Thursday, February 28, 2013

Detect Fake Email Addresses (and Four Other Tricks) to Avoid Craigslist Scams

Detect Fake Email Addresses (and Four Other Tricks) to Avoid Craigslist ScamsWe all know Craigslist, while handy, is home to more than a few scammers?even if you're searching for an apartment. Chris Morran over at the Consumerist goes through five warning signs that a rental listing is a scam.

Most of them are things that would throw up at least a yellow flag, but Morran discusses why scammers use these techniques, and how to watch our for similar ones. For example, if they have gibberish for an email address, it's probably to stay under cover:

Since the listing doesn't give a phone number, the only way to find out more is to contact the poster by e-mail. You can't necessarily tell by e-mail posted on the listing page, but when the other person writes back and he's using an e-mail that looks like it's been through the consonant grinder?"kydixororaqep" is a name that was actually attached to one e-mail we saw?you're likely dealing with someone using auto-generated e-mail accounts so as to make things harder to trace.

The other signs generally fall under the "too good to be true" banner we've talked about before?like absurdly low rent or a credit check where it's "okay if you have bad credit"?but they're handy to know. Check out the full article over at the Consumerist for more.

5 Warning Signs That a Craigslist Rental Listing Is Probably a Scam | The Consumerist

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/SLkfjpKc0Aw/watch-for-auto+generated-email-addresses-and-four-other-signs-to-avoid-craigslist-scams

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Colo. kids stranded at school overnight by snow

DENVER (AP) ? A snowstorm moving across the Midwest forced about 60 students to spend the night at their Colorado school when a state highway was closed due to dangerous conditions that left some drivers stranded in their cars, as winter weather continued to cause problems for a wide swath of the country.

Tens of thousands remained without power in Michigan, while adverse conditions continued to disrupt flights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. In eastern Wisconsin, hundreds of vehicles were stranded or ended up in crashes as a winter storm made travel dangerous. And in Kansas, the latest snowstorm to hit the state was being blamed for six deaths.

According to the air traffic tracking website FlightAware.com, about 100 flights in and out of Chicago's airports have been canceled for Wednesday. Flights into O'Hare International Airport are being delayed an average of about an hour.

On the plains in the eastern half of Colorado, wind and snow created whiteout conditions Tuesday afternoon just as buses began taking students home from the Miami-Yoder school district school about 40 miles east of Colorado Springs. The buses turned back to the school and about 60 students, ranging from preschoolers to 12th graders, watched movies, played basketball, ate concession-stand pizza and talked to their parents before bedtime.

The older kids slept on wrestling and gym mats covered with coats, while the younger ones curled up on preschool napping mats, Principal Sharon Webb said.

The school is a large version of a one-room schoolhouse. The students all know each other, and many are related, which Webb said gave it the feel of a sleepover. She said parents were understanding.

"When you live out here in this wide-open country, you know they're where it's the safest," she said of the school.

Daylight showed how powerful the wind had been. Outside, there were drifts up to 4 feet high, but the grass was still visible on the football field.

The blowing snow also temporarily closed a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 70 from just outside Denver to the Kansas line, along with other smaller highways in eastern Colorado, including the one leading to the school. Deputies in surrounding El Paso County responded to about 40 calls for help from stranded drivers or reports of vehicles off the road that might still have people inside. No injuries were reported.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Wednesday the latest winter storm to hit his state caused six deaths.

The governor said two people died in traffic crashes, two siblings died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Kansas City, Kan., a woman died in southwest Kansas while shoveling snow, and another Kansas City resident was killed while walking in the snow.

The storms that crossed Kansas last Thursday and again this week dropped more than 2 feet of snow in some places and knocked out power to thousands of customers, mostly in eastern counties.

In Michigan, utilities said Wednesday roughly 50,600 homes and businesses lost electrical service after a storm that hit the state starting Tuesday knocked down power lines and tree branches.

Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. said about 40,000 of its customers were without power in the morning, and that Washtenaw County was the hardest hit.

Consumers Energy reported about 10,600 of its customers were without power in Wednesday afternoon. The subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp. said those outages include about 2,624 customers in Jackson County and 2,086 in Calhoun County.

The utilities said crews would work around the clock to restore power.

The National Weather Service said 9 inches of snow were reported in Muskegon, Mich., as of Wednesday morning. Authorities said weather might be a factor in crashes that killed motorists in Sanilac and Monroe counties.

In Wisconsin, there were more than 340 stranded vehicles and crashes in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Ozaukee and Washington counties after heavy snowfall that started Tuesday and continued into Wednesday.

The storm dumped 14 inches in Sheboygan County, where sheriff's Lt. Mark Rupnik said they've had at least 100 calls for stranded vehicles, vehicles in ditches or accidents. He said the main highways were drivable as of Wednesday afternoon but expected the secondary roads to be a problem for the next day.

Several area school districts canceled classes Wednesday, and there were power outages in the Milwaukee area.

Elsewhere, authorities said no one was injured after a train collided with a car that was stuck in snow on railroad tracks in Woodward, Okla., where at least 15 inches of snow fell.

The car's driver tried to drive over the train tracks Wednesday morning but became trapped on the snow-covered road, Oklahoma City television station KWTV reported.

Authorities say the driver was able to exit the car safely but couldn't push the vehicle from the tracks before the train smashed into it. The car was totaled in the collision.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colo-kids-stranded-school-overnight-snow-162605660.html

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Video: Thousands gather for pope?s last public appearance

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50970012/

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Regulators looking at a Heinz derivatives deal in London: NY Times

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities investigating possible insider trading in ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co are studying a derivatives bet that was routed through London, the New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter.

Industry watchdogs, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FBI, are investigating unusual trading activity a day before Berkshire Hathaway and Brazil's 3G Capital agreed to buy Heinz for $23 billion in cash earlier this month.

The SEC has obtained an emergency order to freeze assets in a Goldman Sachs Group Inc Swiss account linked to suspicious trades in call options.

The SEC is now examining a product known as a contract-for-difference, a derivative that allows investors to trade on stock price changes without owning the shares, the New York Times said. Such contracts are not regulated in the United States but are popular in Britain, it said. (http://r.reuters.com/fav36t)

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street's self-regulator, has also recently referred suspicious stock trades to the SEC, the paper quoted one person as saying.

FINRA and the SEC declined to comment to the New York Times.

Spokespersons at Heinz and FINRA could not be immediately reached by Reuters for comment outside of regular business hours.

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Bangalore; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/regulators-looking-heinz-derivatives-deal-london-ny-times-054537123--finance.html

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Alarm Clock Gun: Vent Your Anger at Being Awake

If knowing you're going to wake up on time for work helps you sleep better, then slap two rounds of AAA batteries in this pistol-shaped alarm clock and stash it under your pillow. When it's time to wake from your slumber it gently vibrates you back to reality, and a built-in projector lets you pull off amazing quickdraw time checks all night long. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6KHd8KtK-0E/alarm-clock-gun-vent-your-anger-at-being-awake

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Obama travels to Virginia to warn of spending cuts (Washington Bureau)

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

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No. 19 Memphis' 64-62 loss to Xavier ends streak

CINCINNATI (AP) ? Geron Johnson and the rest of the 19th-ranked Tigers headed for their bus parked at the loading dock behind the Cintas Center, saying little as they got ready for a long ride home on a cold, rainy night.

A late out-of-conference loss had just put a dent in Memphis' season.

Short-handed Xavier dominated the first half, blew a 13-point lead, then recovered for a 64-62 victory Tuesday night that snapped Memphis' 18-game winning streak, which was tied for longest in the nation.

The Tigers (24-4) came away with their first loss on the road in more than a year. With one bad night, they also had a few new questions about themselves.

How could this happen?

"It's very weird," said Johnson, who scored a team-high 14 points and led a second-half comeback. "I don't know what to think right now. On our quiet bus ride home, it's going to hit me."

Memphis came into the game tied with Akron for the longest winning streak in the nation. Like the Zips, they'd done it by dominating their conference. Memphis had pulled away from the rest of Conference USA, winning every game since an 87-78 loss to Louisville on Dec. 15.

The Tigers were playing a late out-of-conference game for the first time in nearly 20 years, a chance to see how they measured up against an Xavier team that is trying to make it through a season full of tough breaks.

Even with their indispensable point guard missing because of injury, the Musketeers (16-11) made the Tigers look badly overmatched for a half, then rallied to pull it out at the end.

"I believe in energy, and our energy in the first half stunk, which is full credit to Xavier," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. "They kicked our butts."

In every way.

So, now what for the Tigers?

Two of Memphis' four losses have come against Atlantic 10 teams ? Xavier and Virginia Commonwealth. They also lost to Minnesota. With a chance to extend that winning streak and show they can hold their own out of conference, the Tigers went into a shell.

"It was out of character," Johnson said. "We had no intensity. We came in here thinking they'll roll over and we'll get our 19th straight win. It's not like that."

The sluggish Tigers scored only 20 points in the first half ? their lowest-scoring half of the season ? and got dominated on the boards, ending a couple of notable streaks. Their 18-game winning streak was fifth-longest in school history.

The school record is 27 straight wins during the 2008-09 season, when Memphis went 33-4 and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. One of the four losses that season came against Xavier.

Memphis was the only Division I school that hadn't lost a road game this season. The Tigers had won 11 straight on the road overall, the nation's longest active streak.

"Eighteen in a row is not easy to do," said Pastner, who was hoping for his 100th win as the Tigers' coach. "You don't take it for granted. Long winning streaks, conference championships ? those aren't birthrights."

Xavier made good on its second straight chance to beat a ranked team at home. The Musketeers blew a 17-point lead before losing to then-No. 24 VCU on Saturday. Point guard Dee Davis left that game with a head injury with more than 13 minutes left, helping VCU rally. He was still feeling the effects and didn't play on Tuesday.

Didn't matter. The Musketeers dominated most of the game anyway.

Travis Taylor had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Xavier, whose 45-36 advantage in rebounds led to 18 second-chance points. By contrast, Memphis managed only four points off rebounds the entire game.

"We knew how big and physical they were," Taylor said. "Coach (Chris Mack) made it a big challenge to give them no second chances."

Johnson made three 3s that helped the Tigers overcome that 13-point deficit in the second half. D.J. Stephens made the first of his two free throws with seven-tenths of a second left, but failed to hit the rim while purposely missing the second shot, clinching it for Xavier.

The Musketeers haven't lost back-to-back home games since 2005-06. After the second-half meltdown against VCU, they weren't going to let it happen again.

"We came into the huddle and talked about how we were not going to let it happen like it did against VCU," forward Isaiah Philmore said. "We had a bad feeling after that game."

___

Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-19-memphis-64-62-loss-xavier-ends-084412307--spt.html

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Egypt: Hot Air Balloon Crashes Near Luxor, Killing 19 Tourists


CAIRO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A hot air balloon crashed near the Egyptian town of Luxor on Tuesday, killing 19 tourists who were aboard, a spokesman for companies that operate balloon flights in the area told Reuters.
Ahmed Aboud added that one tourist and the balloon pilot had survived the accident, which happened after a gas explosion at 1,000 feet (300 metres). He said the tourists were from a variety of countries but did not immediately have information on their nationalities.
"There were 20 passengers aboard. An explosion happened and 19 passengers died. One tourist and the pilot survived," he said by telephone. Aboud is the representative of eight companies that operate balloons in Luxor. (Reporting by Tom Perry; editing by David Stamp)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/egypt-hot-air-balloon-crash_n_2763434.html

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Ohio town still grieves one year after deadly shootings

Chardon High School remembersChardon High School remembersChardon, Ohio?A few red ribbons, tattered by the elements, still hang on trees along the streets of Chardon, Ohio. To some people in town, the ribbons are a necessary reminder of a shooting spree at Chardon High School a year ago that left three students dead and three others injured.

On Tuesday, just a day shy of the one-year mark of the tragedy, T.J. Lane pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder and other charges in the Chardon shooting. Prosecutors say Lane fired 10 shots from a .22-caliber pistol at students milling in the school cafeteria the morning of Feb. 27, 2012.

After a year in which even deadlier mass shootings like those in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., grabbed headlines, it could be easy to overlook the tragedy that shook Chardon, a middle-class community of 5,000 residents about 30 miles east of Cleveland.


If there are lessons to be learned from the students at the high school and the broader community, it?s that the emotional damage leaves lasting scars and heavy hearts do not heal quickly.

Four adults have committed suicide in Chardon, and there have been more than a dozen attempted suicides among students since the shootings, a school official said. Counseling sessions and lessons on detecting warning signs that friends, classmates and colleagues might be suffering have become part of classroom curriculum.

Chardon High School principal Andy Fetchik tried to put an upbeat face on a grim year during a press conference last week.

?I can assure you, we?re getting better,? Fetchik said. ?There?s a lot to be done. We have a strong and compassionate community surrounding us, and we?re getting better every day.?

One-year mark

What began as a typical winter day in Chardon turned into a deadly rampage when shots rang out around 8 a.m. Lane, then a 17-year-old junior, aimed his gun at randomly targeted students, authorities said.

Students Vincent "Danny" Parmertor, Demetrius C. Hewlin and Russell D. King Jr. were killed in the attack. Students Nick Walczak, Joy Rickers and Nate Mueller were wounded.

Police captured Lane in a neighborhood near the high school. Under questioning, he reportedly admitted to shooting the students. Before the case went to adult court last year, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent despite evidence he suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies. Because he was a minor when the attack occurred, the death penalty was not a consideration.

T.J. Lane enters court.

With his grandparents and family members of the victims in court on Tuesday, Lane changed his plea from not guilty by reason of insanity to guilty. Dressed in a green open-collared shirt with close-cropped hair, Lane answered "yes" or "yes, your honor" to questions from the judge about the plea agreement. After a background review is completed, Lane will return to court on March 19, when Geauga County Judge David Fuhry is scheduled to sentence him.

Lane's attorney, Ian Friedman, said the teen had undergone psychiatric evaluation, but last week declined to discuss his client's emotional state and how he might reflect on the one-year mark.

?It?s a very delicate matter,? Friedman said. ?I don?t think it would be appropriate to comment on anything beyond where the case is procedurally.?

Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz did not return messages seeking comment on the case.

While a public trial could have shed light on the shooter?s motives, some community members say such details could have done greater emotional harm.

?There are very good lawyers in this case representing Lane and the prosecutor,? said Carmen Naso, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. ?And, ultimately, the judge is going to decide what happens to this kid.?

No celebration

During a media briefing last week, reporters were asked to refrain from referring to Feb. 27 as the ?anniversary? of the tragedy, which could imply a sort of celebration. Reporters were asked instead to refer to the day as a ?one-year mark.?

Chardon High School students and faculty planned to observe the day by embarking on service projects. Some were making care blankets, like those distributed by volunteers after the tragedy. Others were crafting leashes for comfort dogs, like those brought to the school in the days after the incident.

Students also planned to take a memorial walk from the high school to the village square and host a candlelight vigil and concert.

?Danny, Demetrius and Russell were our classmates,? said Chardon High School senior Will Porter. ?For a lot of us, they were our friends. They?ll never be forgotten, and we hope to honor them through this day.?

Senior Jessie Mysyk said the tragedy has inspired a strong sense of unity at the school.

?There's never a time when a student would feel alone,? she said. ?Within the school, we are a community. We're all friends. We are a family. ... We are together."

Senior Jill Allenby said the killings had pushed students to move beyond typical teenage grievances.

?We don?t have the normal kind of drama or high school cliques that everyone sees,? Allenby said. ?When you walk through the halls, you see everyone and everyone says hello.?

A memorial created for the boys killed in the attack on Feb. 27. 2012. (AP)

Must love kids, not guns

After the slaughter of 20 first-graders and six faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in December, the National Rifle Association suggested placing armed guards at schools and possibly training teachers to shoot as the best way to avert such a tragedy in the future.

While the idea of arming teachers has some support in Chardon, school superintendent Joseph Bergant II says it won't happen.

Bergant said it was fine for teachers to learn to use weapons in their private time. But permitting a teacher to carry a concealed gun, which is legal in Ohio, will not happen in Chardon, he said.

?That defeats our purpose,? Bergant said. ?Our purpose is to educate children in a safe, caring environment. ? We are not going to put bars on the school buildings. We are not going to put an iron dome over the top.?

Fetchik, the high school principal, agreed. The school now has an armed ?resource officer??a police officer whose salary is paid with funds from the local government and donations to the community after the shooting.

?I don?t want guns in school,? Fetchik said. ?I want a trained resource officer. ? That gentleman is prepared to deal with using that weapon, (and) not just pointing and pulling the trigger."

About the red ribbons

Red ribbon hangs on a tree in Chardon, Ohio.Gestures like hanging a ribbon on a tree still serve as a haunting reminder to many. Recently, the city has removed the frayed and faded ribbons from all public places and suggested community members follow suit.

The ribbons have been collected by the school district and will be given to the families of the boys who died, Chardon City Manager Randy Sharpe said.

Many people, he acknowledged, wish the ribbons could stay. ?But, the ones that are tired and dingy reflect poorly on the community,? Sharpe said.

Officials said the city is looking to create a permanent memorial to honor the victims, the schools and community?a process that may take another one to two years.

Chardon resident Jamie Ward is among those people ready to move on. He and his wife, Sandy, had just moved to town shortly before the tragedy and have since had a son, Peter, now 10 weeks old.

?For me, the one-year mark is hard,? said Ward as he held his young son. ?A year later, I don?t want Chardon to always be associated with such a thing."

?

(The Associated Press contributed information in this story.)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/high-school-mass-shooting-ohio-town-still-grieves-182122697.html

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Israelis plan to press Obama to free convicted spy

FILE - In this Friday, May 15, 1998 file photo, Jonathan Pollard speaks during an interview in a conference room at the Federal Correction Institution in Butner, N.C. Israel's president Shimon Peres, backed by thousands of followers, is leading an all-out effort to press U.S. President Barack Obama during his upcoming visit to free convicted spy Pollard and end one of the most painful sagas between the two allies. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker, File)

FILE - In this Friday, May 15, 1998 file photo, Jonathan Pollard speaks during an interview in a conference room at the Federal Correction Institution in Butner, N.C. Israel's president Shimon Peres, backed by thousands of followers, is leading an all-out effort to press U.S. President Barack Obama during his upcoming visit to free convicted spy Pollard and end one of the most painful sagas between the two allies. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker, File)

(AP) ? Israel's Nobel-laureate president, backed by thousands of followers, is leading an effort to press President Barack Obama during his upcoming visit to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, ending one of the most painful episodes between the two allies.

Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for passing classified material to Israel.

Pollard is said to be in poor health, and his case has become a rallying cry in Israel. Leaders routinely call for his release and say his 28 years in prison are excessive punishment. But stiff opposition from the American military and intelligence community has deterred a string of American presidents from releasing him.

Next month's visit by Obama, coupled with a perceived softening of the American stance, is raising hopes that Pollard, 58, may finally get his freedom.

More than 65,000 Israelis have signed a petition calling on Obama to free Pollard, the Facebook page of the U.S. embassy in Israel has been flooded with pardon requests and a nationwide campaign began Tuesday urging President Shimon Peres to push for Pollard's release. He quickly agreed.

In a video clip, Peres is shown receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama. The camera then pulls back, showing the wall of a prison cell with the following message: "Mr. President, please save me. J. Pollard."

Speaking to high school students Tuesday, Peres, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, said he would try.

"I intend to raise the issue of Jonathan Pollard during my meeting with President Obama," he said. "(I) will do everything I can to convey this clear message: Jonathan Pollard must be released from prison on humanitarian grounds."

Pollard, a Jewish civilian intelligence analyst, was arrested by FBI agents in Washington in 1985 after unsuccessfully seeking refuge at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. He pleaded guilty to leaking classified documents to Israel and received a life sentence. He is eligible for parole in two years. With little time left on his sentence, Israelis believe it would pose little risk for Obama to free Pollard.

The Pollard affair is enmeshed in highly fraught issues. One is the very idea of spying against an ally ? especially a country's primary patron. Another is the delicate issue of suspected dual loyalties among American Jews, and their own concerns about being seen in such a light.

Once a niche cause of the Israeli religious right wing, the call for Pollard's freedom has now become a matter of consensus in Israel. A wide range of politicians, artists and Nobel Prize winners have embraced Pollard's cause. The influential writers A.B. Yehoshua and David Grossman ? leading voices of the Israeli peace camp ? and former President Yitzhak Navon are among the prominent names backing the calls for his release.

"Both he (Pollard) and Israel have repeatedly expressed remorse. We have learned our lesson and have been living with the painful consequences for nearly three decades," their petition reads. "It is our fervent hope and prayer that your upcoming trip to Israel will bring us the good news we have waited for, for so very long, and that this tragic and painful episode can finally be put to rest once and for all."

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he plans to honor Pollard with the "Jerusalem Freedom Award," which represents "the goal of the Jewish people to be free in our land," according to the municipality.

White House officials say there is no change in policy and no plans to free Pollard.

Aaron David Miller, a former American Mideast peace envoy who served under six U.S. secretaries of state, said freedom seemed like a long shot.

"A Pollard release would certainly make Netanyahu's day," Miller said, but would risk angering many in Washington.

Advocates note that some of those convicted for spying for American enemies have served far shorter prison terms.

Even after all these years, many details of the case remain a mystery. Pollard delivered piles of documents to his handlers, and their full extent has never been disclosed.

Pollard's lawyer, Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, said the material had traditionally been shared with the Israelis. She said the information included details about Arab and Soviet military capabilities, and it helped Israel carry assassinate a senior PLO official in Tunisia in 1988.

Darshan-Leitner said Pollard suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney stones. "His medical condition is very precarious," she said.

A recently declassified 1987 CIA damage assessment concluded that Pollard did not spy against America. According to the version published in December by the National Security Archive, a George Washington University project, Pollard cooperated "in good faith" while in custody and his handlers' requests were limited to intelligence on the Pakistanis, Arab states and the Soviets.

Pollard was granted Israeli citizenship in the late 1990s during Netanyahu's first term. While Netanyahu was out of office, he visited Pollard in prison, Last year, Netanyahu made a formal appeal to the U.S. for his release and a personal plea to allow him to attend his father's funeral. The requests were denied.

For years, the Americans resisted an early release by saying it would harm national security. The stiff punishment was also seen as a deterrent to allies, warning them of the consequences of spying on American soil. But opposition has begun to crack, raising hopes that a breakthrough may be near.

Former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, along with Lawrence Korb, the assistant secretary of defense at the time, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Sen. John McCain and former Vice President Dan Quayle have all called for Pollard's release in recent years.

Pollard's wife, Esther, said that given these developments, and the passage of time, the moment was ripe for Obama "to right this injustice."

"I pray that President Obama will respond without any further delay," she said in an email message.

___

AP International Political Writer Steven R. Hurst in Washington contributed.

___

Online: http://www.atzuma.co.il/presidentobama

___

Follow Heller on Twitter (at)aronhellerap.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-26-ML-Israel-Convicted-Spy/id-c0346cde14a54a6f90db97114597b44a

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Best Home Improvement Tips To Make The Most Of Your Projects

It is amazing sometimes how people settle for the existing paint schemes of the rooms in their homes. On the other hand, they choose schemes themselves through lack of experience that do basically nothing for the value and feel of their home. Choose some brilliant paint schemes today and see just how far painting a room can go with helping the value and feel of your home.

Never try to use makeshift solutions or inferior equipment to replace tools you need for your home improvement project. While you may be tempted to save time and money this way, the equipment you attempt to replace is expensive or hard to get hold of for a reason. Using stopgap measures can give you unsatisfactory results or even expose you to danger.

Sometimes home improvement is necessary for reasons beyond our control. The roof may have been damaged during a storm; the foundation may have developed a crack; or maybe the cold weather caused some pipes to freeze up and burst. Most of the time these are unexpected repairs. Check with your homeowner's insurance to see if the repair is covered.

If you are unable to pick a paint color because you are not sure how the colors will look in your desired room, purchase a small amount of paint in different colors to test out on the wall. Having a larger color swatch to look at and evaluate in your room's lighting can help you to make a decision.

If your bathroom is looking a bit bland, you can put in a new vanity to add a touch of class and elegance. As time goes on, your old vanity will look worn and begin to warp. If you want to improve your bathroom, just buy vanity and drop it in for a touch of class.

Locate the studs in the wall prior to beginning to hang your new cabinets in your kitchen. Using a finishing nail to mark each stud is going to save you the time of missing the stud and having to put multiple holes in the cabinets trying to find the stud to hang them on.

If you have a tear in your screen-door or window-screen, here's a quick tip you can use that will save you money. For tears that are small, use a bit of clear nail polish. For a slightly larger tear, apply a bit of cling wrap to each side of the screen. This quick patch will do until you decide to replace the screen.

Installing new countertops is a great place to start with a home improvement project. There are many things to consider, though. Your kitchen layout and how you use your counter space. Do you need something professional and durable or would you prefer something that is more appealing to the eye?

When it comes to home improvement, consider adding solar panels to your house. While the upfront cost may be large, you may find it to be a wise investment in comparison to the rising costs of electricity. This will save on your monthly electric bills, because the most of your energy will come from the energy you are storing. This is a good, natural solution to powering your house.

Landscaping can easily add value to your home by creating curb appeal. Shrubs and hedges are generally affordable and easy to maintain. Trees, on the other hand, are not recommended for many reasons. Foremost, immature trees do little to enhance the attractiveness of a yard, while mature trees are often very expensive.

One important aspect of doing home improvement projects is measuring. Three must-have, measuring tools for projects are measuring tape, a ruler and a level. The measuring tape allows you to get dimensions of space and of the parts you may use. A ruler allows you to measure and create straight lines. A level allows you to make sure a surface is flat and not inclining or declining.

Do you now understand what makes home improvement, well, home improvement? Do you know about the different kinds of jobs and equipment now? If you now have an idea of how to answer these questions, then you have read and understand what it takes to create the home of your dreams.

The writer has actually been in the field of interior design and into Nick Scali furniture for many years and maintains a website and video channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_yimhcGfL0 where you can have answers to your concerns.

Source: http://reading.my/blog/42619/the-best-home-improvement-tips-to-make-the-most-of-your-projects/

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Donaghey Scholars

The Donaghey Scholars Program is pleased to announce that we have a new Program Administrator! Dr. Jessica Scott joined our team last September, replacing Eileen Turan, who began a doctoral program at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Scott is an Arkansas native and a graduate of Benton High School. She studied anthropology and history at UALR and went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology and a Ph.D. in Environmental Dynamics from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Along the way, Dr. Scott also gained business experience, working for The Walt Disney Company in Orlando,Florida, and Neiman Marcus in Dallas,Texas. She taught for four years at UA-Fayetteville, including 2 years of teaching exclusively in the Fulbright Honors College, and has spent the last 3 semesters teaching here at UALR.

Dr. Scott?s academic research improves our understanding of human evolution by reconstructing the ancient environments occupied by our ancestors millions of years ago. She has conducted research in South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Great Divide Basin in Wyoming. With fifteen peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals like The American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Mammalia, The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and The Journal of Human Evolution, Dr. Scott is a respected scholar in her own field and we are very lucky to have her on board. In addition to her position in the Donaghey Scholars Office, Dr. Scott teaches Introduction to Physical Anthropology, Human Paleontology, Dental Anthropology, and Egyptology for the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at UALR. This spring, she began teaching Science & Society II for the Scholars Program.

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Source: http://ualr.edu/donagheyscholars/2013/02/25/291/

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Non-volatile bistable memory circuits for highly energy-efficient CMOS logic systems

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Non-volatile bistable memory circuits being developed by Satoshi Sugahara and his team at Tokyo Tech pave the way for highly energy-efficient CMOS logic systems. The details are described in the February 2013 issue of Tokyo Institute of Technology Bulletin.

Developments in low power, high performance CMOS logic technology are vital to the future of microprocessors and system-on-chip (SoC) devices for personal computers, servers, and mobile/smart phones. Much of the processing in these computing systems is carried out using a volatile hierarchical memory system in which bistable circuits such as static random access memory (SRAM) and flip-flop (FF) play an essential role for fast data-access. However, the power to these bistable circuits cannot be switched off without losing their data. This inability to turn off power is a fundamental problem for energy consumption in CMOS logic systems.

The method for saving energy in CMOS logic systems, called power-gating, uses architecture to cut the supply voltage to idle circuit domains, effectively putting them to power shut-off state to avoid leakage and thereby save static energy.

Satoshi Sugahara and his team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have proposed a new architecture of power-gating using non-volatile SRAM (NV-SRAM) and non-volatile FF (NV-FF) circuits, called non-volatile power-gating, so that the size of logic circuit domains for power-gating is optimally designed, supply voltages to the domains are cut at the optimum times, and the energy cost of the logic circuits is worthwhile.

Over the past few years, Sugahara and his team have been developing non-volatile bistable memory circuits (NV-SRAM and NV-FF) required to establish non-volatile power-gating systems with better overall performance and energy efficiency than conventional power-gating systems [1]. In particular, the researchers have built pseudo-spin metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (PS-MOSFETs) for use in the non-volatile bistable memory circuits.

The PS-MOSFET can be configured with an ordinary MOSFET coupled with a spin-transfer torque magnetic tunnel junction (STT-MTJ), and it can reproduce the functions of spin-transistors -- in which different electrons spin states or magnetization configurations of the ferromagnetic electrodes are used to control transistor output1. Spin transistors can also store non-volatile information1. In a typical bistable memory circuit, an inverter loop consisting of cross-coupling two CMOS gates is used to store each memory bit. In the new non-volatile bistable circuits, PS-MOSFETs are added to the inverter loop.

Previous attempts to build non-volatile bistable circuits with STT-MTJs have resulted in performance degradation, because the STT-MTJs interfere with their fundamental circuits of the inverter loops. To overcome this problem, the team designed NV-SRAM and NV-FF circuits using PS-MOSFETs. In these circuits, the STT-MTJs can be electrically separated from the inverter loops by the PS-MOSFETs and thus have no degradation effects on the bistable circuit performance.

The NV-SRAM and NV-FF circuits built by Sugahara's team have performed well under tests so far, compared to conventional SRAM/FF circuits. They also developed architectures for minimizing break-even time (that is an important performance index of power-gating) of the NV-SRAM and NV-FF circuits, including a 'store-free' shutdown, wherein existing data is not rewritten, thereby dramatically saving energy.

These new transistor and circuit designs could be pivotal in the development of faster, more energy-efficient processing in future CMOS logic systems. Most importantly, as the researchers state in a recent publication2-5, "Proposed architectures have excellent compatibility with present microprocessor/SoC technologies," and "Proposed non-volatile bistable circuits using PS-MOSFETs can dramatically reduce the energy issues caused by static power dissipation in advanced CMOS logic systems"

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Tokyo Institute of Technology, via ResearchSEA.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Satoshi Sugahara et al. High performance logic systems for less power. Tokyo Institute of Technology Bulletin., February 2013 [link]

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/7k9H2VUmXU0/130225102139.htm

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Video: TODAY anchors recreate their favorite childhood photos

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

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50927983/

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Obesity Reduces Quality of Life in Boys | Psych Central News

By Traci Pedersen Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 23, 2013

Obesity Reduces Quality of Life in BoysFor boys, being overweight or obese significantly lowers their quality of life compared to healthy weight peers.? Interestingly, these results were not found in girls.

The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, also showed that quality of life (QOL) scores improved for children of either sex whose weight status changed from overweight/obese to normal.

The research involved more than 2,000 Australian school children who were about 12 years old at the start of the study in 2004-2005. The researchers followed up with the children after five years.?

The participants then answered a questionnaire designed to measure whether being obese (also known as? adiposity) influenced their quality of life at age 17 or 18.

?Adiposity in boys was associated with poorer quality of life during adolescence. This association was not observed among girls.

?In both boys and girls, though, persistent overweight or obesity was related to poorer physical functioning after the five years. In contrast, weight loss was associated with improved quality of life during adolescence,? said Bamini Gopinath, Ph.D., senior research fellow at the University of Sydney in Australia.

The questionnaire measured the children?s physical and psychosocial health.?It also calculated a combined total quality of life score. The psychosocial health summary score reflected how well the teens were functioning emotionally and socially.

The study revealed that both males and females who were obese at the start of the study and who later reduced to a normal weight had far better physical functioning scores than those who remained obese after five years. These physical functioning scores measured one aspect of the overall quality of life score.

?The findings suggest that an unhealthy weight status and excess body fat could negatively impact the mental and physical wellbeing of adolescents, particularly boys,? said Gopinath.

He noted that the study highlights the value of looking at the quality of life among obese teens in both clinical practice and in research studies.?

He also added that ?obesity prevention and treatment efforts [ought] to address the broad spectrum of psychosocial implications of being obese as a teenager.?

Lawrence J. Cheskin, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, noted that the differences in quality of life and physical functioning between obese and normal weight teens has not been carefully done before.

?The fact that QOL improved with improvement in weight over time is also important,? said Cheskin. He added that parents, health care providers and teenagers need to understand the far-reaching effects that being overweight can have on a teen?s enjoyment of life.

Source:? Center for Advancing Health

?

Obese boy on scale photo by shutterstock.

APA Reference
Pedersen, T. (2013). Obesity Reduces Quality of Life in Boys. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 26, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/02/24/obesity-reduces-quality-of-life-in-boys/51902.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/02/24/obesity-reduces-quality-of-life-in-boys/51902.html

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How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown?

The answer to the simple question in that headline is surprisingly hard to come by. So Slate and the Twitter feed @GunDeaths are collecting data for our crowdsourced interactive. This data is necessarily incomplete. But the more people who are paying attention, the better the data will be. You can help us draw a more complete picture of gun violence in America. If you know about a gun death in your community that isn?t represented here, please tweet @GunDeaths with a citation. (If you?re not on Twitter, you can email slatedata@gmail.com.) And if you?d like to use this data yourself for your own projects, it?s open. You can download it here.

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states=[{name:"Alabama",abbrev:"AL"},{name:"Alaska",abbrev:"AK"},{name:"Arizona",abbrev:"AZ"},{name:"Arkansas",abbrev:"AR"},{name:"California",abbrev:"CA"},{name:"Colorado",abbrev:"CO"},{name:"Connecticut",abbrev:"CT"},{name:"Delaware",abbrev:"DE"},{name:"Florida",abbrev:"FL"},{name:"Georgia",abbrev:"GA"},{name:"Hawaii",abbrev:"HI"},{name:"Idaho",abbrev:"ID"},{name:"Illinois",abbrev:"IL"},{name:"Indiana",abbrev:"IN"},{name:"Iowa",abbrev:"IA"},{name:"Kansas",abbrev:"KS"},{name:"Kentucky",abbrev:"KY"},{name:"Louisiana",abbrev:"LA"},{name:"Maine",abbrev:"ME"},{name:"Maryland",abbrev:"MD"},{name:"Massachusetts",abbrev:"MA"},{name:"Michigan",abbrev:"MI"},{name:"Minnesota",abbrev:"MN"},{name:"Mississippi",abbrev:"MS"},{name:"Missouri",abbrev:"MO"},{name:"Montana",abbrev:"MT"},{name:"Nebraska",abbrev:"NE"},{name:"Nevada",abbrev:"NV"},{name:"New Hampshire",abbrev:"NH"},{name:"New Jersey",abbrev:"NJ"},{name:"New Mexico",abbrev:"NM"},{name:"New York",abbrev:"NY"},{name:"North 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Deaths by City Click a circle to filter deaths by location.

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Matched Deaths: or more since Newtown

Show Methodology

Each victim under 13 years of age is designated "child"; from 13 to 17: "teen"; 18 and older: "adult."

The same icons used to represent male victims is also used to represent victims of unknown gender. The same icons used to represent adult victims is also used to represent victims of unknown age group.

The yellow and blue backgrounds represent alternating days.

The information is collected by @gunDeaths from news reports about the deaths. The Slate interactives team and @gunDeaths continually manages and revises the data.

The data are not comprehensive because not all gun-related deaths are reported by the news media. For example, suicides often go unreported.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=69ac6522a826ffe41ff70e9f2b4324be

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Report: Barnes & Noble Might Give Up on the Nook (Updated)

According to the New York Times, struggling bookmonger Barnes & Noble might be about to shelve its Nook. The problem is one more common to physical books than tablets: nobody's buying them. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BnZBWOSAD9I/report-barnes--noble-might-give-up-on-the-nook

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Congo neighbors agree not to support armed groups

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) ? Eleven African countries signed a United Nations-drafted peace deal on Sunday to stabilize the troubled Central African country of Congo, where rebels allegedly backed by neighboring countries last year threatened to oust the government.

Opening the agreement-signing meeting at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said peace, security and cooperation framework for Congo would bring stability to the region.

"The signing ceremony is a significant even in itself. But it is only the beginning of a comprehensive approach that will require sustained engagement. The framework before you outlines commitments and oversight mechanisms which aim at addressing key national and regional issues," Ban said in his speech.

Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Angola, Uganda, South Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo signed the accord.

Congo's neighbors collectively promised to not interfere in the internal affairs of the Congo. They also agreed to not tolerate or support armed groups. A U.N. report last year said that Rwanda and Uganda helped aid M23 rebels inside Congo. The two countries denied the allegations.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was present at the signing and said the agreement is a new opportunity for Congo.

"The framework recognizes that a holistic approach that addresses the multifaceted root causes is the only way to end instability. Any meaningful contribution toward lasting peace in the DRC and the Great Lake's region has to abandon the self-defeating practice of selectivity in both memory and responsibility regarding the known, long standing causes of recurring conflict," said Kagame.

The U.N. says Congo suffers from persistent violence by both local and foreign armed groups that use rape as a weapon. The conflict has displaced nearly 2 million people. The U.N. said it will undertake a review of the its peacekeeping force in Congo, known as MONUSCO, to better help the country's government address security challenges. Ban said he would issue a special report on Congo and the Great Lakes region in coming days.

"It will outline my proposal for a new comprehensive approach to addressing the underlying causes of the conflict in the DRC and the region, which encompasses the various components of the framework but also a strengthened political and security role for MONUSCO, including the deployment of an intervention brigade with a peace enforcement mandate. Countries of the region have committed to putting in motion to this brigade," Ban said.

South African President Jacob Zuma welcomed the proposal to send more troops to Congo. But he said Congo's government needs to undertake "far-reaching reforms" for a lasting solution.

"A heavy burden of responsibility falls on the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighbors. Theirs is the historic task of freeing the people of the DRC and the region from tortuous history of conflict and instability, and to introduce a new future offering democracy, peace, stability progress and prosperity," said Zuma.

Under the new agreement the Congolese government agreed to fast-track security sector reform, particularly within its army and police, and to consolidate state authority in eastern parts of the country. It pledged to prevent armed groups from destabilizing neighboring countries.

Congo President Joseph Kabila also vowed to advance decentralization and expand social services across the nation. The deal calls for Kabila to soon put in place a national oversight mechanism in order to oversee the implementations of the commitments. The U.N., AU, African Development Bank and other international groups have agreed to support the effort.

An agreement signing was cancelled last month at the margins of the African Union summit at the last minute, and Ban at the time blamed "procedural issues" for the delay. Ban on Sunday proposed that the leaders should meet twice a year, at the margins of the AU and U.N. summits, to review the deal's progress.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-neighbors-agree-not-support-armed-groups-132430233.html

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Investors face yet another Washington deadline

U.S. investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.

Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.

Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.

"It's at this point a political hot button in Washington but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.

Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.

But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.

National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to investor concern. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader Silvio Berlusconi has raised doubts.

"Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the stock market, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.

Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's biggest supplier.

Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

"The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.

The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.

If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp could be affected.

General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.

The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.

U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.

Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.

On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/investors-face-yet-another-washington-deadline-1C8509442

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El Chapo Guzman: Dead ? or Not!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/el-chapo-guzman-dead-dot-dot-dot-or-not/

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Oxford students to vote on Israel boycott

Local student union gears for vote on possible ban of Israeli companies; supporters say they're being threatened. Opponents say boycott goes against everything university stands for

Ynet

Students at Britain's prestigious Oxford University are set to hold a controversial vote this week as the Students Union (OUSU) stands to make its final decision on whether to boycott Israeli companies and products.

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The vote, which is scheduled for Wednesday, follows a tumultuous week, brought about by anti-Israeli MP George Galloway's hurried and highly criticized exit of a debate on Israel, after discovering that his opponent was an Israeli citizen.

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Related stories:

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"I don't recognize Israel and I don't debate with Israelis," Galloway said, to gasps of shock and mutters of "racism."

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According to The Guardian, the boycott motion calls on Oxford students to join the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement "in protest of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and its hindrance of attempts to create a Palestinian state." ?

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According to the report, both the motion's promoter and the person who seconded it have received threatening emails, prompting the latter to withdrawn his support and the former to ask that her name not be publicized.

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The BDS movement urges a boycott of Israeli exports as well as any firms ? British and international ? that do business in or with Israel.

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Some BDS supporters have also disrupted cultural events involving Israeli performers.

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Last week, the Oxford Student Union gave its colleges two additional weeks to debate the issue, after most failed to come to a decision.

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Henry Watson of Magdalen College told the Guardian that "People thought it was a question of supporting Israel or Palestine or supporting peace. The boycott goes against everything the university stands for.

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"The idea that we are not going to read your books or articles or hear your arguments on the basis of your nationality is ridiculous."

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Magdalen College voted 39-3 against the motion, Watson said.

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Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4348525,00.html

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