Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50644931/
ricky martin larry bird chauncey billups caucus results exton kurt warner kurt warner
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Entourage Movie Officially in the Works
Entourage ended its HBO run in 2011 and like Sex and the City, the next logical step is to make the jump to the big screen. It took nearly two years, but the movie is finally going to happen. Deadline reports that Warner Bros has give the movie the green light.
Series creator Doug Ellin will direct from a script he wrote. The cast members from the series are in the process of being gathered for the movie, so expect Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jeremy Piven, et al to return to reprise their roles.
According to Ellin, the movie will take place six months after the events in the series' finale.
Mark Wahlberg, one of the show's executive producer, revealed late last year that Ellin had completed the script and hoped to shoot the movie this spring. He may be right about the schedule even though no start date has been announced.
"It's going to get back to the basics, kind of like the beginning of the series. We had very strong female characters, but we want the guys to get back to just being guys. I think they were all weighed down by these strong women towards the end of the series, so we are going to get them going crazy. Everyone wants to see them get nuts again," Wahlberg said.
If the movie is anything like the TV series, expect lots of celebrity cameos and, hopefully, it won't turned into anything like Movie 43.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926755/news/1926755/
courtney mercury retrograde bath salts heart shaped box lucid 2012 ncaa tournament bracket matterhorn
Raw results: The Rock brings the reign and Brock Lesnar brings the pain on Raw Roulette night
All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.
Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-01-28/wwe-raw-results
Elder Scrolls Online jason wu jason wu joe biden michelle obama beyonce lupe fiasco
India cuts key interest rate by quarter point
NEW DELHI (AP) ? India's central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 7.75 percent Tuesday, aiming to boost flagging growth in Asia's third-largest economy.
The Reserve Bank of India also lowered its cash reserve ratio for banks by a quarter point to 4 percent, which means commercial banks can lend more.
India's economic growth has slowed for several quarters amid high inflation and delays to economic reforms that chilled investment.
The central bank cut its economic growth forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2013 to 5.5 percent from 5.8 percent.
It said the lower cash reserve ratio would release an extra 180 billion rupees ($3.3 billion) into the banking system.
The RBI has held off cutting rates at previous monetary policy meetings because of high inflation. Its last rate cut was in April 2012.
In its latest monetary policy review, the bank said headline inflation had peaked and with a decline in prices of non-food manufactured products, it was likely that inflation would stabilize at its current levels in the coming year.
"This provides space, albeit limited, for monetary policy to give greater emphasis to growth risks," it said.
The bank said it expected the interest rate cut to encourage investment and support growth.
Steps taken by the government including liberalization of foreign investment in retail, aviation, broadcasting and insurance should help return the economy to a higher growth trajectory, the RBI said.
Analysts cautioned that with India scheduled to hold general elections in 2014, there was a likelihood of further government sops leading to increased inflation and spending blowouts.
Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank, said the funding situation of banks is very tight and there is a limit to which they could pass on the central bank's lower interest rate.
"The cut in the cash reserve ratio helps the situation only at the margins. Coupled with policy rate cuts, we might see small changes in consumer borrowing costs over the next few months," he said. "Nothing dramatic will happen unless the RBI follows through with a series of cuts and adds more liquidity to the system."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/india-cuts-key-interest-rate-quarter-point-073259610--finance.html
blake lively serena williams Espn Fantasy Football Grandparents Day 2012 army wives 60 minutes go daddy
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
In Communist China, Even the Cargo Jets Are Knock-offs
powerball results pebble beach golf beverly hilton roland martin whitney houston dead at 48 whitney houston dead 2012 whitney houston passed away
Work-in-Progress: Do Writers Need an MFA?
While busy with something else, I ended up re-reading this post I wrote in?January 2011, about whether a writer needs an MFA. It seemed surprisingly smart to me and still relevant, so I'm reposting it:
I'm often asked, do you need an MFA to be a writer? Of course you don?t; to be a writer, you need to write. That?s misleadingly simple. I like to answer the question with a list (naturally) that also includes some questions to ponder and some unsolicited advice. So, here goes:
What to think about when you think about a graduate program in writing:
--I had some amazing teachers that saved me a lot of time by showing me a path through the thicket of writing. Not all of those teachers were in my MFA workshops, so there are excellent teachers everywhere. But, yes, teachers really can teach you quite a bit!
--While many graduate programs have ?famous? writers you revere and admire on the faculty, being a ?famous? writer doesn?t automatically make one a good teacher. So when you?re considering plunking down the $$ to go to a graduate program, do your homework and check out the faculty.
--Doing your homework means:
A) Reading the work by the core faculty. If everyone on the faculty is writing in a traditional style and your writing is more experimental, it probably isn?t a good match.
B) Speaking to students who are in the program or who recently graduated. This is how you can find out about the teaching. Facebook can be a good resource for finding students, or you can ask the program director for some students to chat with.
C) Show up, if you can. Go to a reading sponsored by the program and get a feel for the place: is the atmosphere friendly and welcoming? Do the faculty attend the reading? Are the questions in the Q&A lively? Or, if you?re at a conference, talk to the writers who teach and ask them about their schools.
--Don?t expect that you?ll automatically get a teaching job after you graduate. If you want to teach?and be sure that you really do want to; it?s not a requirement to being a writer, and may even be a detriment!?you will need a graduate degree. But, to teach creative writing, you will most likely also need a published book (or some amazing, New Yorker-like publications). The degree is no guarantee, and don?t make a mistake imagining that it is. (If you want to teach, try to get some experience while you?re in school. And expect that you?ll be teaching mostly comp while a TA and probably after you graduate and perhaps even for the rest of your life.)
--Think about money. Will attending graduate school put you in debt for the rest of your life? Are you okay with that? There's value to the idea of devoting time/energy/resources to learning to be a better writer--good teachers can help you leapfrog ahead of yourself in terms of writing progress. Will knowing that you?re spending all this money (and time and making the other sacrifices needed) make you take your writing more seriously? There is always going to be a higher standard for critique and study in a graduate program?not to mention the more rigorous reading requirements. Do you want/need someone else to impose those standards upon you; at what price?
--Perhaps the greatest benefit of a graduate writing program is the community, during and after. Maybe you will meet people who will be friends for life, or who will read and comment on your work for life, or who will become high-powered editors/writers who can help you. Maybe. At the least, you?ll be surrounded by a group of people who care deeply about writing/literature and who want to follow the same path of artful pursuit you do.
--Probably this should be a whole separate discussion because I won?t do it justice here, but think about what you want to write. If all you want to write is science fiction (or romance) or some other genre, you WILL learn to be a better writer in a graduate writing program. But your path may be rougher and more challenging than if your interests were more literary. Again, do your homework: How does the program feel about less ?literary? writing?
Unsolicited advice I have for all MFA students:
--Read the books your teachers have written. Ask your teachers questions about their work: how did you handle dialogue? Why did you decide to give the main character 6 brothers? Etc. Talk!
--Make the most of every opportunity. If your teacher offers individual meetings/office hours, go. If your teacher/peers hang out after class for booze or coffee, and it?s within your realm to attend, go. If your teachers/peers are reading their work, go. If the ?famous? visiting writer needs a ride somewhere and you can offer one, go. In short, just go-go-GO!
--Write things down. If your teacher mentions a book/journal/article that was influential to him/her, write it down. Look it up. Think seriously about reading it, if not immediately, at some point. Teachers don?t say these things for no reason, you know!
--Be organized and timely. Get your work done. Try not to be a problem.
--Don?t suck up. Instead, be a nice, interested, interesting person, and you won?t need to suck up. Ask questions instead, and don?t talk only about yourself and your own projects. Be involved in the larger world.
--Be the person in your program who organizes, whether it?s a potluck or a new online literary journal or a fun night bowling. It takes effort to keep your community connected, so pull an oar.
--Thank your teachers at the end of the semester, even the teachers you didn?t like. You probably learned more from them than you think you did.
--Don?t race your way through the program. This is probably the only time in your life where you have all these smart people devoted to you and your writing?take your time and enjoy it.
What about the Low-Res MFA?
Unique advantages to the low-res:
--You don?t need to move and/or uproot your life to go to school.
--There?s a nice mix between workshop interaction and individual, devoted attention to your work.
--Speaking as a fiction teacher, I think it's easier to work on the novel form since you have one mentor for a solid chunk of time who can read a good amount of your work in a sustained way.
--The residency location can be a plus: i.e. if you like the mountains, choose a low-res program located in/near the mountains!
--The reading list can be self-directed so you're reading materials that resonate with you.
Disadvantages to the low-res:
--That word above, "self-directed": this type of program would be a disaster for a certain type of person, who's a totally disorganized procrastinator. In the low-res, you really have to make yourself do the work.
--Things are changing, but typically there are fewer fellowship and funding opportunities available at low-res programs, so the onus of finding a way to pay for the program comes from the student: savings, student loans
--There may be limited TA opportunities.
Disclosure: I teach at the Converse College Low-Residency MFA Program and at the more traditional Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Writing Program.
Source: http://www.workinprogressinprogress.com/2013/01/do-writers-need-mfa.html
jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars benjarvus green ellis shaka smart hungergames bagpipes aspirin
Monday, 28 January 2013
Shakira Leaves Hospital With Baby Milan And Boyfriend Gerard Pique (PHOTO)
Colombian pop star Shakira and footballer Gerard Piqu? left the hospital Sunday and headed home with their newborn baby Milan, HuffPost Voces reports.
The couple tried to make a break for it without getting spotted, but the hospital was surrounded by press and photographers hoping to catch a glimpse of them as they departed. For now, the new mother will stay in a luxury apartment that belongs to Piqu? along with close family members, while Piqu? gets back to work for Bar?a.
Shak gave birth to her baby boy by caesarean section at Teknon Hospital in Barcelona on Jan. 22.
But curious fans will have to keep waiting to see what the baby looks like -- the throngs of photographers didn't manage to snap an image of him. Piqu? tweeted the first picture of baby Milan's feet on Thursday.
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });wilt chamberlain joe arpaio cat in the hat green eggs and ham wiz khalifa and amber rose oh the places you ll go blunt amendment
Egyptian president calls for dialogue with political forces to resolve latest crisis
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Lawmakers require VA to track effects of burn pits
WASHINGTON (AP) ? J.D. Williams didn't think much about the smoke cloud that often shrouded his air base in Iraq. Not when it covered everything he owned with black soot or when his wheezing and coughing made it difficult to sleep at night.
"We just went about our business because there was a war going on," said Williams, a retired chief warrant officer who was responsible for maintaining some 250 aircraft for the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
He returned home from that second stint in Iraq in 2006 and subsequently was diagnosed with an irreversible lung disease that his doctor suspects could be related to smoke from one of the hundreds of burn pits that dotted Iraq and Afghanistan during the course of the two wars. The pits were used to burn off the garbage that accumulates at military bases, everything from Styrofoam and metal to paints, solvents, human waste and medical waste.
A new Department of Veterans Affairs registry, mandated by Congress, will be used to try to determine if there is a link between the burn pits and long-term health problems.
Military personnel who were stationed near an open burn pit can sign up. Researchers will use the database to monitor health trends in participants, and the VA will alert them to major problems detected.
Over the long term, the findings could make it easier for veterans who served near burn pits to obtain disability payments.
Williams, 56, of Huntsville, Ala., was initially told that he would have to prove that his illness, diagnosed as constrictive bronchiolitis, was service-related. He walked out of the room. Eventually, after he traveled to Washington and met with members of Congress, the VA increased his disability rating 10 percent.
He said he's hoping the registry will pave the way for other soldiers to avoid a similarly exasperating process. If researchers find certain illnesses are linked to exposure to burn pits, then the VA would be more likely to declare those illnesses a presumptive condition, eliminating the need for a veteran to prove that his or her illness is service-related.
Sixty-three burn pits were still being used in Afghanistan as of Dec. 26; those in Iraq were closed by December 2010. Camps with fewer than 100 people are not required to report the use of a burn pit, so there could be more, but generally much smaller ones. Proponents say the burn pits were so widespread that the large majority of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan could participate in the registry.
In 2009, the military updated its policies on burn pits to prohibit the burning of hazardous materials such as certain medical waste, batteries and tires, and whenever possible, to situate them where the smoke would not blow over work and living quarters.
"When our service members voice concerns about burn pit exposures as well as other health issues, we take our responsibility seriously to investigate these exposures and possible health risks, and to implement any protective measure that are indicated and feasible," said Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith.
The creation of the burn pit registry has been several years in the making.
Air Force Lt. Col Darrin Curtis said in a memo disclosed by the Army Times in 2008 that he believed a particularly large burn pit at Joint Base Balad, one of the largest air bases in Iraq, was an acute health hazard, and he was amazed that it was allowed to operate without restrictions.
Congressional hearings followed that featured sick veterans, contractors and family members who had lost a loved one from illnesses they attributed to burn pits. The Pentagon said that none of the monitoring conducted at Balad identified an increased risk for long-term health problems. It has maintained that position over the years but also acknowledges that some personnel have persistent symptoms, possibly as a result of elevated exposures to the smoke, existing health conditions or other unknown factors.
An Institute of Medicine study requested by the VA and made public in 2011 concluded there was insufficient data to determine whether burn pit emissions had long-term health consequences. The study found the pollutants measured at Balad were generally present at a concentration so low that it would not be expected to cause any harm, even if a person was exposed to that concentration for a lifetime. The two exceptions were particulate matter and acrolein.
Particulate matter is a mixture of small particles and liquid droplets that can lead to acute respiratory problems. But the high concentrations at Joint Base Balad came primarily from local sources such as traffic and dust storms, rather than the burn pit, according to the institute, which advises the government on health issues.
Acrolein is a liquid primarily used as a herbicide and in making other chemicals. Exposure can lead to eye, nose and throat irritation. Although the concentration exceeded precautionary levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency, it was still far below the concentration that led to nasal and lung damage in laboratory animals, the study said.
The Pentagon said it is continuing to study the potential hazards of burn pit exposure.
The VA opposed the legislation setting up the burn pit registry even though it has registries for those exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and for those who served during the Gulf War. The department did not oppose trying to track potential burn pit-related illnesses, just the mechanism proposed.
"We said it was not the best scientific approach for learning about long-term health outcomes and it really wasn't necessary for outreach because we have other programs in place," said Dr. Paul Ciminera, director of the VA's Post-9/11 Era Environmental Health Program.
As to whether the burn pits lead to health problems in soldiers, Ciminera cited the Institute of Medicine report. "We need to do further research to see what the long-term effects could be," he said.
Democratic Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, the lead Senate sponsor of the registry legislation, said he pushed ahead despite VA objections because the department seems to instinctively reject concerns that veterans are harmed by their surrounding environment. He cited Agent Orange as an example and said the VA initially resisted a link between the defoliant and the health of soldiers who served in Vietnam.
Many supporters of the registry, including Williams, are also participants in a class-action lawsuit filed against KBR Inc., which contracted with the government to operate several of the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some 50 lawsuits were consolidated into one case in a Maryland federal court. The plaintiffs are seeking damages for various injuries, emotional distress and fear of future disease. KBR is seeking to dismiss the lawsuits on grounds it deserves the same immunity that prevents the plaintiffs from suing the federal government.
"Every type of waste imaginable was and is burned in these pits," the plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.
Veterans groups were big backers of the registry, and an often-divided Congress overwhelmingly sides with them rather than the VA.
"You've been told since you're a little kid: 'Don't put a Styrofoam cup in a fire and breathe it because it's bad for you," said Ray Kelley, national legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "They do that all day long on these stops along with Lord knows what else, from human waste to all sorts of garbage. You're inhaling that on a daily basis. It can't be good for you."
___
Online:
Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/burnpits/index.asp
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-require-va-track-effects-burn-pits-085359722.html
nashville weather jason varitek andrew breitbart dead sheriff joe arpaio limbaugh aaron smith wilt chamberlain
Technology kills jobs for middle class | TribLIVE
By The Associated Press
Published: Saturday, January 26, 2013, 12:01?a.m.
Updated 13 hours ago
NEW YORK ? Five years after the start of the Great Recession, the toll is terrifyingly clear: Millions of middle-class jobs have been lost in developed countries the world over.
And the situation is even worse than it appears.
Most of the jobs will never return, and millions more are likely to vanish as well, say experts who study the labor market. What?s more, these jobs aren?t just being lost to China and other developing countries, and they aren?t just factory work. Increasingly, jobs are disappearing in the service sector, home to two-thirds of all workers.
They?re being obliterated by technology.
Year after year, the software that runs computers and an array of other machines and devices becomes more sophisticated and powerful and capable of doing more efficiently tasks that humans have always done. For decades, science fiction warned of a future when we would be architects of our own obsolescence, replaced by our machines; an Associated Press analysis finds that the future has arrived.
?The jobs that are going away aren?t coming back,? says Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at the Center for Digital Business at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of ?Race Against the Machine.? ??I have never seen a period where computers demonstrated as many skills and abilities as they have over the past seven years.?
The global economy is being reshaped by machines that generate and analyze vast amounts of data; by devices such as smartphones and tablet computers that let people work just about anywhere; by smarter, nimbler robots; and by services that let businesses rent computing power when they need it, instead of installing expensive equipment and hiring IT staffs to run it. Whole employment categories, from secretaries to travel agents, are starting to disappear.
?There?s no sector of the economy that?s going to get a pass,? says Martin Ford, who runs a software company and wrote ?The Lights in the Tunnel,? a book predicting widespread job losses. ?It?s everywhere.?
The numbers startle labor economists. In the United States, half the 7.5 million jobs lost during the Great Recession were in industries that pay middle-class wages, ranging from $38,000 to $68,000. But only 2 percent of the 3.5 million jobs gained since the recession ended in June 2009 are in midpay industries. Nearly 70 percent are in low-pay industries, 29 percent in industries that pay well.
In the 17 European countries that use the euro as their currency, the numbers are worse. Almost 4.3 million low-pay jobs have been gained since mid-2009, but the loss of midpay jobs has never stopped. A total of 7.6 million disappeared from January 2008 through last June.
Experts warn that this ?hollowing out? of the middle-class workforce is far from over. They predict the loss of millions more jobs as technology becomes even more sophisticated and reaches deeper into our lives. Maarten Goos, an economist at the University of Leuven in Belgium, says Europe could double its middle-class job losses.
Some occupations are beneficiaries of the march of technology, such as software engineers and app designers for smartphones and tablet computers. Overall, though, technology is eliminating far more jobs than it is creating.
To understand the impact technology is having on middle-class jobs in developed countries, the AP analyzed employment data from 20 countries; tracked changes in hiring by industry, pay and task; compared job losses and gains during recessions and expansions over the past four decades; and interviewed economists, technology experts, robot manufacturers, software developers, entrepreneurs and people in the labor force who ranged from CEOs to the unemployed.
The AP?s key findings:
? For more than three decades, technology has reduced the number of jobs in manufacturing. Robots and other machines controlled by computer programs work faster and make fewer mistakes than humans. Now, that same efficiency is being unleashed in the service economy, which employs more than two-thirds of the workforce in developed countries. Technology is eliminating jobs in office buildings, retail establishments and other businesses consumers deal with every day.
? Technology is being adopted by every kind of organization that employs people. It?s replacing workers in large corporations and small businesses, established companies and start-ups. It?s being used by schools, colleges and universities; hospitals and other medical facilities; nonprofit organizations and the military.
? The most vulnerable workers are doing repetitive tasks that programmers can write software for ? an accountant checking a list of numbers, an office manager filing forms, a paralegal reviewing documents for key words to help in a case. As software becomes even more sophisticated, victims are expected to include those who juggle tasks, such as supervisors and managers ? workers who thought they were protected by a college degree.
? Thanks to technology, companies in the Standard & Poor?s 500 stock index reported one-third more profit the past year than they earned the year before the Great Recession. They?ve also expanded their businesses, but total employment, at 21.1 million, has declined by a half-million.
? Start-ups account for much of the job growth in developed economies, but software is allowing entrepreneurs to launch businesses with a third fewer employees than in the 1990s. There is less need for administrative support and back-office jobs that handle accounting, payroll and benefits.
? It?s becoming a self-serve world. Instead of relying on someone else in the workplace or our personal lives, we use technology to do tasks ourselves. Some find this frustrating; others like the feeling of control. Either way, this trend will only grow as software permeates our lives.
? Technology is replacing workers in developed countries regardless of their politics, policies and laws. Union rules and labor laws may slow the dismissal of employees, but no country is attempting to prohibit organizations from using technology that allows them to operate more efficiently ? and with fewer employees.
Technological innovations have been throwing people out of jobs for centuries. But they eventually created more work, and greater wealth, than they destroyed. Ford, the author and software engineer, thinks there is reason to believe that this time will be different. He sees virtually no end to the inroads of computers into the workplace. Eventually, he says, software will threaten the livelihoods of doctors, lawyers and other highly skilled professionals.
Many economists are encouraged by history and think the gains eventually will outweigh the losses. But even they have doubts.
?What?s different this time is that digital technologies show up in every corner of the economy,? McAfee says.
Peter Lindert, an economist at the University of California, Davis, says the computer is more destructive than innovations in the Industrial Revolution because the pace at which it is upending industries makes it hard for people to adapt.
Occupations that provided middle-class lifestyles for generations can disappear in a few years. Utility meter readers are just one example. As power companies began installing so-called smart readers outside homes, the number of meter readers in the United States plunged from 56,000 in 2001 to 36,000 in 2010, according to the Labor Department.
In 10 years? That number is expected to be zero.
You must be signed in to add comments
To comment, click the Sign in or sign up at the very top of this page.
There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.Source: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/3351101-74/jobs-technology-software
turkey brine Imessage Not Working mc hammer pecan pie recipe Hector Camacho Jill Kelly McKayla Maroney
Saturday, 26 January 2013
RI gay marriage bill faces uncertain future
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? Legislation that would make Rhode Island the 10th state to allow gays and lesbians to marry still faces an uncertain future despite being overwhelmingly approved by the state House on Thursday night.
It could be weeks or even months before the Senate takes up the bill that would make the Ocean State the last in New England to recognize same-sex marriage, but supporters still celebrated the House vote.
Ken Fish, a gay man from Warwick, showed up at the Statehouse hours before the vote to ensure he got a seat in the crowded viewing gallery.
"I wanted to be here to see it," said Fish, 70, "Go back 10 years, even five years, and I wasn't sure we'd ever get here. We're not done yet, but this is a big one."
While the House has a gay marriage champion in Speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed opposes the legislation.
The 51-19 House vote came after an often emotional debate that touched on civil rights, religion and the nature of marriage.
"This has been a long journey," Fox said after the vote. Fox supported same-sex legislation when it was first introduced in 1997. "Today is a great day. Today ... we stand for equality, we stand for justice."
Nine states and the District of Columbia now allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who supports gay marriage, urged quick action on the bill in the Senate. The governor, an independent, argues gay marriage is an issue of civil rights and the state's quality of life, and said some people may choose other New England states over the Ocean State because of its stance on marriage.
"Now that the House has swiftly acted, I urge Senate leadership to 'call the roll' ? for our economy, for our gay and lesbian friends and neighbors, and for history," he said in a statement.
Advocacy groups on both sides of the issue will now turn their attention to the 38-member Senate, which has never voted on gay marriage legislation.
Chris Plante, director of the state chapter of the National Institute for Marriage, said he's optimistic senators will vote to preserve the state's current marriage laws. He said leaders like Fox and Chafee don't reflect public sentiment.
"Rhode Islanders care about marriage, and they don't want to see it redefined," he said.
Some opponents have suggested placing gay marriage on the ballot as a referendum, but the idea is a nonstarter with Fox and Chafee.
A handful of lawmakers rose during Thursday's debate to criticize gay marriage as a dangerous social experiment. Rep. Arthur Corvese, D-North Providence, warned lawmakers that same-sex marriage was an "irrevocable societal game-changer" that would redefine "the fundamental building block of our community" and could lead to the legalization of polygamy or plural marriages.
"Truth must not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness," he said. "Is this the vision you want for Rhode Island's future? Is this the future you want for America?"
Supporters in Rhode Island are hoping to build on national momentum after votes to approve gay marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, voters rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have prohibited gay marriage, the first time such a ballot question has failed in the United States.
Lawmakers who argued in favor of allowing gays to marry warned their colleagues they could wind up on the wrong side of history if they cast a no vote.
"Your grandchildren someday will ask you... 'How did you vote on marriage equality?'" said Rep. John Edwards, D-Tiverton. "Hopefully you'll be able to say the right thing."
Two years ago, Fox dropped gay marriage legislation after he concluded the bill would not pass the Senate. Instead, lawmakers passed civil unions for same-sex couples. But there has been little interest in the state. In the year since civil unions were first offered, only 68 couples obtained civil union licenses.
Last year, Chafee signed an executive order recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ri-gay-marriage-bill-faces-uncertain-future-072514044.html
quentin tarantino jessica chastain jessica chastain hugh jackman Amy Poehler Australian Open Girls Hbo
Hackers take over sentencing commission website
This screen shot shows the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission after it was hijacked by the hacker-activist group Anonymous, early Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide. The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed." (AP Photo)
This screen shot shows the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission after it was hijacked by the hacker-activist group Anonymous, early Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide. The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed." (AP Photo)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide.
The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."
The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.
Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.
Associated Presskentucky derby beltane capitals john edwards conocophillips octomom dan savage
????????? ??? WoT - ????? ???????????? ?????????? ...
??????? ? ???????????
[#10340]
? ??? ??? ???? ??? ????????? ???? ????.
???????? ??????
