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Saturday, February 16, 2013

UK Welsh Secretary clarifies gay marriage remarks: 'I support same ...

Scotland Highlands avalanche, February 14, 2013

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Man Wanted In California Faces Nebraska Charge

A 41-year-old man wanted on a California warrant has been arrested in Nebraska, accused of possessing more than 80 pounds of marijuana.

The Nebraska State Patrol says a state trooper pulled over a pickup on a traffic violation just before 2:30 a.m. Friday along Interstate 80 in Lincoln.

The patrol says a check of the man's driver's license showed that he was wanted on a warrant alleging drug possession in Sonoma County, Calif., so the man was arrested. The patrol says an inventory of his truck turned up a bottle of hydrocodone tablets and 40 packages of pot.

The man was identified as Shane Barrett, of Willits, Calif.

Source: http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Man-Wanted-In-California-Faces-Nebraska-Charge-191435331.html

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Hagel nomination heading to vote on Senate floor

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. said Friday he will press ahead with a vote on Hagel?s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republicans demands for more financial information from President Barack Obama?s choice as setting an unprecedented new standard. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A moderate Republican senator once thought to be a possible backer of Chuck Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense said she'll oppose his confirmation, while other GOP senators signaled they may delay a floor vote on the nomination unless the White House provides more information about the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Wednesday that Hagel's views on the most critical threats facing the United States are "unsettling." In a four-page statement, Collins said Hagel was unwilling to ask the European Union to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2006, and he has been hesitant to back the use of all non-military options, such as unilateral sanctions, to pressure Iran into ceasing its nuclear program.

As Collins voiced her opposition to Hagel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., set the stage for a full Senate vote on Hagel, President Barack Obama's choice to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Reid filed a motion to limit debate and force a vote, which is expected to be held on Friday. Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate and have the numbers to confirm Hagel on a majority vote, but would need the support of five Republicans to clear the way for an up-or-down vote on Hagel.

A president's pick for a cabinet post usually requires only a majority vote, leading Reid to accuse Senate Republicans of orchestrating a filibuster against a nominee for secretary of defense for the first time in the country's history.

But the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said it's not unusual to hold a cabinet nominee to a 60-vote threshold. "It's not a filibuster," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. "This has happened (before), and it's happening again right now."

A bitterly divided Armed Services Committee on Tuesday voted to approve Hagel by a 14-11 vote, with all the panel's Democrats backing him. The committee's Republicans were unified in their opposition to their onetime colleague, a former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that he would vote against ending debate on Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary because he wants more information on Obama's actions on the night of the Sept. 11 raid on the mission in Benghazi. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the Sept. 11 raid.

Graham, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote to Obama on Tuesday and asked whether he spoke to any Libyan government official during the assault.

"There seems to not be much interest to hold this president accountable for a national security breakdown that led to the first ambassador being killed in the line of duty in over 30 years," Graham said. "No, the debate on Chuck Hagel is not over. It has not been serious. We don't have the information we need. And I'm going to fight the idea of jamming somebody through until we get answers about what the president did personally when it came to the Benghazi debacle."

McCain declined to say Wednesday whether he would try to filibuster or delay Hagel's confirmation if Obama did not provide an answer. "My position right now is I want an answer to the question," he said.

After the committee vote, McCain said he did not want a filibuster of Hagel's nomination. "We have not filibustered a Cabinet appointee in the past and I believe that we should move forward with his nomination, bring it to the floor and vote up or down," he said.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he's confident the White House will supply the information and that Hagel will be confirmed.

Collins, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she would not join in a filibuster to block a final vote.

In her statement, Collins said Hagel's "courageous military service deserves our praise and gratitude" and that he cares deeply about the welfare of the troops. But she could not get past what she described as Hagel's troubling record on key national security issues. Confirming him as secretary of defense would send the wrong message to the country's allies and adversaries about the resolve of the United States, Collins said.

"I am unable to support Senator Hagel to be the next secretary of defense because I do not believe his past positions, votes, and statements match the challenges of our time, and his presentations at his (confirmation) hearing did nothing to ease my doubts," Collins said. "I regret having to reach that conclusion given our personal relationship and my admiration for Senator Hagel's military service. But I have concluded that he is not well-suited for the tremendous challenges our country faces during this dangerous era in our history."

Two Republicans ? Sens. Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Mike Johanns of Nebraska ? have announced their support for Hagel.

_____

Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

_____

Online:

Sen. Susan Collins: http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-13-Hagel/id-711599b2cbb74ad4bc2a671b9dc7458d

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Fox hires Scott Brown as contributor

NEW YORK (AP) ? Fox News Channel is hiring former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown as a contributor, and the Republican is making his debut in prime time on Wednesday.

The network says Brown will offer commentary across several programs, starting with Sean Hannity on Wednesday. Brown lost his seat to Elizabeth Warren in November and declined to run in a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by now-Secretary of State John Kerry.

Brown says he's looking forward to challenging elected officials to put the country's needs ahead of their partisan interests.

Fox has been remaking its contributor lineup in recent months, cutting ties to Sarah Palin and Dick Morris while hiring Brown and Dennis Kucinich.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fox-hires-scott-brown-contributor-184541255--politics.html

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Spirit AeroSystems shares award for crisis communications with ...

UPDATED ? Which is a bigger crisis for an aircraft company or an airline to deal with: An EF-3 tornado, or Alec Baldwin getting kicked off a flight for playing Words With Friends when he?d been told to shut down all electronics?

Turns out they?re both big deals for crisis communicators, so Ragan?s PR Daily recently awarded Spirit AeroSystems and American Airlines an award for best crisis communications.

?I was totally blown away,? says Spirit spokesman Ken Evans. ?I thought we had a 10 percent shot.?

He figured no matter how dramatic the April 14 tornado was, it?s hard to top a celebrity crisis.

PR Daily says Spirit won because it lost all its traditional communication tools ? e-mail, its website, even desk phones ? but still managed to keep the public, the media and employees informed.

?We were kind of forced to think outside the box for us,? Evans says. ?We?re a fairly conservative communications group. ? I know that?s shocking to you.?

Twitter became one of the company?s chief communication tools. It also used YouTube and Flickr.

Evans says Spirit?s communications team made a case to management that it needed to reach out immediately, particularly to the media, ?so that all of our local stakeholders wouldn?t panic.?

?One of the best results of the week was that our stock did not take a major hit even after that EF-3 tornado.?

He says the company learned lessons from the crisis as well.

?The one audience we didn?t spend (time) keeping up to date was an internal audience at other Spirit sites around the world. They were hungrier for information on a daily basis than we thought they would. They felt left out.?

Evans says the company is using some social media more these days than it used to.

?Our leadership is more comfortable now than they were before with using some of the newer tools.?

So far, that doesn?t include a corporate Facebook page.

?Interestingly enough, we are looking at a business case for that,? Evans says.

He says he accepted the award on his team?s behalf because Debbie Gann, Spirit?s vice president of communications and public affairs, was too modest to go.

?I tried desperately to get Debbie to go,? Evans says. ?It?s her team. She was intimately involved in leading us the whole way.?

He adds, ?She would have been more prepared than I was.?

Evans, a former television reporter, had a short contingency speech ready and did everything he could up to the minute the awards started to see if he?d need to use it.

He tried, to no avail, with ?every bit of journalistic skill I had left.?

Source: http://blogs.kansas.com/haveyouheard/2013/02/13/spirit-aerosystems-shares-award-for-crisis-communications-with-american-airlines/

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Valentine's Day Tips on Merging Finances | Connecticut Consumer ...

Financial planning may not be as romantic as flowers and a fancy dinner on Valentine?s Day, but it could bring more peace and happiness into your relationship. Money is the leading cause of stress and arguments in marriage, so having a financial plan can reduce stress and create a better environment for romance. Valentine's day

According to the new American Express Spending and Saving Tracker,?66% of surveyed couples admit to having financial disagreements and 55% say their spouse has at least one bad financial habit. The top three habits include: frivolous expenditures (20%), late payments (10%) and hiding money or expenses (6%).

Here are tips for couples?as they merge their finances:

1. Full Disclosure of All Debt and Financial Obligations
Get everything out in the open. Make a list of all student loans, car loans, credit card debt, even loans to friends and parents. Get copies of individual credit reports to share the financial past and any accounts that you may have forgotten. Couples are now having financial conversations earlier in their relationships. Among unmarried couples, more say they are initiating the money talk within six months of meeting (44% vs. 29% in 2012). Couples are also discussing money more frequently: 59% say at least once a week, up from 56% in 2012, according to the American Express report.

2. Have a Peaceful Plan for Uniting Your Finances.
More than likely your loved one does not handle finances exactly like you do, and this is a common source of friction in many relationships. There are three options for accounts: separate, joint and a combination of both. Separate accounts give both spouses some autonomy and are the easiest solution in the early years, but become complicated as your family and possessions grow. Joint accounts merge all income and expenses which requires communication and agreement. It can make paying bills easier, but it also means less privacy and independence. Joint/separate accounts divide up the expenses while still having an account of your own that you can control without feeling like every financial move is being watched. Both partners should have some money they can control and spend on their own.

3. Merging Debt.
One or both partners may come into the relationship with some debt. What type of assistance will be given by the spouse who has little or no debt? That has to be worked out between you and your partner. The other spouse is not legally responsible for debts that happened before marriage and it doesn?t automatically become a joint debt. Whether you and your spouse are legally liable for each other?s debts after marriage depends on if you live in a community property (debt incurred by one spouse is owed by both spouses) or common law state (debts incurred by the spouse is only owed by that spouse unless the debt was for a family necessity). After a legal separation or divorce, a debt is generally owed only by the spouse who incurred the debt, unless the debt was incurred for family necessities.

Disagreements also seem to occur regarding how much debt is too much, and what is bad debt. The only way to diffuse this is to agree on how much debt you can handle and what purchases you will make with a credit card loan. The best way to deal with debt is to pay it down as fast as possible and avoid late payments. Decreasing debt reduces financial stress. The faster you pay off your loan balance, the sooner you can start saving and building a strong financial foundation. When you receive gift money, a bonus, a second job or a tax refund, use this to pay off debt. Making micropayments can help pay down your debt faster. Eat a meal at home or use coupons, and immediately apply the money you saved to your credit card balance. If you have multiple credit cards with a balance, pay off the balance with the highest interest rate and then move to the card with the next-highest rate.

4. Keep Spending Under Control.
More than likely, one spouse is considered the spender and one is considered the saver. However, in reality, both of you spend, just on different things. One may be spending on daily expenses like groceries, bills, and needs for the family while the other may make the larger purchases like computers or televisions. If you are on a tight budget, both sides need to make a plan on how much you will spend on the daily purchases and how much you will save for the big purchases. According to the American Express study, more couples are talking about purchases, with 84% consulting their partner before making a purchase, up from 78% in 2012.

5. Be Open About Money.
Financial secrets can ruin a marriage. Many people deceive themselves about how much they are spending, just as they deceive themselves about how much they eat. The problem comes when one partner is secretly saving, spending, or gambling thousands of dollars. If this can?t be easily confessed and explained, it may be time to get family financial counseling. The American Express study shows couples are being more honest about spending. Fewer couples are misrepresenting the amount of a purchase?64% in 2013 versus 70% in 2012.

6. Emergency Planning.
Just because your financial situation is healthy today, don?t assume that you are ready for the emergency of tomorrow. A layoff, illness, accident or home repair can suddenly leave you in a financial crisis if you don?t have an emergency account. This can lead to a time of desperation and bad decisions. Have an emergency fund in a savings account that totals three to
six months of living expenses. Make savings consistent and untouchable by setting up an automated deposit from your paycheck into your savings account.

7. Raise Your Credit Score.
Make it a goal for both partners to have a credit score over 720. This will this help you qualify for the best terms and interest rates on loans and save thousands of dollars over your lifetime. In addition, insurers, landlords and employers use credit reports to make decisions about your application. Raise your credit score by paying your bills on time, paying down your debt and limiting your credit applications.

8. Keep a Credit Card in Your Own Name.
Keeping a credit card in your name helps build your individual credit history. If you are worried about your partner?s spending habits, then he or she should not carry a credit card.

9. Monitor Your Accounts.
Even if you divide up bill paying and investing duties, both parties should be able to easily access accounts to know what is going on with your money. Websites like Mint.com can keep track of all accounts?investment, checking, college funds and loans. This keeps information clear and in the open for both spouses.

10. Get Help.
If arguments prevent you from getting started or making a financial plan, it may be good to seek professional counseling from a financial counselor or credit counselor. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling can help you find a certified credit counselor in your area. They can help you create a debt management plan. The set up fee is typically $50 and the monthly fee is about $25.

11. Talk It Out.
Regularly make time to talk about your finances. It is important that both partners actively participate in these discussions. Keep it comfortable and conversational?do not make this a business meeting. It is not a time for blame and accusations. Let it be an open forum where either spouse can bring up problems and issues and even ask for suggestions and help. Let your
actions show that you are in this together.

12. Add Extra Income.
Selling unwanted items at a garage sale or on eBay is a start, but you may have skills that can make extra income. You can make picnic tables and chairs and sell them on Craigslist, or make bows and girls? accessories to sell at children?s clothing
consignment sales. You can board animals while their owners are on vacation. If you are a former athlete, you can give private lessons to kids learning how to play your sport.

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Engineers show feasibility of superfast materials: 'Organic topological insulators' for quantum computing

Feb. 13, 2013 ? University of Utah engineers demonstrated it is feasible to build the first organic materials that conduct electricity on their edges, but act as an insulator inside. These materials, called organic topological insulators, could shuttle information at the speed of light in quantum computers and other high-speed electronic devices.

The study published this week in the journal Nature Communications will help pioneer a new field of research in materials science, in the same way organic materials lowered the cost and eased production of light-emitting diodes and solar cells, says senior author Feng Liu, professor and chair of materials science and engineering.

"This is the first demonstration of the existence of topological insulators based on organic materials," says Liu. "Our findings will broaden the scope and impact of these materials in various applications from spintronics to quantum computing."

While other researchers still must synthesize the new organic topological insulators, Liu says his team's previous work "shows we can engineer an interface between two different thin films to create topological insulators," in which electrons known as Dirac fermions move along the interface between two films, Liu adds.

Liu and his co-workers at the University of Utah's College of Engineering performed theoretical calculations to predict the existence of an organic topological insulator using molecules with carbon-carbon bonds and carbon-metal bonds, called an organometallic compound. For this new study, the team investigated how Dirac fermions move along the edges of this compound, which looks like a sheet of chicken wire.

To generate a topological insulator, scientists have to design materials that can transmit fermions. In a topological insulator, fermions behave like a massless or weightless packet of light, conducting electricity as they move very fast along a material's surface or edges. When these fermions venture inside the material, however, this "weightless" conductivity screeches to a halt.

What's more, Dirac fermions have a property called spin, or angular momentum around the particle's axis that behaves like a magnetic pole. This property gives scientists another way to place information into a particle because the spin can be switched "up" or "down." Such a mechanism could be useful for spin-based electronic devices, called spintronics, which can store information both in the charge and the spin of electrons.

"We have demonstrated a system with a special type of electron -- a Dirac fermion -- in which the spin motion can be manipulated to transmit information," Liu says. "This is advantageous over traditional electronics because it's faster and you don't have to worry about heat dissipation."

Earlier this year, Liu and his team discovered a "reversible" topological insulator in a system of bismuth-based compounds in which the behavior of ordinary or Dirac fermions could be controlled at the interface between two thin films. Bismuth is a metal best known as an ingredient of Pepto-Bismol. These theoretical predictions were confirmed experimentally by co-authors from Shanghai Jiaotong University in China.

Although inorganic topological insulators based on different materials have been studied for the last decade, organic or molecular topological insulators have not.

Liu conducted the study with Zhengfei Wang and Zheng Liu, both postdoctoral fellows in materials science and engineering at the University of Utah. The study was funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Army Research Laboratory.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Utah.

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

Journal Reference:

Z.F Wang, Zheng Liu, Feng Liu. Organic topological insulators in organometallic lattices. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1471 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2451

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/matter_energy/electricity/~3/90z4vjxp68I/130213132431.htm

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