The Fraudulence of Soccer Formations

This is going to be difficult for soccer traditionalists to swallow, but here goes. Formations in soccer don't matter. Not anymore. Their chief function nowadays is to justify coaches' salaries and make TV commentators sound smart. For some reason, in the Russia Euro 2012 Jersey run-up to any big match—like Thursday's Euro 2012 semifinal between Italy and the favored Germans—the chatter always centers on the formations each team will employ. Through the first 28 games at this year's Euro, teams used five distinct formations, a greater spread than at any Euro since 1996, according to UEFA, European soccer's governing body. But for all practical purposes, the 4-4-2, the 4-3-3, the 4-2-3-1 and all the rest no longer have any relevance after the referee's whistle is blown. "Formations are dying out," said Slaven Bilic, head coach of Croatia. "It's increasingly difficult to mark the movement of the players, with respect to the ball, just by assigning numbers to each line." In a sport which has no timeouts, few stoppages and is often decided by individual acts of spontaneity, formations are one of the few ways coaches can endeavor to shape the action on the field. "I love nothing more than to talk about the technical side of soccer," said Italy coach Cesare Prandelli. But players and coaches say the game is still largely an exercise in chaos. Soccer has been played in pretty much the same form for close to 150 years. It is now at a point where every responsible way of deploying 11 players has been exhausted. Juanma Lillo, a former coach in Spain's La Liga, is seen as a soccer swami for pioneering the 4-2-3-1 formation that has been used by six of the 16 teams at the Euro. He says the whole notion of formations is "overvalued" in a sport that still basically boils down to 22 players chasing a ball across the field. "I would like to demystify this," Lillo said. "The formation is only the first snapshot. After that, the players are always on the move because the ball is on the move, so the formation no longer exists. In any case, [a team's] style of play is related to an idea, not to a geographic positioning on the pitch." Alexi Lalas, the former U.S. international who played in Italy's Serie A, supposedly the most sophisticated league in the world, said that formations are a suggestion for spacing, but little more than that. Once the match starts, teams take a quick glance at how their opponent is lined up and adjust, but give little thought to the numbers after that. Formations give players an idea of how they might want to view themselves on the field, but they're never a decisive factor in the game. "Players come to the forefront and that's why teams win, not because of their formation," Lalas said. "Goals happen because someone makes a mistake and someone does something instinctual, not because they were lined up in a certain formation." It wasn't always this way. Formations were introduced in the 19th century to impose order on a sport that was still largely a lawless free-for-all. Ever since, the way a team is assembled on the field has been seen as critical to the outcome of matches. As the game spread into new countries and was adopted by different cultures, fresh ideas about how to maximize the collective talents of 11 players stationed across a soccer field were instrumental in transforming the sport and the way it was played. When Scotland lined up in a 2-2-6 formation in the first international game against England in 1872, it heralded soccer's evolution from a game dominated by dribbling into one where passing was king. Italy won back-to-back World Cups in the 1930s with a 2-3-2-3 system that emphasized defensive solidity, while the 4-2-4 alignment helped Brazil conquer the sport in the 1960s by accentuating individual skill and fitness. The most radical tactic in this tournament has been Spain's use of a 4-6-0 formation in which Cesc Fabregas operates as a "False Nine," lining up as a center-forward, then dropping back into the midfield. But this is hardly a new development. Smart coaches Soccer Jerseys have been baiting opposition central defenders with this tactic ever since Nandor Hidegkuti operated as a deep-lying forward for the great Hungary side of the 1950s. "These systems have been around for decades," said former England international Tony Cottee, now an analyst. "There are no new ideas out there." In an era when the top teams are filled with studs like Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Germany's Mario Gomez, who combine lightning speed with punishing size, soccer has become a game about getting a ball onto a player's feet where he has space to operate, wherever it exists. Make a pass and sprint into space is the basic plan that most of the best teams follow. Defenders try to combat it with compact blocs in the middle of the field. At some point, most teams look like they are playing with nine defenders and one striker. "In the end, [the formation] doesn't matter," said Italy midfielder Thiago Motta. "Even Spain play with two wide players up front but then they come inside to play as central midfielders. In the end, we all change."

2012 NBA Free Agency: Ranking the top 40 Free Agents

CBSSports.com's Eye On Basketball staff convened to rank the top 40 free agents in the NBA's 2012 class. Rankings were aggregated. Players listed with position and last year's team. Write-ups done by Matt Moore, Royce Young and Ben Golliver. 1. Deron Williams, G, Brooklyn Nets: The cream of this class's crop, Williams is a 3-time All-Star looking to put the pieces back together after getting blindsided by a trade in 2011. A physical point guard capable of scoring and making plays for others, he's the one true star in this class who is in the prime of his career. He's reportedly narrowed his list to two teams: the Nets and the Dallas Mavericks. -- BG 2. Eric Gordon, G, New Orleans Hornets: Gordon sat out a vast majority of the 2011-12 season with a knee injury, but his abilty to score and shoot will command a maximum salary offer (or close to it) At 23, the best is still yet to come and all signs point to the Hornets retaining him to position him as the outside complement to the inside presence of presumptive No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis. -- BG 3. Kevin Garnett, F, Boston Celtics: A perennialItaly Euro 2012 Jersey All-Star, Garnett shifted seemlessly to the center position as the Celtics were hit with a slew of injuries in 2011-12. He regularly posted 20/10s in the playoffs and had Boston within one win of an appearance in the 2012 NBA Finals. The Celtics' only competition for his services seems to be a possible retirement, as KG just turned 36. -- BG 4. Tim Duncan, F, San Antonio Spurs: Another aging but incredibly productive big man, Duncan, like Garnett, was knocking on the door of another Finals appearance before the Thunder rudely intervened. At 36, Duncan definitely has some good basketball left, after having his playing time reduced during the last two seasons and with Spurs guardTony Parker emerging. -- BG 5. Roy Hibbert, C, Indiana Pacers: Free agency couldn't come at a better time for the massive Hibbert, who had a big stage to shine on during Indiana's postseason run after posting career-best numbers (12.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks) in 2011-12. The fact that he's missed just three games total in the last three games combined helps ensure that he will get a major pay day. -- BG 6. Steve Nash, G, Phoenix Suns: After years of trade rumors, Nash finally hits the market as an unrestricted free agent, facing a tough decision: take a discount to play for a title contender or find a spot that offers the best financial offer with a shot at making a playoff run. He's 38 years old, so the stakes couldn't be higher. -- BG 7. JaVale McGee, C, Denver Nuggets: McGee transformed from a laughingstock to a promising laughingstock by virtue of a midseason trade that sent him from the Washington Wizards to the Denver Nuggets. His gag reel is as long as his highlight reel but he was dominant during stretches of Denver's playoff series against the Los AngelesLakers. Upside always comes with a cost. -- BG 8. Ryan Anderson, F, Orlando Magic: Anderson, 24, had a career year, scoring 16.1 points and shooting 39.3 percent from deep, while winning the NBA's Most Improved Player award. He fizzled a bit against the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs, though, which cut into his offseason buzz. After acquiring him as a trade throw-in, the Magic, even under new management, are surely highly motivated to retain him through to his prime. -- BG 9. Nicolas Batum, F, Portland Trail Blazers: A Frenchman known for his silky two-way play, Batum has said there's a "99 percent" chance he returns to Portland. He was the victim of a positional logjam with Gerald Wallace last season but that was cleared with a midseason trade. The Blazers will now ask the 23-year-old Batum to shoulder a much larger burden. -- BG 10. Jason Terry, G, Dallas Mavericks: Known for his big shot-making, his equally big personality and his instant offense off the bench, Terry could be in for a new home after an 8-year run in Dallas. -- BG 11. Brook Lopez, C, Brooklyn Nets: If Lopez were rebounding, he might just be the prize of this class. Instead, he's a seven-footer that averages 20 points a game and teams are iffy on. -- RY 12. Ray Allen, G, Boston Celtics: Allen is set to have offseason surgery on his ankle and while he's rapidly advancing in age, he can still shoot. And anyone likes a good shooter. -- RY 13. Jeremy Lin, G, New York Knicks: The Knicks are in a tricky situation with Lin as in if they want to commit to him as their full-time starter, but caught a break in arbitration. -- RY 14. Gerald Wallace, F, Brooklyn Nets: He's already said to be opting out, because he's in search of at least one more big contract. -- RY 15. Goran Dragic, G, Houston Rockets: The Rockets seem to be committing to him as their point guard of the future, but will have to pay Dragic like a starter if they want to keep him. -- RY 16. Ersan Ilyasova, F, Milwaukee Bucks: His market value is still a little fuzzy, but at the right price, Ilyasova could turn into the steal of this free agent class. -- RY 17. Jason Kidd, G, Dallas Mavericks: Kidd has already conceded he's not starter material anymore but in terms of a backup point guard, I'm not sure you can do much better.-- RY 18. O.J. Mayo, G, Memphis Grizzlies: Mayo has yet to really find his place in the league as a scorer. He was mainly deployed as a spot up shooter in Memphis and if a team looks to deploy him more as a wing scorer, he could fit well with someone. -- RY 19. Brandon Bass, F, Boston Celtics: With a big postseason performance, Bass raised his stock and could be looking at a quality offer. He's a good jumpshooting big, can rebound and though he lacks size, has a little versatility to make up for it. -- RY 20. Mo Williams, G, Los Angeles Clippers: For a while, Williams made a run at Sixth Man of the Year but his second half of the season slowed down. In the right situation where he can score, he's a solid addition for a lot of teams. -- RY 21. Andre Miller, G, Denver Nuggets: His age is advancing and while he might not necessarily be starter material anymore, he's a savvy vet that can still create, score and of course, throw an absolutely perfect lob. -- RY 22. Omer Asik, C, Chicago Bulls: Quietly, Asik turned into one of the better interior defenders in the league. His issue is that he contributes almost nothing offensively, but in terms of frontline size, he's a in the top tier in this class. -- RY 23. Kris Humphries, F, Brooklyn Nets: Humphries has become a Wholesale Soccer Jerseys double-double machine and for a team not looking for scoring inside but instead mainly defense and rebounding, he could carry some value. -- RY 24. Jeff Green, F, Boston Celtics: Obviously the biggest question with Green is his health after missing the entire 2011-12 season because of heart surgery. But assuming he's healthy and back to form, he could be a key addition to a number of teams because of his versatility. -- RY 25. George Hill, G, Indiana Pacers: Hill moved into the starting role down the stretch for the Pacers, who acquired him via a Draft day trade. One would assume Indiana, blessed with significant cap space this summer, is well-positioned and motivated to retain him. -- BG 26. Lou Williams, G, Philadelphia 76ers: If you look around and realize that you need a bench scorer who shot 40 percent fom the field last year... you may have some bigger issues to work out with your team psychologist. -- MM 27. Aaron Brooks, G, Phoenix Suns: Remember him? Bailed for China in the lockout? Got stuck in the playoffs? Firebug point guard the Rockets moved on from? Brooks is inefficient but can get the job done in a pinch. -- MM 28. Ramon Sessions, G, Los Angeles Lakers: Such high expectations. Such a terrible playoffs run. Sessions' offense vanished in the playoffs but he'll still fetch a good price on the market. -- MM 29. Nick Young, G, Los Angeles Clippers: The biggest shots Young hit in the playoffs were transition catch-and-shoot fadeaway threes falling out of bounds. Yup. -- MM 30. Jamal Crawford, G, Portland Trail Blazers: Crawford wanted a big long-term contract from Atlanta where he was a hero in 2011. Instead he got a short-term contract with Portland where he was part of one of the most disappointing teams of the season. Juuuuust a bit outside. -- MM 31. J.R. Smith, G, New York Knicks: Smith actually defended pretty well for the Knicks last year. He comes with risks, to say the least, but if you can find a coach to connect with him, he can turn a game around for you. -- MM 32. Carl Landry, F, New Orleans Hornets: Dude played after having teeth in his arm. Teeth. -- MM 33. Antawn Jamison, F, Cleveland Cavaliers: Quality locker room guy, played surprisingly well for Cleveland. As a bench scorer, could make a big difference. -- MM 34. Jameer Nelson, G, Orlando Magic: This guy was an All-Star once. No kidding. -- MM 35. Chris Kaman, C, New Orleans Hornets: Also once an All-Star. Then he was untradeable last year. But he hustles and is a veteran big in a league that covets them. -- MM 36. Marcus Camby, C, Houston Rockets: Old man can still rebound and play defense. Understands his role. -- MM 37. Michael Beasley, F, Minnesota Timberwolves: Can you really put a price on goofball guys capable of putting up an empty 40 any night of the week? -- MM 38. Robin Lopez, C, Phoenix Suns: Tall. -- MM 39. Delonte West, G, Dallas Mavericks: Is the baggage worth it? Depends on how you interpret things. -- MM 40. Grant Hill, F, Phoenix Suns: You're not going to find a better locker room guy on this list. -- MM

Olympics-Phelps and Lochte cruise into 400 medley final

OMAHA, Nebraska, June 25 (Reuters) - Ryan Lochte won theopening round of his heavyweight clash with Michael Phelps whenhe set the fastest qualifying time for the 400 metres individualmedley at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Monday. Lochte cruised into Monday night's final when he won hisheat in four NBA Jerseys Sale minutes 10.66 seconds, more than four secondsfaster than Phelps. Phelps won his heat in 4:14.72 to qualify second fastest forthe eight-man final. Only the top two from the final willqualify to swim the event at the London Olympics. Both men were untroubled while booking their places in thefinal, swimming well outside their best times as they tried toconserve their energy for the first of a series of head-to-headclashes over the next week. "It felt fine," said Phelps, who won the 400 medley at eachof the past two Olympics and holds the world record at 4:03.84. "It think it was a second slower that what I did at thetrials four years ago." Lochte, who won the event at each of the last two worldchampionships when Phelps opted not to contest the gruellingrace, said he Buy Cheap Jerseys was impressed by his rival's performance andexpecting a tough final. "I think that was the easiest 4:14 he's ever swum. He lookedreally, really smooth," Lochte said. "I held back in the first half of my race...so I know I havea lot left and I can swim a lot faster tonight. "I know I will have to swim faster because it's going to bea dog fight." Dana Vollmer topped the qualifiers for the women's 100mbutterfly when she won her heat in 56.59, just half a secondoutside Sarah Sjoestroem's world record.

Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte push each other to be the best

His success in reclaiming that status from U.S. teammate Ryan Lochte in the Olympic swimming trials, which begin today in Omaha, will determine one of the biggest storylines at the upcoming London Games. Will the country of kings and queens host the Olympic coronation of Phelps or the succession of Lochte? "Omaha is going to be a good sign," says television analystRowdy Gaines, a 1984 Olympic swimming champion. "It has to be, because they can't take too many chances in their races." Only first- and second-place finishers in Omaha will qualify for the Olympic team. Given the depth and talent of the U.S. men, Phelps and Lochte will not be able to save their peak performances for the Games. That will make their head-to-head matchups — likely in the finals of the 400-meter individual medley today, the 200 freestyle Wednesday and the 200 IM on Saturday — must-see barometers of how their rivalry will play out in London. "Ryan and I are going to have our hands full with each other, probably all Cheap NBA Jerseys summer," Phelps says. "Hopefully I'm in a better spot than I have been over the last couple years and I'm in better shape." Phelps, 26, says the London Olympics will be his last. He already has 16 Olympic medals, 14 gold. Three more medals of any color would make him the most decorated Olympian of all time, passing Larisa Latynina, a Soviet gymnast who won 18 medals over four Olympics, ending in 1964. Lochte, 27, who has won six medals in two Olympics, plans to continue at least until the 2016 Games. "A lot of people ask me, 'Would I be the same athlete as I am today if he wasn't there?' " Lochte says of Phelps. "No doubt about it, me and Michael, we push each other all the time." When they last met on the international stage, in the 2011 world championships, Lochte beat Phelps in their two head-to-head races, the 200 freestyle and 200 IM, and finished with four individual golds to Phelps' two. That sparked speculation that Phelps, who won a historic eight golds at the 2008 Olympics, could be overshadowed or, perhaps, surpassed in London. Lochte has already become one of the most prominent faces of the U.S. team signing high-profile endorsement deals with companies such as Gatorade and Ralph Lauren and appearing on the cover of this month's Vogue. Lochte could swim nine events in the upcoming Games, including the three relays. Phelps could swim eight again, although he's said he envisions competing in fewer events. For both, their performances at the trials will be crucial to finalizing their London plans. "I want to go down as one of the world's greatest swimmers," Lochte says when asked if he would like to stamp his name on the London Olympics as Phelps did on the Beijing Games. "So it's definitely a goal of mine." Lochte has gotten best-swimmer accolades from Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, since the 2010 Pan Pacific championships, where Lochte won four individual gold medals while Phelps failed to qualify for the final in what was once his signature event, the 400 IM. "In 2010, I was just kind of like, 'Whatever,' " Phelps says. "But last year I was just like, 'This is so frustrating.' " Phelps cited his lackadaisical training in recent years as the main reason for his subpar results. As he skipped days and even weeks of practice in favor of sleeping in and playing golf, he was doing "30% of what I had planned for him to do," Bowman says. After the world championships last year, that changed. "He's been his normal self," Bowman says. Phelps is back to doing 95% of what Bowman asks, averaging 50,000 meters (31 miles) per week in training. "Michael is really only about one thing and one thing only — and he's been this way for 12 years —and that is the Olympic Games," Gaines says. "This is his measuring stick. Everything else is just preseason for him. "He knows that the only thing that will matter 100 years from now is how he did in the Olympic Games." Phelps' training has not approached the 80,000-meter-a-week peak he reached before Beijing, but it's been enough to get him in shape for the grueling 400 IM, an event that combines all four swimming strokes. Phelps declared after the 2008 Games that he was done swimming it at major meets. Then, at a Grand Prix in March, Phelps posted the fastest U.S. time this year in the 400 IM, 4 minutes, 12.51 seconds. It was far from the world-record 4:03.84 he swam in the Beijing final, but "being able to swim halfway decent times in that event is showing that I am making progress," Phelps says. He began to consider re-inserting the 400 IM into his program. Since the 400 IM is scheduled for the first day at the trials, Phelps could make a strong opening statement by beating Lochte, the two-time defending world champion in the event. "I've spent pretty much the last three years getting beaten every single meet," Phelps says. "It's not fun. … I don't like to lose." Good for each other Phelps and Lochte are friendly outside the pool. In Beijing, where Lochte was third behind Phelps in the 200 and 400 IMs but won gold in the 200 backstroke (an event Phelps didn't swim), they partnered in spades games during evenings at the athletes' village. U.S. swimmer Ricky Berens often plays against them. Why do the rivals make good partners? "Opposites attract," Berens said. "Ryan doesn't think very much, and Michael over-thinks." The familiarity has changed the dynamic Phelps usually has with his rivals. TheWholesale Cheap Jerseys swimmer who would fire up at Bowman's every mention of Australian star Ian Thorpe takes a much more academic approach to swimming against Lochte. "I think both those guys are motivated to race each other," Bowman says. "But I guarantee you that neither one of them walks into the pool every day thinking, 'I've got to beat Ryan today,' or 'I've got to beat Michael today.' They're thinking, 'I want to swim a certain time in the 200 back or the 200 IM' or whatever it is, and I think that's why they're good for each other." That's not to say that each one does not think about how or what the other is doing. "You can't be swimming events that Michael's in and not be aware of him," says Lochte's coach, Gregg Troy. "There's an awareness in training in that direction." While Phelps' training has picked up only in the last year, Lochte has been drawing on his constant underdog mentality to go hard since the 2008 Olympics. He added Strongman training — pulling boat chains and throwing tires — and boxing to his regimen and is on a healthier diet after eating fast food every day in Beijing. As is typical for Lochte, who seemingly has perfected the science of peaking at big meets and using everything else as a training session, his times at Grand Prix events this season haven't been eye-popping. His best time in the 200 IM ranks fourth in the world (Phelps is first). He hasn't posted a top-25 time in the 200 freestyle, where Phelps ranks second, or the 400 IM. Just as a reading of times could not point to which way the rivalry will tilt at the trials, neither would an evaluation of the swimmers' strengths and weaknesses, which seem to balance each other out. Phelps, for example, is stronger in the butterfly leg of the IM, but Lochte has an advantage in the breaststroke and, to some extent, the backstroke. The winning difference likely will come down to something much more intangible, something that Gaines says is within Phelps, that in Beijing got him through a 200 butterfly race when his goggles filled with water and that gave him the edge in his razor-close finish in the 100 butterfly. "If the desire is there in London," Gaines says, "he won't be beat."

Congress investigates air leak, possible safety lapses at CDC lab

It's a highly secured, sophisticated research lab studying deadly diseases such as bird flu, monkeypox, tuberculosis and rabies. It's in a facility called Building 18, which cost taxpayers $214 million. And now, the Biosafety Level 3 lab at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is also the subject of a congressional investigation after a potentially dangerous airflow leak at that lab, CNN has learned. The leak occurred on February 16, when air flowed the wrong way out of a germ lab into a clean-air corridor, rather than through the powerful HEPA filter that cleans the air, congressional sources and CDC officials said. Visitors touring the facility were in the clean corridor when they observed a puff of air being pushed out from the lab through a slot in a door window. If experiments had been under way at the time of that air leak, experts Cheap Football Jerseys say, unprotected visitors could have been exposed to deadly germs, although an epidemic would have been unlikely. According to U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican and a medical doctor, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked the CDC for documents about that incident. The request came in the wake of a report on internal CDC e-mails about the incident, first reported by USA Today last week. "The biggest concern was that there was a contingent of visitors who were walking through the building," Burgess said. "And had one of those people been stricken or made ill or worse, obviously that would have been devastating." The lab handles small mammals such as rats, ferrets and mice as part of its experiments with pathogens, according to CDC officials. They say animals were in the lab at the time of the air leak, but they were secured in filtered cages. CDC officials say the lab was clean, was not active at the time, and no one got infected. "At no time during recent incidents featured in the media were CDC workers or the public in harm's Wholesale Cheap Jerseys way," agency spokesman Tom Skinner said. "This unique facility features multiple security layers specifically designed to protect workers and the public in the event of an incident." In a statement released to CNN, Burgess' committee said, "We will actively work to find out if there are additional concerns or incidents associated with Building 18. Any anomaly or breach is of concern, and we will work to ensure the integrity of the facility is maintained and that our scientists are safe." There has been at least one other safety-related incident in that same building where February's air leak occurred. In 2008, it was discovered that a high-containment lab door was sealed with duct tape. That incident was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and confirmed to CNN by Skinner. Robert Hawley, former safety chief at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, said the CDC has many safety layers in place at its labs. Hawley says researchers at the Biosafety Level 3 lab work in biosafety "cabinets" within the lab itself. "Nothing is handled outside that cabinet," Hawley said. "So they're working with minute amounts of material, and the chances of aerosol are negligible." But there are questions about a possible cover-up. In an internal e-mail, reported by USA Today, CDC biologist Kismet Scarborough said the centers "... will do anything ... to hide the fact that we have serious problems with the airflow and containment in this whole building." CNN has not been able to independently verify that e-mail. But in response, Skinner said, "CDC will continue to take an open, transparent and inclusive approach to address any safety challenge in a manner that will ensure the safety of our workforce and the public." Skinner said the agency "intends to cooperate fully with Rep. Burgess and the committee to address any questions they may have about Building 18 at CDC."

Listen closely when Candidate Romney talks taxes

When Mitt Romney talks about his plan for tax reform, he is very careful to say two things: He wants to cut tax rates, and he wants high-income households to pay the same share of taxes they do today. He said it again on Face the Nation last Sunday—a rare in-depth broadcast interview on a network not named Fox. The first promise is easy to understand. But the second is more subtle. Romney is saying the rich should pay the same share of total tax revenue as they do now. But he is not saying they should pay the same effective tax rate they pay today or that he’d exempt them from his rate cuts. Quite the opposite: His tax plan would make the 2001/2003 tax cuts permanent and further reduce rates, including for those at the top, by an additional 20 percent (bringing the top rate down to 28 percent). While Romney says he’d offset those additional rate cuts by scaling back deductions and NHL Jerseys Cheap other preferences for high-income households, he has not said how. Thus, based on what we know, his tax proposal implies that high-income households would pay much less tax than today. This is what he said on Face the Nation: “One– one of the absolute requirements of any tax reform that I have in mind is that people who are at the high end, whether you call them the one percent or two percent or half a percent, that people at the high end will still pay the same share of the tax burden they’re paying now.” In other words, if you put both pieces of Romney’s tax platform together, he could cut taxes across-the-board, including for the rich, while not reducing the current tax share paid by those at the very top of the economic food chain. To make this more understandable, let’s look at a few numbers produced by my colleagues at the Tax Policy Center: Last year, the top 1 percent (those making an average of about $1.5 million) paid one-quarter of all federal taxes. The top 0.1 percent, who made an average of nearly $7 million, paid about 13 percent of all federal taxes. It is that share of federal tax payments that Romney would freeze. That’s very different from freezing their average tax rates. For instance, last year the top 1 percent paid an average rate of 29.7 percent while the top 0.1 percent paid an average rate of 31.6 percent. Romney is not at all opposed to lowering those effective rates. Indeed, if Romney does cut statutory rates across-the-board, the richest households would get the biggest tax reductions, in both dollars and as a share of their income. For instance, TPC estimates that without any offsetting reductions in tax preferences, Romney would cut taxes for those in the top 0.1 percent by more than $1 million, while he’d cut them for middle-income households by about $2,000. The GOP’s likely standard-bearer was fuzzy in his Face the Nation interview about Cheap NHL Jerseys who would be subject to the Romney Rule on tax shares. That could matter quite a lot when he decides how to reduce those tax preferences for high-income households. The world of the top 0.1 percent is vastly different from those in the top 5 percent, where households make $210,000 and up. Romney could, for example, freeze the tax share of the 120,000 households in the top 0.1 percent while reducing it for the nearly 6 million in the top 5 percent. And that implies that he’d raise the tax shares paid by lower income families. Many politicians are sloppy when they talk about taxes. But when he wants to be, Romney is quite precise. As a result, his promises often hinge on technical but very important distinctions. That’s why when Romney speaks, you should listen very carefully.

UPDATE 1-China survey shows expectations for policy easing on rise

Growing numbers of Chinese bankers expect Beijing to ease monetary policy further in the third quarter to spur flagging economic growth, although more households think consumer prices will rise, according to a quarterly survey by the People's Bank of Chinapublished on Tuesday. The survey showed that 32.4 percent of bankers believe monetary policy will be relaxed. That was 25.7 percentage points higher than in the previous survey, which measured expectations for the second quarter. It also showed 35.6 percent of residents expected consumer prices to rise in the third quarter, 4.2 percentage points higher than in the previous survey, which could limit the room for more policy easing. However, consumers are more willing to spend, indicating that Beijing's fresh incentives to encourage Womens Nike Free Run 2 purchases of energy-efficient automobiles and home appliances are starting to work. Chinese banks have quickened the pace of lending, with an index measuring loan approvals hitting 47.8 percent in the second quarter, the highest reading since 2010, according to the quarterly survey. However, an index measuring overall loan demand fell to the lowest since at least 2009, reinforcing weakness in the world's second-largest economy, which is widely expect to grow at its slowest rate in more than three years. Chinese banks extended 793 billion yuan ($124.7 billion) in fresh loans in May, up from 682 billion yuan in April and stronger than 720 billion yuan expected by the financial markets, suggesting the government's fast-tracking of infrastructure projects was creating loan demand as opposed to there being a pick-up in broader economic activity. China lowered interest rates on June 7, its first such move since the depths of the global crisis, on top of three cuts in banks' required reserves ratio (RRR) to pump money into the economy. It is expected to cut RRR by another 100 basis points in the rest of 2012, according to the latest Reuters poll. WEAK DEMAND The central bank's survey in the second quarter also showed that export order index climbed to 48.8 percent, up from 46.9 percent in the first quarter. However, another index measuring corporate expectations on export orders slipped to 50.9 percent versus 52.1 percent in the previous quarter. The domestic order index edged down to 50.2 percent in the second quarter, versus 50.5 percent in the first three months, while the index measuring corporate expectations on domestic orders also declined to 51.9 percent this quarter from 53.5 percent in the previous quarter, the central bank said. On the household front, the survey showed Chinese urban residents are less Cheap Euro 2012 Jersey happy about consumer prices, their incomes and jobs in the second quarter versus three months earlier, but they still planned some major purchases. The central bank said 15.1 percent of the 20,000 households polled planned to buy cars in the next three months, the highest since the survey started in 1999. It also showed that 68.5 percent of residents regarded current home prices as "unacceptably high," and 20.4 percent expected home prices to rise even higher in the third quarter. Expectations of dearer home prices are prompting some people to buy now. Thus, 15.7 percent of residents plan to buy a home in the next three months, 1.6 percentage points more than in the previous survey. Official data on Monday showed Chinese home prices fell in May for the eighth straight month, but the pace moderated, fuelling talk that the real estate market may be bottoming out and that recent monetary stimulus could set the stage for a rebound. While not a base-case scenario for most economists, fears of a sharp property price drop have added to concerns over the outlook for the world's second-largest economy as it struggles with weaker demand abroad and at home.

Wrong-way crash kills Wareham man

Christopher Elicier left his Wareham home at 10 p.m. Saturday just as he did for the past 22 years for every one of his night shifts at the Taunton State Hospital. But on Saturday, he never arrived. Elicier’s vehicle was hit head-on by another driving the wrong way on Interstate 495 in Wareham late Saturday night, killing Elicier and critically injuring the wrong-way driver, according to State Police. “We got a call from a friend that he works with that he hadn’t arrived yet,” said Patricia Cullen, 75, Elicier’s mother-in-law. She said Elicier’s wife, Cathleen, thought his car may have broken down and left to Mens Nike Free Run 3 retrace his steps. She came upon the crash, and state troopers explained the situation, Cullen said in a phone interview Sunday evening. Phendy Pamphile, 26, of Brockton, was driving the wrong way on the northbound side of the highway, when he crashed into Elicier, 43, around 10:20 p.m. Saturday, State Police said. Elicier was ejected from his 2012 Hyundai Veloster coupe and was pronounced dead at the scene, State Police said. Pamphile was trapped in his 2007 Lexus IS200 sedan after the collision, and the Jaws of Life were required to remove him from his vehicle. He was taken to Tobey Hospital in Wareham for a serious leg injury but was later moved to Rhode Island Hospital by medical helicopter, said State Police. Pamphile was listed in critical condition as of Sunday afternoon, according to Rhode Island Hospital. State Police said that neither driver was wearing a seat belt. An investigation is being conducted to determine why Pamphile was driving his car in the wrong direction. State Police said there is no indication that alcohol was involved, but it has not been ruled out as factor in the crash. After authorities conclude the investigation, a decision will be made on whetherSoccer Jerseys any charges will be filed against Pamphile, a State Police spokesman said. After the crash, authorities shut down the entire interstate between Exits 1 and 2 until 1:45 a.m. Sunday . Cullen said that Elicier was liked in the community. “He was always helping people who needed help,” she said of her son-in-law. “He loved fishing, it was one of his favorite past times. He recently took up photography. He was wonderful. “I’m paralyzed from back surgery. Chris helped take care of me. He’d make my breakfast and give me my pills and help get me out of bed and so forth.” Cullen said her daughter was married to Elicier for 19 years and that they were high school sweethearts. The couple has two sons, Jordan, 15, and Ryan, 6. Cullen said that the family was in the middle of making arrangements for Elicier. “It’s a tremendous loss,” she said. “He was a wonderful son-in-law. He was a wonderful father and husband.”

Political intrigue, affairs of the heart mark Sunday’s divisive French parliamentary vote

PARIS — Back-room deals, black lists and bitter duels. Political and personal intrigue has wormed its way into Sunday’s final round of French legislative elections. President Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party is battling to ensure a solid majority and fulfill his vows to boost growth in Europe and redefine the presidency as one beholden to the people. Barring surprises, the Socialists and their allies should win Mens Nike Free Run 3 enough seats to control the crucial 577-seat lower house of parliament, after a strong showing in the first round a week ago. To get there, the party is trying to fend off conservatives who dominated parliament under former President Nicolas Sarkozy. They’re also trying to shame those in the mainstream right who are cutting vote-getting deals with the extreme right, anti-immigrant National Front, which is conniving for its first real presence in parliament in more than a quarter century. “The right no longer knows where it lives. It no longer knows what it is,” said Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici this week on France 2 TV. “It’s lost its markers, its identity, its values.” One unexpected hitch for the Socialists flew straight out of Hollande’s most inner circle: His live-in companion’s tweet this week in support of a dissident candidate in western France, a not-so-subtle attack on the Socialist Party’s official candidate — the president’s ex-partner and mother of his four children, Segolene Royal. Royal is portrayed in the French press as the nemesis of a jealous Valerie Trierweiler, whose tweet on Tuesday upended the image Hollande has been trying to project: that of a “normal” leader intent on keeping the public and private spheres separate. That stance is meant to set Hollande apart from the brash Sarkozy, who grabbed headlines with his complicated private life while building up a presidency that critics said was too centered on his own personality and his rich friends’ interests. Hollande defeated him in the May 6 presidential vote, amid voter frustrations with Sarkozy’s handling of the economy and the presidency. The tweet also dealt a blow to Royal, whose chances of winning her parliamentary race were already shaky. Polls suggest that Royal, a former presidential candidate, will lose to dissident Socialist España camiseta Olivier Falorni by a wide margin, a defeat that would leave her without a job in politics. Far more grave is the perception that the moral ramparts built to ensure that the anti-immigration National Front remains a political pariah are being chinked away by conservative politicians. Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party is struggling to hold onto seats, and many candidates are angling for far-right votes to defy polls and win. Polling firms have calculated the National Front could get up to three seats in the National Assembly, a symbolic victory. The party’s leader, Marine Le Pen — who is running in a former coal mining region in northern France — says one seat would be a victory since the party hasn’t had a real parliamentary presence since 1986. In that year, 35 lawmakers were elected under a voting system that favors smaller parties — but the system was abolished two years later. Le Pen thinks pollsters underestimate the National Front’s potential.

Obama, Romney take campaigns to key state Ohio

From opposing ends of battleground Ohio, President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Thursday offered vastly different visions of how to speed up America's economic recovery. They accused each other of pursuing failed ideas, yet on a day of high expectation both offered familiar platforms and lines. In Cincinnati, Romney said, "Don't forget, he's been president for 3 1/2 years. And talk is cheap. Actions speak very loud." Speaking just ahead of Obama's economic address, Romney said, "If you want to see the results of his economic policy, look around Ohio, look around the country." Obama, trying in Cleveland to define the choice for voters, presented the election as a time when the country could break a stalemate of ideas. Giving a recession-drained nation his version of the recent past, Obama said: "If you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for Mr. Romney."The backdrop was vital Ohio, one of the deeply contested states that could swing the election. With the two men locked in a tight campaign, it appeared they might actually talk over each other from 250 miles apart, until Romney ran ahead of Womens Nike Free 3.0 v3 schedule and Obama started a little behind. What unfolded was a back-to-back duel on television. The Republican spoke for under 20 minutes, with coat off and sleeves rolled up, to about 100 supporters at a manufacturing plant. In a more expansive, situation-setting address, the president went more than twice that long, over 50 minutes, to an eager crowd of 1,500 people at a community college. The former Massachusetts governor offered no new proposals in what was his standard speech, castigating the president for stimulus spending, the health care law and failure to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. He also criticized the president's policies toward China, saying he would label the Asian nation as a currency manipulator on his first day in office if elected president. Obama tried to use his speech to take the campaign where he wants it - a deep, long look at how his economic vision differs from Romney's. He spoke in budgetary detail about his ideas for spurring job growth and trimming the national debt, warning people not to fall for the Romney line that Obama is in over his head."Your vote will finally determine the path that we take as a nation. Not just tomorrow but for years to come," the president said. "When you strip everything else away, that's really what this election is about. That's what is at stake right now. Everything else is just noise." Given the fragile economy, Thursday's face-off offered anticipation of a bigger Cheap Jerseys moment in a campaign that has been defined mainly by ads and fundraisers. Yet for all the hype, both offered themes familiar to those following the campaign. Yet their speeches were not for typical campaign followers. They were for undecided voters, and those just starting to pay attention to the choice - especially in Ohio. Obama pounded on the second-term economic vision he began laying out months ago. He spoke of spending tax money on education, energy, science, innovation and transportation, and of cutting the debt by reducing spending elsewhere and raising taxes on the wealthy. Romney talked of cutting regulation, spending and what he calls government intrusion.

Prosecutors want 230-year prison term for ex-Texas tycoon Stanford for $7 billion Ponzi scheme

HOUSTON — If federal prosecutors have their way, former jet-setting Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford could receive a prison sentence that spans two centuries for bilking investors out of more than $7 billion over two decades in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history. Calling Stanford a “ruthless predator” who stole from investors “simply to satisfy his own greed and vanity,” prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge David Hittner to sentence the one-time billionaire to 230 years in prison, the maximum sentence he faces at a hearing Thursday. A jury convicted Stanford in March on 13 of 14 fraud-related counts. Stanford’s attorneys are asking for a maximum of 44 months, a sentence he could actually complete Cheap Euro 2012 Jersey within about eight months because he has already been in jail since his arrest in June 2009. Prosecutors also want Hittner to order Stanford to forfeit $5.9 billion, but that would be symbolic because Stanford, now penniless, had to rely on court-appointed attorneys to defend him. Prosecutors said Stanford used the money from investors who bought certificates of deposit, or CDs, from his bank on the Caribbean island nation of Antigua to fund a string of failed businesses, bribe regulators and pay for a lavish lifestyle. Defense attorneys portrayed Stanford, 62, as a visionary entrepreneur who conducted legitimate business deals. Before imposing the sentence, Hittner was expected to hear from two people speaking on behalf of investors about how Stanford’s fraud has affected their lives. One of those individuals is Angela Shaw, a Dallas woman who founded the Stanford Victims Coalition after she and her husband lost $2 million in the alleged scheme. Shaw said she hopes Hittner imposes the maximum sentence, which would surpass the 150-year term Bernard Madoff received for orchestrating the largest pyramid scheme in history. “At a minimum, Allen Stanford deserves bragging rights” over Madoff, she said. “His victims have been living in a perpetual and unending sentence.” The jury that convicted Stanford also allowed U.S. authorities to go after about $330 million in stolen investor funds sitting in the financier’s frozen foreign bank accounts in Canada, England and Switzerland. But due to legal wrangling, it could be years before the more than 21,000 investors recover Nike Free Run anything. The financier’s trial was delayed after he was declared incompetent in January 2011 due to an anti-anxiety drug addiction he developed in jail. He underwent treatment and was declared fit for trial in December. Three other former Stanford executives are scheduled for trial in September. A former Antiguan financial regulator was indicted and awaits extradition to the U.S. Stanford and his former executives also are fighting a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that accuses them of fraud.

Four primary races set in fight for Senate control

(Reuters) - Virginia Republican George Allen easily won his primary race on Tuesday in the first step of his bid to reclaim the U.S. Senate seat he narrowly lost in 2006, as voters in four states set the stage for hotly contested battles that could shift control of the Senate.Allen, also a former Virginia governor, lost by barely 9,000 votes in 2006 to Democrat Jim Webb, who is retiring at the end of his term next year. In the November 6 elections, Allen will face another ex-governor, Tim Kaine, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.Republicans need a net gain of four seats in November Cheap Euro 2012 Jersey to take control of the U.S. Senate.Besides Virginia, voters in Maine, North Dakota and Nevada were picking Senate candidates in contested primaries on Tuesday.Allen, once a rising star on the national political stage who stumbled in his 2006 re-election bid on the issue of race, took 65 percent of the vote. Jamie Radtke, the strongest of his three rivals, trailed with just over 23 percent.Allen and Kaine both enjoy significant fundraising capability, well-established campaign networks and national prominence. Allen weighed a presidential run four years ago. Kaine was an early backer of President Barack Obama and later served as Democratic National Committee chairman.Virginia is considered a tossup in the 2012 presidential election, ensuring the Allen-Kaine campaign will carry added significance.In Maine, voters were picking candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Olympia Snowe, who is retiring.INDEPENDENT FAVORITE IN MAINECynthia Dill, a civil rights lawyer and state senator, won the Democratic nomination. With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Charles Summers, Maine's secretary of state and a former Snowe aide, had a 6-point lead over his nearest challenger.Both Dill and her Republican rival, however, will face an uphill task running against early favorite Angus King, a popular former two-term governor and independent.In the Republican primary for North Dakota's open Senate seat, the state's lone U.S. representative, Rick Berg, was leading Duane Sand by 67 percent to 33 percent with nearly 47 percent of precincts reporting. The victor will face Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, a former state attorney general, who was unopposed in her party's primary.Veteran Democratic Senator Kent Conrad has opted not to seek re-election in North Dakota, which leans heavily Republican in its legislature and has a Republican governor.In Nevada, seven-term U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley faces little serious competition in her race to become the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican Senator Dean Heller, who was appointed last year after John Ensign resigned in disgrace following a sex scandal.Heller, like Berkley, was expected to easily win his party's nomination, setting up a general election race that will help decide whether the Nevada's senior U.S. senator, DemocratHarry Reid, remains majority leader.But the most hotly contested Nevada primary on Tuesday was for the newly created, Democratic-leaning 4th Congressional District, where three candidates were in a close race for the Republican nomination to run against the likely Democratic nominee, state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford.Businessman Danny Tarkanian had strong support from the Nike Free Dame Tea Party movement and the most name recognition in the Republican field as the son of former University of Nevada, Las Vegas, basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. But he faced a tough race against state Senator Barbara Cegavske and businessman Dan Schwartz.There was controversy in South Carolina, which did not have a U.S. Senate seat to contest in its primary on Tuesday, after the state Supreme Court removed more than 200 contenders for other offices from the ballot on grounds that they had improperly filed paperwork for their candidacies.Incumbent U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, known for shouting "You lie!" during President Barack Obama's 2009 State of the Union address to Congress, won the Republican primary and is running unopposed for re-election in November.In another closely watched race, nine Republicans and four Democrats were seeking their parties' respective nominations for newly established 7th congressional seat in South Carolina.

Coast Guard: NJ yacht explosion report likely hoax

SANDY HOOK, N.J. — The U.S. Coast Guard says a reported explosion on a motor yacht off central New Jersey likely was a hoax and that an extensive search and rescue operation cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Coast Guard scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Manhattan to discuss the incident. An investigation has begun to determine who was responsible. The multiagency mission was launched after authorities received an emergency radio transmission around 4:20 p.m. Monday from a boat identifying itself as the Blind Date. The caller reported the boat was 17 nautical miles east of Sandy Hook and had 21 people aboard and several people were injured. The caller also claimed the vessel sank but everyone aboard had made it to life rafts. But Portugal Euro 2012 Jersey Coast Guard crews and New York City police helicopters found no sign of any people or any distress in the water, and after two hours of searching it became increasingly clear there was no explosion. About three hours on, emergency crews began leaving the mass casualty staging areas that had been set up to receive the reported injured passengers, and nearly five hours after the distress call was received the Coast Guard confirmed it was likely a hoax. Commander Kenneth Pierro of Coast Guard Sector New York said more than 200 first responders had assembled at the staging areas, and officials said several good Samaritans had assisted authorities in the lengthy search. He noted that hoax calls put the Coast Guard and other first responders at unnecessary risk and can interfere with the Coast Guard's ability to respond to actual distress at sea. Making a false distress call is a federal felony, with a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of performing the search. The Coast Guard and other state and local agencies responded to more than 60 suspected hoax calls last year in the northern Nike Free Sko New Jersey, New York City and Hudson River region. Monday's distress call and search came nearly a year after a similar situation unfolded near Sandy Hook. A call on an emergency radio channel was received in the early morning hours of June 14, 2011, with the caller claiming a 33-foot sailboat named Courtney Lynn was taking on water. Less than an hour later, another call came in claiming the boat was 90 percent submerged, and the four boaters were transferring to a small gray dinghy. No further transmissions were received from the callers, who said they didn't have a handheld radio or flares to communicate with rescuers from the dinghy. A 10-hour search costing almost $88,000 turned up no sign of the boaters, and an investigation was launched. No one has been prosecuted.

Tough one to accept

Rajon Rondo’s performance in the playoffs highlighted why the Celtics have considered trading him, and also why they asked a very steep price for him. Rondo was suspended for the second game of the first-round series against the Hawks, and his absence could have meant an early ousting. If not for a Paul Pierce explosion and a strong bench contribution in Game 2 against Atlanta, there might not have been a second-round series against the 76ers, much less a seven-game Eastern Conference finals against the Heat. When Rondo bumped referee Marc Davis in Atlanta on April 29, he crossed the line of being able to control his emotions. That impetuousness, combined with a penchant for defensive gambles and an inconsistent perimeter shot, have exasperated the Celtics for most of the last five years. But as the playoffs continued, Rondo appeared to be moving past all of that. His 44-point game against the Heat showed what he can accomplish individually. Other statistics - 16 double-digit assist games, a team-leading 20.9 points per game against the Heat, 6.9 rebounds per game against Miami (second on the team) - indicate Rondo is Camiseta Torres achieving high-level consistency. Rondo and the Celtics have had a stormy relationship at times. But after these playoffs, the bonds appear to have been strengthened - at least until the next suitor comes along with a proposition. Most of the Celtics seemed to accept their fate after a 101-88 loss to the Heat in Game 7 Saturday night. It could have been the final game together for the Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce trio. But Rondo remained defiant, contending the Celtics’ downfall was the result of simply missing shots they normally make. “We had some great looks,’’ he said. “Paul, Ray, myself, Kevin. We just didn’t knock them down. They got to the loose balls, offensive rebounds, and made plays and executed offensively.’’ Told that coach Doc Rivers believed fatigue caught up with the Celtics, Rondo replied, “It could be. It’s your opinion.’’ It was a difficult result for Rondo to accept. He had displayed an almost flawless first half - 10 assists, zero turnovers. He finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, his fourth triple-double of the playoffs. Rondo gave the impression he believed he could almost will teammates to make shots. “Great season,’’ he said. “We let this one slip away. We had a lot of opportunities. “We could have done a couple of things better defensively. Our rotations weren’t crisp in the pick and roll. We made bad decisions, overpenetration, gave up a lot of threes, two to [Chris] Bosh, a couple to [Shane] Battier. Give them credit. They spread the points out as a team and about five or six players scored in double digits. Give them credit, they played great as a team. We just came up short.’’ The Celtics’ margin for error was thin, though. They stuck to their guns, some impressive offensive execution and defensive anticipation helping produce double-figure leads in the first half. The Celtics were 21 for 40 (52.5 percent) from the field in the opening two quarters against one of the best defensive teams in the league. And the Celtics were able to expose Miami’s flaws for much of Game 7, disrupting dribble penetration, getting into passing lanes. But they could only temporarily slow down LeBron James, who had 76 points and 27 rebounds while playing all but three minutes of Games 6 and 7, and were unable to contend with Bosh (19 points, 8 rebounds). Bosh shot 8 for 10 from the field, converting three 3-pointers, his only miss from long range on a hurried, last-second attempt at the first-half buzzer. But the Celtics failed to live up to their reputation as closers. Only one Celtic - Cheap Jerseys Rondo - was able to score in the final 6:10 of Game 7. During that time, the score was Miami 13, Rondo 4. The Celtics were on fumes as they concluded this game, their 20th of the postseason. Nobody knew it at the time, but after a 94-90 win over the Heat in Miami in Game 5, the Celtics only had two really good quarters left. In the first half of Game 7, they showed just how proficient they can be when on their game, with forceful defending led by Garnett, and creative, precision offense under Rondo’s direction. Rondo was still in form in the second half, and the Celtics still held the lead with eight minutes remaining. But it was no fluke that Miami closed the game with a 20-6 run. The Celtics displayed some impressive precision and resourcefulness in the series. Had they been able to win Game 2 - a 115-111 overtime defeat - they would have had a good chance of advancing to the Finals. But once Bosh returned from injury and the series became extended, the Celtics’ days were numbered.

Intense shelling of southern Syrian city kills 15

BEIRUT -- Activists say Syrian troops have shelled the southern city of Daraa, killing at least 15 people. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees say dozens of people were also wounded in the shelling early on Saturday. Daraa is the city where the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March last year. The U.N. said several weeks ago that at least 9,000 people have been killed since the crisis began while Syrian camiseta España activists say the violence has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. U.N. observers could smell the stench of burned corpses and saw body parts scattered around a Syrian farming hamlet that was the site of a massacre this week in which nearly 80 men, women and children were reported slain. The scene held evidence of a "horrific crime," a U.N. spokeswoman said. The observers were finally able on Friday to get inside the deserted village of Mazraat al-Qubair after being blocked by government troops and residents, and coming under small arms fire on Thursday, a day after the slayings were first reported. In central Damascus, rebels brazenly battled government security forces in the heart of the capital Friday for the first time, witnesses said, and explosions echoed for hours. Government artillery repeatedly pounded the central city of Homs and troops tried to storm it from three sides. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with international envoy Kofi Annan in Washington to discuss how to salvage his faltering plan to end 15 months of bloodshed in Syria. Western nations blame President Bashar Assad for the violent crackdown on anti-government protests that grew out of the Arab Spring. The U.N. team was the first independent group to arrive in Mazraat al-Qubair, a village of about 160 people in central Hama province. Opposition activists and Syrian government officials blamed each other for the killings and differed about the number of dead. Activists said that up to 78 people, including women and children, were shot, hacked and burned to death, saying pro-government militiamen known as "shabiha" were responsible. A government statement on the state-run news agency SANA said "an armed terrorist group" killed nine women and children before Hama authorities were called and killed the attackers. Sausan Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the U.N. observers, said residents' accounts of the mass killing were "conflicting," and that they needed to cross check the names of the missing and dead with those supplied by nearby villagers. Mazraat al-Qubair itself was "empty of the local inhabitants," she said. "You can smell the burnt smell of the dead bodies," Ghosheh said. "You could also see body parts in and around the village." The U.N. supervision mission released a statement later Friday saying that armored vehicle tracks were visible in the area and some homes had been damaged by rockets and grenades. Inside some of the houses, blood was visible across the walls and the floors, the statement said. Ghosheh said she saw two homes damaged by shells and bullets. She spoke of burned bodies found in a house, but did not elaborate and was not clear whether the U.N. team saw them. She told the BBC: "We can say that there was definitely a horrific crime that was committed. The scale is still not clear to me." A BBC correspondent traveling with the U.N. observers described the hamlet as an "appalling scene" of burned-out houses and gore. "There are pieces of human flesh lying around the room, there is a big pile of congealed blood in the corner, there's a tablecloth that still has the pieces of someone's brain attached to the side of it," said the correspondent, Paul Danahar. "They killed the people, they killed the livestock, they left nothing in the village alive," he added. The U.N. observers also visited a cemetery where some of the dead were buried, according to an activist in Mazraat al-Qubair. Activists said the Sunni hamlet is surrounded by Alawite villages. Alawites are an offshoot of Shiite Islam and Assad is a member of the sect, while the opposition is dominated by Sunnis. The United States condemned Assad over the killings, saying he has "doubled down on his brutality and duplicity." The violence followed another mass killing last month in a string of villages known as Houla, where 100 people including many women and children were also shot and stabbed to death. The opposition and the regime blamed each other for the Houla massacre. In April, the U.N. said more than 9,000 people have been killed since the crisis began in March 2011, but it has been unable to update its estimate since and the daily bloodshed has continued in past weeks. Activists put the number of dead at about 13,000. Before her meeting with Annan, Clinton said they would look at "how to engender greater response by the government of Syria to the six-point plan that he has put forth." Annan's plan calls for an end to violence followed by a political transition. Although Assad agreed to it, the violence has continued unabated with reports of brutal massacres against innocents. Annan allowed that some people "say the plan is definitely dead." He asked rhetorically whether the problem is the plan or its implementation. "If it's implementation, how do we get action on that? And if it's the plan, what other options do we have?" he said. U.N. diplomats say Annan is proposing that world powers and key regional players, including Iran, come up with a new strategy to end the conflict. In Damascus, government troops clashed with defectors from the Free Syrian Army in the Kfar Souseh district in some of the worst fighting yet in the capital. The clashes were a clear sign that the ragtag rebel group has succeeded in taking its fight into the regime's base of power. "I've been hearing shooting and explosions for hours now and can see smoke rising from the area," a witness who spoke on condition of anonymity for security concerns told The Associated Press. On Thursday night, armed rebels took part in a large anti-government rally in the same district, witnesses said, in a rare and bold public appearance by the fighters in the capital. Friday's fighting began when the rebels attacked a government checkpoint in the morning, according to Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "The men are shouting 'God is great,' women are crying," said Omar, a Damascus resident who would not provide his family name for fear of reprisal by Syrian officials. The sound of machine gun fire and blasts could be heard in the background as he spoke by Skype. A resident of the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun said the battles began in his area after Syrian forces opened fire on an evening demonstration, killing a young man he identified as Mahmoud Said. Following that, gunmen hiding in the area began clashing with security forces. Nobody was sure how many people were killed, because they could not leave their houses, said the resident, who asked not to be identified because he feared government reprisal. The Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said clashes also broke out in other Damascus districts. There was no immediate word on civilian casualties but the LCC said three rebels were killed. In Homs, one of the main battlegrounds of the uprising, the offensive against Khaldiyeh appeared to be a new push by regime forces to retake the enclave that has been held by rebels for months. Pro-Assad troops overran the opposition-held neighborhood of Baba Amr on March 1 after a government siege killed hundreds of people - many of them civilians - in Syria's third-largest city. Activist Tarek Badrakhan said regime troops were trying to advance on Khaldiyeh from three sides, battling with rebels trying to stop them. "This is the worst shelling we've had since the start of the revolution," he said via Skype. A shell could be heard exploding in the background as he spoke. Shells were hitting the neighborhood at a rate of five to 10 a minute, said a statement by the Observatory. There was no immediate word on casualties from Khaldiyeh, whose original 80,000 inhabitants have mostly fled. Amateur videos showed missiles exploding into balls of flames in the crowded concrete Nike Free Run Danmark jumble of homes, with thundering crashes that sent up plumes of heavy gray smoke. The videos suggested the attack began at dawn as birds chirped and roosters crowed. In one video, the missiles came in rapid succession, four exploding in less than a minute. Homs has been one of the hardest-hit regions in Syria since the uprising began. The government news agency reported troops on the eastern Lebanese border area clashed with rebels, who they said were trying to smuggle in three pick-up trucks full of weapons. The agency said they destroyed one car, but two sped back into Lebanon In several locations across Syria on Friday, troops fired tear gas and live ammunition in an attempt to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters, activists said, including the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, the southern region of Daraa and in the suburbs of Damascus. Several people were reported killed, but the numbers were not immediately clear. In Geneva, International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman Hicham Hassan said Syria's humanitarian situation was worsening. And Kristalina Georgieva, European commissioner for humanitarian aid, said in Brussels that there are 1 million "vulnerable people who need humanitarian assistance." "Between 200,000 and 400,000 are internally displaced ... and we have 95,000 refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan primarily," she said. Also on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said five citizen journalists documenting the unrest in Syria were killed in a two-day period at the end of May .

Canonical partners with Microsoft to support Ubuntu on Azure

Microsoft revealed yesterday that its Azure cloud computing service is extending support to the open source Linux operating system. And in a blog entry this afternoon, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth announced that Canonical is working with Microsoft to support the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution on the Azure platform.Canonical will supply official Ubuntu images for Azure and will provide its commercial support services to customers that are deploying Ubuntu in Microsoft’s cloud. After an Azure update that is coming in the fall, users will be able to Dame Nike Free Run 3 purchase a Canonical support contract directly through Microsoft’s Azure Gallery. Cloud computing is an important market for Canonical, which has been trying to boost its visibility in the server market. Canonical has recently focused on increasing Ubuntu’s suitability for adoption in cloud environments with projects like the Metal as a Service provisioning tool and the Juju service orchestration framework. The company has also worked to build a presence in private clouds by working to support OpenStack and Eucalyptus. It’s unsurprising that Canonical is trying to get a good foot in the door for Ubuntu on Azure. Microsoft will also benefit from having partners in the Linux ecosystem as it works to make Azure a competitive offering compared to the cloud services offered by rivals such as Amazon. In a blog entry about Canonical’s partnership with Microsoft, Shuttleworth described Azure as an "impressive new entrant" in the hosted cloud computing market. He also praised the Azure team, saying that they possess a "sophisticated understanding of Ubuntu and Linux in general." Canonical and Microsoft have had little interaction in the past. Ubuntu’s symbolic Bug #1, which was filed by Shuttleworth himself, declares that putting an end to Microsoft’s dominant position in the PC market is one of the Ubuntu project’s chief goals. In his blog post about partnering with Microsoft to support Ubuntu on Azure, Shuttleworth emphasizes that the relationship will not conflict with Ubuntu’s values. "I know there will be members of the free software community that will leap at the chance to berate Microsoft for its very existence, but it’s not very Ubuntu to do so: let’s argue our perspective, work towards our goals, be open to those who are open to us, and build great stuff," he wrote. "There is nothing proprietary in Ubuntu-for-Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Azure, and no about-turn from us on long-held values." From a business standpoint, the relationship will be mutually beneficial for Microsoft and Canonical. Although some Linux enthusiasts might not be happy about seeing Canonical officially support Microsoft’s cloud offering, the reality is that Ubuntu will benefit from being able to run in that environment. If Azure support helps strengthen Ubuntu’s enterprise clout, it could help bring more resources and adopters to the Ubuntu ecosystem.

The US/NATO War on Syria and Iran likely in Spite of Security Council Veto

A nsnbc source within U.S.-Special Forces at Ft.Bragg, NC gave already in August 2011 evidence that US Special Forces were on the ground in Syria and that a war against Syria, Lebanon and Iran was actively prepared and implemented.(1) Frequent nsnbc readers are aware of that NATO has planned and prepared for a war on Syria and Iran for years. That active operations with special forces on the ground have been carried out since 2011.Last years chance to initiate an attack on Syria before September/October was missed. The heated diplomatic positioning games, the increased violence and brutality of the conflict, that is cynically provoked and utilized for manufacturing public and political support.The regular attack scares against Syria and Iran shall prepare a pretext for a long planned war; the waters are tested, the waters are heated, and the only questions that seem to remain are, how long time will the covert war, the terror against Syrians, the murder NFL Jerseys Cheap on Iranian nuclear scientists and other tactics be used before an overt aggression.How precisely will an overt NATO aggression be initiated. When will it be initiated, since it is unlikely that NATO will let the time line of August-September pass without an attack one more time. How will NATO try to diplomatically outflank Russia and China, and what will the consequences of a NATO attack be in terms of regional and global implications.After the abuse of the UNSC Resolution 1973-2011 on Libya, Russia and China drew a clear line in the Syrian Sand.(2) While Russia was supportive of the Syrian Peoples legitimate aspirations towards political reforms, which as we see later have taken place in an unprecedented manner compared to other Arab countries, Russia as well as China vehemently opposed and oppose foreign intervention and the use of NATO led terrorist death squads and mercenaries.Form the very beginning of what was and is being sold as popular uprising in the Syrian conflict by Western politicians and main stream media, it was obvious that there was a strong foreign element at play.The Saudi Lebanese billionaire Saad Hariri, a stern Saudi, US, and not so openly Israeli ally became implicated in arming and financing the Saudi and GCC-backed insurgents. (3) The ongoing spill-over of the Syrian conflict to Lebanon and the fighting in Lebanon can not be understood without taking into account that Hariri and his “Future Movement” have been fermenting a Syrian as well as Lebanese civil war as part of a plan to destabilize the region sufficiently to mandate a UN-sanctioned NATO intervention or to create other pretexts for a military intervention without the sanction of the Security Council.Also the leader of the Lebanese Druze community and chairman of Lebanons Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, who has been strongly opposed to Syrian influences in Lebanon since the protracted civil war is actively involved in arming NATO and Israeli backed insurgents in Syria.In a previous nsnbc article we informed that Jumblatt, according to sources with ties to Jordanian Intelligence, has been implicated in a shipment of 50 Tons of Israeli military equipment worth over 650 million USD, that arrived at Erbil Airport in Kurdistan. The weapons have reportedly been paid for by the Israeli “Rafael Industries”. The shuttling of Jumblatt, just prior to the shipment, to Qatar, Iaqi Kurdistan and Turkey have been tied to the arms delivery as well.(4) The vehicle for bringing about the intervention would be created by a relentless terror campaign with the use of Al-Qaeda mercenary forces from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and other. A nsnbc article by Christof Lehmann from September 2011 described the strategy as modified Chechnyan model.(5) Others, like Prof. Michel Chossudovsky of the Center for Research on Globalization likened the situation to the Death Squads in El Salvador. (6)The fact that NATO was not able to intervene in Syria latest August or September last year is caused by the fact that the people of Syria in spite of their ethnic and religious diversity are extremely coherent, that the Syrian government has managed to fight the insurgency rather successfully, that the Syrian government has managed to implement unprecedented political reforms that have been endorsed by the majority of the population, and that Russia and China so far have blocked for an overt NATO aggression at the Security Council.The successful establishment of and referendum for a new Syrian constitution that emphasizes Syria´s definition of itself as Arab State within an Arab Nation, a constitution that provides more safeguards and guaranties for freedom, democracy, protection of minorities than any of it´s neighbors, a constitution that embraces diversity in unity and solidarity, and in particular, a constitution that defines Syria as a nation that has rid itself from colonialism in the region was a direct slap into the face of both NATO, the GCC member states, Jordan, and not least Israel. (7)nsnbc has published the full text of the draft constitution. (8) The constitution was endorsed by a majority of the Syrian people, and the mere fact that the referendum could be held without major disturbances was a victory of the people of Syria against the foreign aggression. (9) Non of these developments have been reported in a fair and balanced manner in Western Media. Neither was it reported that parliamentary elections have been held in Syria.So far, Syria has in spite of the onslaught and immense suffering kept the upper hand on all but one front, which is that of Public Relations. It has not effectively countered an aggressive Western media campaign directed against Syria and Iran which makes it relatively easy for NATO and allied countries to convince the Western populations that another “humanitarian War” must be waged to protect the people of Syria.The Cognitive Manipulation of the Western Public into accepting another NATO-led “Humanitarian War”.Complicit Western media continue with their cognitive manipulation of the public to accept yet another UN-US/NATO military aggression under the pretext of Human Rights and the “responsibility to protect”. The responsibility to protect and interventionism, Libya-Style have become part of official NATO doctrine at the 25th NATO Summit in Chicago this year. (10)Western media follow suit and close ranks without questioning the concept while perpetuating often fraudulent reports that sale a NATO Narrative about a horrific Syrian Regime that butchers it´s citizens. The reports about the recent massacre in al-Houla are but one of thousands of examples that could be documented where false reports, fabricated images and video have been sold as news. The BBC went so far as to recycle images from Iraq. (11)One-sided reports blame the violence on Assad and the Syrian Government. While Western media maintain that the Syrian Military was responsible for the massacre, and while many reports consequently maintain the narrative that the military was shelling the civilian area with artillery, the report shows a quite different picture. In spite of the preliminary report, the narrative that people died at the hands of the military is perpetuated in media as well as at the UN. The report states:The majority of the homicides were committed with small arms and at close range, many of them execution style. The majority of the victims were families who refused to endorse the war on the Syrian government and who opposed the involvement of foreign al-Qaeda fighters, armed Muslim Brothers, and other mercenary forces.The overwhelming majority of the murders were committed by foreign and foreign backed terrorists. (12)Regardless the evidence to the opposite, the Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby told media at a Pentagon press briefing, “We remain deeply troubled and concerned by the ongoing violence in Syria and by the horrific acts of the Assad regime against its own people,” Kirby also reiterated that Iran was helping the Syrian “regime”, and most likely to counter pertinent questions, he stated that al-Qaeda was in Syria for it´s own purposes.Navy Capt. Kirby has most likely had advise of a skilled spin-doctor to find semantic twists about al-Qaeda´s own purposes. NATO has it´s own purposes, and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group or Tripoli Military Council, the Omar Brigade, and other al-Qaeda fractions that are controlled by NATO Intelligence, Saudi Intelligence, Muslim Brothers controlled by MI6 and Qatar naturally have their own and specific utilities too. Thus Capt. Kirby is telling the truth while misinforming the public.Kirby also positioned Iran as potential and legitimate target for US/NATO-aggression, stating that ” we have certainly seen reports and have reason to believe that Iran continues to assist the Assad regime in committing these acts of atrocities against the Syrian people“. I would say, I have seen “reports of Alien Bases and heard of Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Alien abduction cases“. So, because Kirby states that “we have seen some reports” we are all expected to wear alien costumes, right”?In other words, the Pentagon is covering over the well established fact that NATO Special Forces are liaison to, supervising, and co-operating with al-Qaeda units in Syria, including the at least 18.000 al-Qaeda mercenaries under command Tripoli Military Governor and al-Qaeda Commander Abdelhakim Belhadj.(13) The Pentagon also positions Iran as legitimate target for NATO aggression because it has “certainly seen reports and have reason to believe” that Iran supports Assad. Now if Iran supports Assad or Syria, it is supporting them in their battles against the NATO led al-Qaeda units that have committed the atrocities that are blamed on “the Assad Regime”.Another manufacturing of public consent is the recent release of a report that states that Obama had vetoed a French-Saudi plan to attack the Governmental Palace of Syria to decapitate the regime. Let alone the fact that such action would be a serious war crime, which NATO obviously does not care about, the main function of “leaking” such information via DEBKA File is to prepare the Western Public for a war. Other functions will be related to intelligence gathering as well as that of adding pressure on Russia and China at the Security Council – and beyond.

Restaurant owner fears potential rise in cocktail prices

Vancouver restaurant and lounge owner Chuck Chronis believes the state's newly enacted system of private liquor sales will drive up the price of cocktails in Clark County's already competitive bar scene.But local bar owner Steve Deans thinks he is better off under the new system, passed in November by voters as Initiative 1183, which took Washington out of the business of selling bottled liquor on June 1. The transition ended the 73-year reign of a state enterprise that promoted, distributed and sold liquor through a string of state-owned stores and other ones that were owned by entrepreneurs who contracted to sell liquor for the state. Under the new law, bars and restaurants — from tiny taverns to concept dining chains — will likely have to monitor the prices offered by distributors instead of taking for granted the across-the-board uniform prices formerly offered at state liquor stores.Vancouver restaurateur Mark Matthias thinks time will tell whether the new law, which adds a dizzying array of new distributors, will boost the price of a happy hour martini, margarita or Cheap Baseball Jerseys Manhattan."The good news is you can negotiate with different vendors for product and pricing," said Matthias, owner of Beaches Restaurant & Bar in Vancouver. But he and other bar owners expect higher prices to replace the introductory offers now being marketed by distributors."They (distributors) have to figure in their profit and the extra cost to distribute," which could increase personnel costs, said Chronis, owner of Chronis' Restaurant and Lounge at 819 Main St. in downtown Vancouver. He expects prices to increase gradually over the next few days and weeks, unlike the sticker shock revealed to retail consumers on Friday, the first day of privatized liquor sales.Liquor sales in the grocery store surprised buyers who found they were charged the already existing 20.5 percent liquor sales tax and $3.77 per liter tax, which had previously been incorporated into the shelf price, at the checkout counter. In addition, many consumers may not even have realized in advance that two new state fees would be included in the price of a bottle — a wholesalers' fee of 10 percent and a 17 percent retailers' fee.Bar operators have always paid lower sales and per-liter taxes and can now expect a similar reduction. In addition to a 15 percent pretax break on purchases, they only pay 13.77 percent sales tax (compared with 20.5 percent tax on retail purchases) and a tax of $2.44 per liter (compared with $3,77).And unlike the retail consumers, bars that make liquor purchases from a distributor will be exempt from the 17 percent distribution fee, although the new 10 percent wholesalers' fee still applies."I would imagine those who buy volume will tend to get a better deal," said Brian Smith, spokesman for the Washington State Liquor Control Board.The changes could force higher prices on smaller, mom-and-pop bars while giving a break camiseta España to larger enterprises, said Chronis, who operates a single-owner establishment. "Some of the distributors have a three to five case special (price). But sometimes you don't want or need certain kinds of liquor and I'm not into warehousing it for them," he said.Chronis also said he couldn't justify tying up his small operation's extra money — up to $2,000 — to have an added inventory of liquor sitting in the back room. He estimated his hard liquor costs have gone up by at least 15 percent.The additional cost can be offset elsewhere at other bars, said Deans, the co-owner of downtown Vancouver's Brickhouse Bar and Grill."It's become much more convenient," he said. "It's going to cut back on our labor costs."Deans previously scheduled staff to fill out orders and pick up the liquor from state stores, a task now largely overseen by the distribution companies. However, Deans and other bar owners complained they will have to work with more than one distributor, since most do not carry a wide enough variety of items.Whether the price of a bar beverage will rise is something "we're all going to know very quickly," Matthias predicted. "There's so many people distributing now."Some bars that carry small quantities might even gravitate back to the former state-contracted liquor stores to keep plenty of booze and bar supplies on hand, said Shelby Piersol, a liquor merchant whose formerly state-contracted store has now lost the guarantee of its state-assigned sales to local bars and restaurants.Those sales previously made up about 15 percent of her business, said Piersol, who now operates the store as a privately owned shop.Under the old state system, Piersol's store regularly supplied a handful of Washougal businesses."We had little taverns and seven or eight restaurants, a golf course and a few pubs," she said.Piersol doubts some of those bars will make large orders with the new distributors."Some are so tiny, they just need about 15 bottles," she said.

Idaho has long history of execution witnesses

Editor’s note: Reporter Betsy Z. Russell, president of the Idaho Press Club, researched the issue of media witnesses to executions both for this article and for the news media’s court challenge. BOISE – As Idaho’s news media spar with the state in federal court over limits on access to executions, the case has turned a spotlight on Idaho’s long and consistent history of media witnesses attending its state executions to serve as the eyes and ears of the public.Media witnesses have been present for all but one Idaho execution since 1901 and published detailed accounts of them.“The body swung not to the right and left, the rope made not a single twist, but facing the sun in the eastern sky, like one standing erect, all that was mortal of Ed Rice was there before his Real Madrid Camiseta fellows, while the tide of life fast ebbed away,” the Idaho Daily Statesman reported in 1901, recounting the first state execution held at Idaho’s state prison.Prior to 1901, executions were conducted at the county level in Idaho, and most were public, with hundreds attending.Idaho’s news media, including the Associated Press, The Spokesman-Review, the Idaho Press Club and more than a dozen other news outlets and organizations, are suing in federal court over Idaho’s current execution procedures. Witnesses are barred from the first portion of the lethal injection procedure, when the condemned prisoner is strapped down to a gurney and IVs are inserted.The media have been in discussions with the state over the issue since before Paul Ezra Rhoades was executed in November, but the state has refused to change its procedure. Now, Richard Leavitt is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 12.The lawsuit cites a 2002 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that held it was a violation of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to exclude media witnesses, and by extension the public, from the full procedure, from the moment the condemned person enters the execution chamber to the time of death. That case was brought by the news media in California. However, only two states in the 9th Circuit – California and Nevada – have been complying with the 2002 decision. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge is now considering arguments from the media and from the state, which has defended its procedures; he is expected to rule shortly. The state has argued that allowing witnesses to view the first portion of the procedure would violate the condemned prisoner’s privacy, could impact other Death Row inmates, would cause suffering for the prisoner’s family and friends, and could identify or stress members of the execution team. However, the team is masked and wears surgical garb.The media, in legal papers filed Monday, argued that 1st Amendment concerns outweigh those issues, and that inmates’ privacy rights are limited.“Witness attendance at an execution assures public involvement in the process, and transparency fuels informed public debate, which is the main purpose behind granting a right of access to governmental proceedings,” wrote the news media’s attorney, Charles Brown of Lewiston.No such questions were raised in the early days of Idaho executions.In 1901, an Idaho Daily Statesman reporter, Fred Flood, wrote that he and other newsmen were ushered into Rice’s cell to hear the death warrant read to the condemned man.They then followed the prisoner to the gallows where he would be hanged, and reported in detail on the entire procedure, up to when guards placed the body in a coffin and carried it away.Similar detailed, firsthand accounts were published in the newspapers of the day of executions carried out at the Idaho State Penitentiary in 1904, 1906, 1909, 1924 and 1926.In 1909, the Idaho Nike Free Sko Daily Statesman published a photograph of a handwritten, elaborately lettered invitation/ticket the newspaper had received the day before from Warden John W. Snook, stating, “Admit Reporter Boise Statesman to the execution of Fred Seward, May 7th, at 8 o’clock a.m.” The warden signed his name at the bottom with a flourish.The only state execution at which members of the Idaho news media weren’t present was a hurry-up double hanging in the middle of the night in 1951, when a frightened prison warden who feared inmate riots refused all requests from outside witnesses, had the gallows erected starting at 5 p.m. for the midnight execution, and had all traces of them removed by morning. At Idaho’s last hanging in 1957, several newspaper reporters were present but declined, at the final moment, to enter the observation room at the new indoor gallows.Idaho has conducted two executions since 1957, both by lethal injection. At each of those, media witnesses were admitted to the execution chamber and documented what they sawAssociated Press reporter Bob Fick was among the witnesses at the execution of Keith Eugene Wells in 1994. In a 2011 National Public Radio interview, he remembered the lethal injection procedure as “sterile and antiseptic,” in contrast to Wells’ crime, in which Wells beat his two victims to death with a baseball bat at a Boise bar.In November of 2011, Idaho executed triple murderer Paul Ezra Rhoades. Four media witnesses attended and shared their observations with other reporters and the public. Idaho Press-Tribune reporter Nate Green said the procedure was “very quiet and somber.” He also reported that once Rhoades was dead, a friend of one of Rhoades’ victims muttered, “The devil has gone home.”

Creative City: Hong Kong’s only design & culture-focused guide-map offers a new way to explore the city

An eloquently designed, and uniquely tailored guide-map, Creative City provides an indispensable and thoroughly insightful view of Hong Kong’s best places to ‘stash, see and savour’. Inspired from a first-person perspective of the local creative community, the ‘map with a twist’ is ideal for locals and tourists alike. Conceived and developed by prominent creative entrepreneurs Danielle Huthart of Whitespace and Lancashire Road's Louise Wong, Creative City celebrates Hong Kong's cultural heart and is flush with industry insider information. With visually striking infographics, colour-coded maps highlighting Nike Free Run Dame must-see districts, and a full spread feature on the best cafes in which to hone creativity over a cup of coffee, the second edition of Creative City is an essential pocket companion to discover both the traditional and emerging culture of Hong Kong. The link between coffee and creativity is honoured in this edition: “Why coffee? The coffee scene has really taken off since our first edition, in a way that's unlike before," said Danielle Huthart. "There's a link between creativity and coffee, or at least the culture of socialising and discussing ideas. It's a trend we welcome and hope will continue." For those who seek to immerse themselves in cultural epicentres or simply prefer to take the path less travelled, Hong Kong’s creative side is now easy to explore thanks to Creative City. The second installment of Hong Kong’s indigenously conceived arts and culture guide-map, which hits book shelves this month, is published by two of Hong Kong’s top creative minds, and expands upon their critically acclaimed inaugural edition released in 2011. Large maps of the must-see districts around both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, are colour-coded and numbered with street-level detail. Amongst the highlighted feature destinations are galleries, markets, boutiques, restaurants, architectural gems and cafe hideouts where many a creative can be spotted hatching a plan. For this edition's six district maps, Creative City collaborated with Hong Kong-based design collectives including Graphic Airlines, Shanghai Street Studios, Savannah College of Art and Design as well as Daydream Nation. "The idea of the 'district curators' is to share an intimate look at the surroundings from people España camiseta most familiar with the areas," said Louise Wong. "There are 188,000 creative practitioners living and working in Hong Kong and what inspires them may be surprising and sometimes, unexpected." "We are not trying to provide a comprehensive guide to every secret location in the city but we hope that people feel encouraged and excited to explore and experience Hong Kong in their own way," said Louise Wong. This second design-led edition is curated by local artisans and presented in one of four limited edition sleeves by Hong Kong resident artists. Graphic Airlines, Don Mak, French illustrator Emilie Sarnel and American artist Emily Eldridge, offer their visuals that highlight the diversity of Hong Kong’s creatives. Each sleeve draws inspiration from the city, depicting it in whimsical, colourful and sometimes political ways.

Pro and anti-Syrian groups clash in north Lebanon

Security officials say clashes between pro and anti-Syrian groups in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli have killed at least one person and wounded five. The officials say the fighting started shortly before midnight Friday and continued Saturday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Clashes in Tripoli last month killed at least eight people in a spillover of the conflict in Syria. The split is between Sunni Muslims who support Syrian rebels trying to oust Nike Free 2012 Mænd President Bashar Assad and members of the tiny Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Alawites are Assad's most loyal supporters. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N.'s top human rights body voted overwhelmingly Friday to condemn Syria over the slaughter of more than 100 civilians last week, but Damascus appeared impervious to the crescendo of global condemnation following a string of horrific massacres. Syria's most important ally and protector, Russia, voted against the measure by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow's last significant ally in the Middle East. New bloodshed was reported across Syria on Friday, with troops firing on protesters and more execution-style killings coming to light, while U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan urged Syrian President Bashar Assad once again to stop the violence. As Russian diplomats in Geneva dismissed the resolution as "unbalanced" and voted against the text, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to press the Syrian government for an end to the violence and insisted a political solution was still possible despite mounting frustration over the lack of diplomatic progress. "It requires a certain professionalism and patience," Putin said in Germany. Russia, along with China, has twice used its veto power to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions. Although Syria has come under deep international isolation since its forces launched a ferocious crackdown on dissent nearly 15 months ago, the May 25 massacre in a cluster of villages known as Houla has brought a new urgency in calls to the crisis. "Syria is on the edge, it is on the edge of a catastrophic situation, if we can imagine one even worse than the current situation," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on the sidelines of a conference in Turkey. A majority of countries in the 47-nation rights council supported a U.S.- and Arab-led resolution condemning the "outrageous use of force against the civilian population" in Houla. "We believe that the acts committed by the Syrian regime may amount to crimes against humanity and other international crimes, and demonstrate a pattern of widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations," Hague said. He said evidence from U.N. observers and independent witnesses confirmed that security forces shelled Houla and that "government militia then went house to house slaughtering entire families without compassion or mercy." New satellite images posted on the website of U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford showed signs of what look like freshly dug mass graves. A senior intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly, confirmed the authenticity of the images. Only Russia, China and Cuba voted against the resolution, with Uganda and Ecuador abstaining. The Philippines was absent. The resolution blamed "pro-regime elements" and government troops for the massacre. But Moscow echoed the Syrian government's explanation for the killings, blaming rebels that the Kremlin says are trying to stir up a civil war. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the Houla massacre was a well-planned attempt to thwart a political solution to the crisis and "lead the situation in Syria to a new circle of gory violence." Moscow's pro-Syria stance is motivated in part by its strategic and defense ties to Damascus, including weapons sales. Russia also rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S. Speaking late Friday in Paris, Putin said Russia was not backing the Syrian regime, but trying to "reduce the violence to a minimum." "We are not for Bashar Assad or for his adversaries. We want to arrive at a situation where the violence is ended and the possibility of a civil war is completely avoided," he said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she doesn't quite buy the claim that Moscow is neutral in the Syrian conflict, saying in Oslo that Russia is viewed in the United Nations, in Damascus and around the world "as supporting the continuity of the Assad regime." "The continued supply of arms from Russia has strengthened the Assad regime," and "that Russia has maintained this trade ... has raised serious concerns," she said. Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Assad's crackdown against the anti-government uprising, which began in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but many hundreds more have died since. Despite the relentless violence, the Houla massacre stands out for its sheer brutality. Many of the dead were women and children who were gunned down in their homes. Since then, two other mass killings were reported, both on Thursday. Thirteen bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, were found in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, near the Iraqi border. Gunmen also killed 11 people on their way to work at a state-owned fertilizer factory in the central province of Homs, activists said. There is no clear idea of who carried out the killings, although both sides traded blame. U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said the U.N. has sent two teams to the area of the reported killings. "We cannot yet confirm the reports but teams are right now working on this," del Buey said in New York. The violence has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months, and it is difficult to assign blame for much of the bloodshed as the country spirals toward civil war. The government restricts journalists from moving freely, making it nearly impossible to independently verify accounts from either side. While Putin urged patience in the crisis, Annan called for immediate action, saying Assad must take bold steps to end the violence. "I know we are all impatient, we are all frustrated by the violence, by the killings," Annan told reporters in Beirut. "We really want to see things move much faster." Annan is trying to salvage a peace plan that he initiated six weeks ago, which calls for a cease-fire by both sides. The plan has never really taken hold, but world leaders have pinned their hopes on it, since the U.S. and others are unwilling to get deeply involved in another Arab nation in turmoil. On Friday, activists said Syrian security forces fired on thousands of protesters in different parts of the country as crowds poured into the streets to mark the Houla massacre. An amateur video said to be taken in the posh Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh showed scores of people inside a mosque chanting "Death is better than humiliation!" and accusing the Syrian army of being traitors. Protests erupted in the capital Damascus, the southern province of Daraa, the northern regions of Idlib and Aleppo, Latakia on the coast and Hama and Homs in central Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the shooting at protesters Nike Free tilbud occurred in Daraa, the suburbs of Damascus, and Aleppo, the country's largest city. Several people were reported killed, but there was no way to confirm the toll. On Friday, the Red Cross said thousands of people who have been displaced because of the Houla massacre need urgent help. "People left everything behind as they ran for their lives," said Marianne Gasser, the head of the ICRC delegation in Syria. "Most of the displaced are women and children." Many are taking shelter in schools and other public buildings in a nearby village. "There was not enough food, water and medicine for everyone, which put a great deal of pressure on the small village," she said. Del Buey, the U.N. deputy spokesman, said 210 detainees in Damascus and 13 in Daraa were released Thursday in the presence of U.N. military observers. He stressed that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Annan "have said repeatedly we must see the release of all detainees being arbitrarily held and that clearly many more must be released." Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. mission, welcomed the release. "This is a positive act in these challenging times," Mood said in a statement. ___ AP writers John Heilprin and Frank Jordans in Geneva, Geir Moulson and David Rising in Berlin, Christopher Torchia in Istanbul, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations in New York, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Kimberly Dozier in Washington, D.C., and Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.