public statements about the race, but has had conversations with party activists in the state, and advisers and potential donors outside South Dakota.

Herseth Sandlin, 42, is general counsel for Raven Industries, Corp., a position she began last year after returning to South Dakota from Washington, D.C. She had worked as a lawyer in Washington after losing re-election to a fourth U.S. House term in 2010.

"While I appreciate the encouragement I've received I haven't focused on the future political opportunities," she told The AP.

Although both prospects have political networks to tap, both also face potential liabilities.

The younger Johnson, 37, has never held political office and would face questions about his father's involvement in the confirmation process to his federal post. Herseth Sandlin has taken some positions at odds with some South Dakota Democratic activists, including opposing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which could hurt in a potential Democratic primary.

Republicans too could face ideological tension. U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, elected in 2010, has been courted to challenge Rounds by South Dakota conservatives. While Noem has shown little movement toward investigating a 2014 Senate campaign, aides said Tuesday: "She hasn't ruled anything in or out."

Nationally, Republicans said by stepping aside, the politically resilient Johnson, who also retains a $1.2 million campaign war chest, gives the GOP its best chance to gain a seat in its quest for the majority.

"I believe South Dakota moves into the top slot as the most likely Republican pickup," said Greg Strimple, a Republican pollster and past consultant to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Johnson, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, joins Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey as seasoned and influential Democrats departing the chamber, where Republicans need to gain six seats to take control. Two Republican senators have announced their retirements, both in Republican-performing states Georgia and Nebraska.

South Dakota was carried by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last year, adding urgency for Democrats hoping to keep their majority. Republicans must gain six seats to retake the chamber in 2014.

With his wife Barbara at his side, Sen. Johnson remained standing, leaning on his stronger left hand at the podium, taking questions from reporters then posing for pictures and shaking hands with supporters ? reaching out with his left ? for an hour.

"I look forward to serving the remaining two years as the country is facing difficult times on many fronts and I will work every day to find a bipartisan solution to these challenges," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sd-sen-johnson-retire-cites-health-age-001827846--politics.html

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South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson announces retirement

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/sen-tim-johnson-announces-retirement-south-dakota-202410028--election.html

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Oil nearly unchanged after Cyprus rescue bailout

BANGKOK (AP) ? The price of oil was steady Tuesday as a financial rescue package to keep Cyprus from bankruptcy came under renewed scrutiny.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was down 1 cent to $94.80 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.10 to finish at $94.81 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday. That was the highest New York closing since Feb. 20.

Cyprus secured 10 billion euros ($13 billion) of rescue loans early Monday, just hours before a deadline set by the European Central Bank. Under the deal, the country agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large depositors in troubled banks.

The deal was initially applauded, but later sparked worry and stock market losses across Europe after Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said inflicting losses on the banks' shareholders, bondholders and large depositors should become Europe's default approach for dealing with ailing lenders.

Matt Basi of CMC Markets said in an email commentary that the drama surrounding Cyprus "has knocked the confidence of many deposit holders across Europe that policy makers will struggle to win back."

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, fell 4 cents to $108.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

? Wholesale gasoline rose 0.1 cent to $3.055 a gallon.

? Heating oil fell 0.1 cent to $2.983 a gallon.

? Natural gas rose 2.6 cents to $3.891 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-nearly-unchanged-cyprus-rescue-bailout-050836438--finance.html

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Sean Lowe: Dancing With the Stars Diva?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/sean-lowe-dancing-with-the-stars-diva/

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Karl Rove Says He can Imagine there being a 2016 GOP Candidate who Embraces Gay Marriage ? Video 3/24/13

Here is video of Karl Rove on ?This Week? yesterday where he was asked if he could imagine there being a GOP Candidate in 2016 who comes out and supports Gay Marriage. Rove said ?I could,? but did not elaborate. He moved on to saying he thought the U.S. Supreme Court could very well decide to leave the matter of Marriage Law up to the States and not try to impose a Federal nation-wide ruling. He even thinks liberals like Ruth Bader Ginsburg could rule in that way.

I don?t think this is surprising. There will be multiple GOP Candidates running for President in 2016. There is bound to be someone who is on the Left side of the spectrum. But I doubt seriously that person is likely to win the GOP Nomination.

Source: http://freedomslighthouse.net/2013/03/25/karl-rove-says-he-can-imagine-there-being-a-2016-gop-candidate-who-embraces-gay-marriage-video-32413/

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Greece: 2 hurt, 11 escape in prison shooting

TRIKALA, Greece (AP) ? At least 11 inmates escaped from a Greek prison after gunmen brazenly attacked the site with grenades and automatic weapons, kicking off a nightlong standoff between police and prisoners. Two guards were injured, one of them seriously.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, told the Associated Press that two of the escaped inmates had been found and arrested. He said they were hiding in a church not far from the site of the prison. The official added that all the escapees were Albanian.

The incident occurred near the town of Trikala, in central Greece, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Athens. As many as six gunmen attacked the prison after driving up to the site in a van and pickup truck, according to officials.

The Ministry of Justice announced that gunmen using "two vehicles and very heavy weapons" attacked the prison's outside guards, as well as a prison patrol vehicle and two police cars.

"During the exchange of heavy fire that lasted over half an hour and turned the area into a battlefield, two perimeter guards were injured in the abdomen, one of them seriously," the ministry said.

Prison authorities were investigating reports that weapons had also been fired from inside the facility. The ministry's announcement said that "no guns or casings confirming the use of an automatic weapon by inmates during the escape have been found. However, the search continues."

At least five grenades exploded, while army experts were expected at the prison to dispose of two unexploded grenades.

The attack started at around 8:30 p.m. (1830GMT) Friday, when a police patrol jeep was fired upon.

"It was like a war was going on. There was so much gunfire," said Trikala city councilor Costas Tassios, who lives in the village of Krinitsa, near the prison.

A bullet fired at the village damaged a coffee shop window in an incident also being investigated by police.

The escaped prisoners used ropes and bed sheets tied together to climb down from a guard tower that had been attacked. They had to go through two more perimeter fences, topped by barbed wire, before they escaped. The same police officer told the Associated Press that wire-cutting tools had been recovered.

Police set up roadblocks near the prison and searched vacant homes and farm buildings, as well as using two helicopters, in the manhunt. Officers from evidence units were also scouring the jail perimeter after dawn.

The attack was the latest dramatic incident at Greek prisons, which are suffering from serious overcrowding and staff shortages as the country struggles through financial crisis and a recession that started in late 2008.

Last month, guards foiled a breakout attempt by four inmates who tried to escape by helicopter from Trikala prison, including notorious Greek inmate Panagiotis Vlastos, who is serving life for murder and racketeering. Gunmen in the helicopter had fired on guards in the Feb. 24 incident and lowered a rope in to the courtyard, but the chopper was forced to land after being hit by returned gunfire.

In a separate incident on March 17, a convicted contract killer, Albanian inmate Alket Rizaj, took several prison guards hostage in an attempt to escape from another prison in central Greece. The attempt was unsuccessful and the hostages were released unharmed following a 24-hour standoff.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greece-2-hurt-11-escape-prison-shooting-082351897.html

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Raw Five-Point Preview: March 25, 2013

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-03-25/five-point-preview

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Self Improvement | What Makes Me Unique? Five Areas to Explore ...

By Tracy Warren ?

Understanding what makes you unique is an incredibly valuable thing to know that will help you on your journey to being authentically who you are and making a difference for others. To understand more about what makes you so unique, I invite you to take an adventurous journey to know yourself. There are many places on your journey where you will want to stop and explore. These places are your self-awareness destinations and will help you to know more about where you are going. As you continue along this journey, you will begin to experience an increased sense of meaning and purpose in your life along with a greater appreciation of yourself for the incredibly unique person that you are.

Here are five areas to explore on your self-discovery journey to uncovering your uniqueness.

1. Gifts and Talents ? We all have unique gifts and talents. A lot of these we were born with and others we developed. To know your gifts and special talents you need to look at what you do well. Ask yourself, ?What is that I can do easily that others find difficult?? Your gifts and talents will come so natural to you and sometimes this is why we don?t recognize them. Pay attention to what others tell you that you do well. Notice what they compliment you on and you will soon start to recognize and claim your gifts and talents.

2. Values ? Our values are the things in our life that are most important to us. Values represent what we stand for and what matters to us; they are the principles by which you live your life. To determine your values look at where you spend most of your time and what you spend your money on. What do these things represent to you? Our values present themselves when we are faced with tough decisions. Think about a decision you recently made when you had to choose between one thing or the other. Why did you make that decision? What value did that decision represent?

3. Passions ? You know your passions when you know what you LOVE. What brings you joy just thinking about it? What do you love to spend your time doing? Look at your book collection and see what most the books you love to read are about. Also feel into what makes you come most alive? Your passions invigorate you with feelings of excitement and joy.

4. Life Experiences ? You have a unique life experiences that contribute to you being the incredible individual that you are. Look back at your life from where you grew up to the people you have met and the places you have gone and all that you have experienced, and see that all those events have been part of your unique life path.

5. Special Knowledge ? There are some things that you have a greater insight to than others. What have you studied for a long time? What about any training? This knowledge is part of unique gift you bring to the world.

The journey to discover your uniqueness will open you to a new awareness of yourself. When you have a clear picture of what makes you unique then you can better understand how you can contribute to others around you. You begin to understand your unique place in the world and your purpose is revealed.

Tracy Warren helps heart-centered professionals to know and express their unique essence and make a meaningful contribution through their work. Find out more about how to discover your uniqueness and create a fulfilling life?s work that expresses your soul at: http://www.soulality.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tracy_Warren
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Makes-Me-Unique?-Five-Areas-to-Explore&id=3817206

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Source: http://theselfimprovementblog.com/self-improvement/self-esteem/what-makes-me-unique-five-areas-to-explore/

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Healthy Easter Basket Ideas for Babies and Toddlers - Crazy House ...

Easter is right around the corner and if you have a baby or toddler, you might be looking for healthier Easter Basket options this year. I received an assortment of products from Earth's Best this month and I thought what an amazing way to give your young child a fun yet healthy Easter basket this year! ?With their fun Sesame Street characters, your kids will love getting all of these yummy treats this year and you won't have to worry about them getting too much junk!?

*For Babies who are starting solids, try Earth's Best Baby Food Pouches! They offer products on three different levels depending on your child's age and what stage of solids they are in. For older babies, you can take advantage of some of the canister snacks like Yogurt Puffs, Pop Snax and Happy Snax!? *For preschoolers, we know the Sesame Street Products would be a huge hit! Our favorites include the Letter of the Day Cookies, Snack Bars and Crunchin' Crackers! We also suggest Earth's Best Organic Juice!?

Ditch the chocolate bunnies this year and trade them in for healthy snacks that will not lead to a sugar crash! Check out Earth's Best to see all of their wonderful products for the little one's in your family!?

*I am a member of the Earth's Best Blogger Program. I receive no compensation for posts and all opinions are my own*

Source: http://www.crazyhousereviews.com/2013/03/healthy-easter-basket-ideas-for-babies.html

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Obama picks Baylor to win NCAA women's title

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) ? President Barack Obama is going with Brittney Griner and Baylor to win back-to-back titles in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

Obama's pick was announced Friday on ESPN. In his 2013 bracket, he has Baylor defeating Notre Dame in the April 9 final in New Orleans, a repeat of last year's NCAA title matchup.

The president also selected Connecticut and California to advance to the Final Four. Baylor features 6-foot-8 dunking sensation Griner. Her team is on a 30-game winning streak after an early loss to Stanford.

Obama filled out his bracket Tuesday before departing on his Middle East trip. He picked Indiana to beat Louisville for the men's title.

Baylor, Connecticut and Notre Dame are the women's No. 1 seeds and California is a No. 2.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-22-BKW-NCAA-Obama's-Winner/id-bddbeaffea104a06bec9768786951f4c

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Farms may feast on drone technology test results | Pacific Coast ...

By Stephen Nellis on March 22, 2013.

Drones are coming, perhaps sooner rather than later to Ventura County, and the first place you see them might be the above the region?s fields and orchards.

Congress has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to pick six testing sites around the country for the civilian use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors has submitted an application.

The use of such aircraft, military versions of which were used to deadly effect by the United States against suspected terrorists, has alarmed civil liberties groups. They worry about the invasion of privacy by commercial interests and the potential for abuse by law enforcement agencies.

But the drone industry itself expects the primary use of their technology to be much more benign. About 80 percent of sales are expected to come from the agricultural sectors, according to a recent economic impact analysis by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. They cite the explosive growth of the use of drones for agricultural in Japan, where the first systems became available in the early 1990s.

?The concentration is on the agricultural side. We?ve already seen that spraying [pesticides] with unmanned systems is much more safe, much more effective and consistent,? said Michael Toscano, president and CEO of the industry group. ?More of the spray ends up on the plants and less of it ends up on the ground,? which helps with runoff pollution, he said.

But the most valuable uses of drones ? and perhaps the most likely to be put to use in Ventura County ? have yet to be imagined. Drones can carry many different kinds of sensors, from high-resolution cameras to infrared sensors to chemical vapor sensors that can sniff air samples. Computers can analyze that data to give farmers all kinds of useful information, from whether a certain part of a field needs more water to whether fruit is ripe to monitoring heat and humidity conditions on different parts of hilly vineyard. The personal computer serves as an analogy.

Once the hardware became cheap and widely available, software firms sprung up to create all kinds of applications.

?The farmer knows how to farm better than anyone else,? Toscano said. ?What he needs is good information to make better decisions, and if he has good information, the result is more yield and more profits.?

If those applications take off as expected, the economic impact could be $82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025 and the creation of 34,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the industry group?s estimates, which were culled from surveys of companies and experts that many times were also members. California is expected to get the nation?s largest slice of that growth, with an estimated $14.3 billion in economic impact and more than 18,000 overall jobs created.

The report assumes a ?net zero? impact of what?s known in economics as creative destruction, or the jobs that are lost when one technology displaces another.? Chris Thornberg, an economic forecaster with Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics who reviewed the industry?s impact study at the Business Times? request, said that drones will definitely have a positive economic impact, but he said it will likely be more difficult to measure than the industry?s report would suggest.

?Take the example of what it means for law enforcement,? Thornberg said. ?Is [drone technology] going to create jobs in law enforcement? No, you?re going to lose jobs. You?re using drones and replacing this expansive helicopter fleet ? instead of having six maintenance guys, three pilots and air traffic controllers, they?re gone. However, when you have a cheaper more efficient police service, you can now use that extra funding to hire more cops to make the streets safer, which reduces crime and has a positive economic impact.?

There?s also the question of whether U.S. farmers will adopt drone technology the way that Japanese farmers did. John Krist, CEO of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said he hasn?t heard much talk yet among his members or from other farm bureau leaders about the potential use of drones. And agriculture in the U.S. is very different from Japan, he said.

?The cultural practices, the scale, the entire economic structure of the business ? it?s hard to imagine there?s direct transferability,? he said. ?I?d put a big asterisk next to that.?

Then there are the privacy and civil liberties concerns. Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, co-sponsored a bill that would govern the use of drones in California. The bill, AB 1327, comes as about 30 legislatures across the country are working to pass laws related to drone use.

The California bill would require law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before using a drone, except in cases of an ?imminent threat to persons or property,? in which case officials could fly a drone for up to two hours.

Agencies would also be required to destroy data, images and footage obtained by drone use within 10 days of gathering it unless it?s being retained as evidence of a crime. There would also be a $5,000 per day fine for monitoring people without their permission, no matter whether the drone user is public or commercial.

California?s law is not the strictest being proposed but neither is it the loosest, according to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union. Stricter states propose an explicit ban weaponization of drones and would permit their use only to investigate felonies. Looser states, like North Dakota, would allow incidentally gathered evidence ?? such as footage gathered during firefighting ? to be introduced into a criminal case without a warrant.

But some aspects of the California bill satisfy the requests of privacy advocates. California would require public agencies to give public notice when they deploy drones. And it would require any police or fire force to gain approval from its governing city council or board of supervisors, and that legislative body would also need to come up with rules for use of the drones via its usual process.

That closely mirrors the thrust of a petition the Electronic Privacy Information Center is preparing to send to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to suspend its drone program until it goes through a public rulemaking process to govern the program.

?When public entities seek to use drones, they really need to promulgate privacy rules for the use of those drones,? said Amie Stepanovich, director of the domestic surveillance project with the group.

It?s unclear when drones might come to Ventura County. Though the county, in coordination with other groups, has applied with the Federal Aviation Administration to become a test site, so has an airport district in the Mojave Desert.? As the Business Times went to press, the Ventura County Star reported that lawmakers in Sacramento were pressing Gov. Jerry Brown to break the dispute between the two applications so that California could mount a united effort against other states.

But drones will arrive at some point, and Krist, of the Farm Bureau, said that with Ventura County?s expensive land and water, farmers here are always on the lookout for efficiency gains. ?The growers in Ventura County have a long history of being early adopters of improved agricultural technology,? he said. ?If anybody is going to find a use for this early on, I would expect it to be the growers here.?

? [Full Disclosure: Business Times Editor Henry Dubroff serves on the board of directors of the Ventura County Economic Development Agency, one group that is advocating for Ventura County to become one of the first six FAA test sites for the civilian use of drones. He was not involved in the reporting, writing or editing of this story.]

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Source: http://www.pacbiztimes.com/2013/03/22/farms-may-feast-on-drone-technology-test-results/

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