The sky is blue! Only when it's not gray. Or purple. Or red. Or orange. The clouds are white! Only when they're not gray. Or even darker than that. Basically, the clouds and sky can be anything. But can the sky be a creamsicle orange bubbly thing that looks like we're on an alien planet? Apparently so.
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Insects are pretty low on the food chain, but there are some bugs that turn the tables, making meals out of other animals like fish and amphibians.
Scientists have captured video footage of a ferocious water bug ambushing a small fish and eating it from the inside out.
The unlikely predator, Lethocerus patruelis, is the largest European water insect, measuring more than 3 inches long (8 centimeters) in adulthood. It belongs to the Belostomatidae family of insects, which are commonly called electric light bugs or toe-biters. Their bite is considered one of the most painful to humans, but it doesn't have any harmful medical effects.
These bugs are big enough to capture and devour small crustaceans, fish and amphibians. There have even been some reports of the insects eating turtles and snakes. When they attack, the aquatic bugs inject caustic digestive saliva into their prey, liquefying their meal from the inside before they suck out the contents.
Lethocerus patruelis is found throughout the Balkan Peninsula, Anatolia, and parts of the Middle East. The researchers captured the video while studying the male reproductive system of the species. Their findings were published in the journal ZooKeys.
Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/giant-water-bug-stalks-devours-fish-164551081.html
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Former Director General of Al Jazeera Wadah Khanfar joined me Monday for a wide-ranging conversation on the ongoing violence in Egypt, slamming the military's "horrific" crackdown on civilians and accusing the United States of hypocrisy, predicting both civil war in Egypt and the "collapse of the entire region" if there is no real U.S. intervention against military violence there.
Khanfar, whose HuffPost blog post last week focused on the Egyptian military's role in dragging the country closer to a civil war, said the unprecedented amount of violence the military has carried out against the people in recent days marks "a beginning of a new history where people will give up on democracy and will turn to defend themselves through violence."
Throughout the interview, Khanfar repeatedly used the word "coup," calling the recent images of civilians harmed by military "horrific" and saying that "the Arab world did not sleep [two nights ago] watching live the shooting and killing by the military of people who were not armed."
Khanfar, co-founder of the Sharq Forum and one of the most widely-respected journalists in the Arab world, predicted the situation in Egypt will have major consequences in an already volatile region.
"If this coup continues in Egypt, then we are not only in front of a dictatorship, a military dictatorship, but we are facing the collapse of the entire region," he said. "No government, no international power will be able to predict or even imagine what kind of consequences we are going to see in this region."
Khanfar said that Egyptian minister of defense Lt. General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi reminded him of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi by invoking the Bush administration's favorite phrase to frame Egyptian civilians as terrorist and thus justify violence against them.
"The [phrase] 'War on Terrorism' became very useful for our dictators," Khanfar said. "Today Sisi is imitating Muammar Gaddafi, who used the war on terrorism to put down people and put them in jail."
Ultimately, Khanfar blames the United States government for "putting security above freedom" and failing to stand up to restore democracy in Egypt. He said that Egyptian people see the US as unwilling to "call things as they are" and will ultimately hold America accountable if the violence persists.
"If the Americans, at this stage, do not take a bold stance against this coup and demand immediate restoration of the democratic process, I do believe the people in this region will put this burden of the collapse of democracy on American shoulders as well," he said. "If the Americans do not call this a coup, it will be seen as hypocrisy and another act to suppress the demands of the public in this part of the world."
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/wadah-khanfar-blasts-egyp_n_3671948.html
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Your Top Plays for Today: AP's Sports Guide
--MLB MAY SUSPEND A-ROD UNDER LABOR RULES INSTEAD OF DRUG RAP
Major League Baseball officials consider penalizing New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez under the sport's labor regulations rather than normal doping laws, preventing him playing while under appeal.
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268750
--FERRARI REBUKES ALONSO OVER CRITICISM OF CAR
Ferrari chiefs have rebuked driver Fernando Alonso for complaining publicly about the car following the F1 Hungarian GP
http://apne.ws/1c7bgSV
--ECUADOR STRIKER BENITEZ DIES SUDDENLY
Ecuador striker Christian Benitez has died at age 27, one day after playing in a match for Qatari club El Jaish.
http://apne.ws/1aT2apN
--GAY THREAT TO WINTER OLYMPICS
Gay groups are threatening to promote a boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Russia over their opposition to the country's laws.
http://apne.ws/1chwxYA
--RAYS BEAT RED SOX TO RECLAIM LEAD IN AL EAST
Tampa Bay pitcher David Price puts in a dominant performance to steer Rays to victory over Red Sox, reclaiming lead in AL East
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268752
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-plays-today-070246380.html
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HONG KONG (AP) ? It was shot in single takes with amateur actors, hobbyist directors and about $650 ? mainly to pay for a room in the same Hong Kong hotel that briefly housed Edward Snowden.
But the short YouTube film some bill as the first movie about the National Security Agency leaker is a source of pride for the friends who made it, even as they acknowledge its limitations.
"Verax" gained much popularity at first, having been released just two days after Snowden left Hong Kong for Moscow, where he remains, but praise of the film has given way to criticism, with many viewers berating the four directors for amateur work and bad casting.
The five-minute film is filled with Hong Kong scenery and melodramatic music and stars Andrew Cromeek, an American school teacher in Hong Kong with an uncanny resemblance to Snowden.
Cromeek is unfazed by the critics, noting none of the actors is a professional and that they didn't think the mere YouTube video would gain so much attention in the first place.
"I think the way it was shot was quite cool," he said. "We are all amateur actors. We all had one take. It was kind of like, shoot, go, OK, done. So it's fine. It's completely OK if people are like, 'It's the worst acting in the world.' It's totally fine with me."
Jeff Floro said he and the other directors, Edwin Lee, Shawn Tse and Marcus Tsui, had only wanted to hone their guerrilla filmmaking style and produce something that was relevant to Hong Kong at that time. Floro himself works in finance by day, and creates movies as a hobby.
Given the fact that little of Snowden was known at that time, the directors agreed to focus the film's attention on the relationships between different groups and agencies in Hong Kong.
They played with different ideas, "but in the end we felt like the tension is just there as it is, and we could just let it go through those circles and not actually highlight too much of Edward Snowden, considering we didn't have that much information about him," Floro said.
Money wasn't a concern of the filmmakers, who spent about 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$645) to make the film, most used to book a room at the Mira Hotel where Snowden stayed part of the time he was in Hong Kong.
"I think it was more about love of filmmaking, and we just thought it was relevant to Hong Kong," Floro said. "If we had wanted to cash it out, I think would have taken more time to really like, I guess put something longer together. And really like, try to pitch it, sell it in that way."
They plans to take "Verax" to film festivals and have been open about shooting a sequel.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/friends-proud-amateur-film-snowdens-hk-stay-084554109.html
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Radio and TV personality David "Kidd" Kraddick, the high-octane host of the "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" show heard on dozens of U.S. radio stations in national syndication, has died at a charity golf event near New Orleans, a publicist said. Kraddick was 53.
The Texas-based radio host whose program is syndicated by YEA Networks, died at his Kidd's Kids charity function in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna on Saturday, said publicist Ladd Biro in releasing a statement on behalf of YEA Networks.
"He died doing what he loved," said Biro, of the public relations firm Champion Management, speaking by telephone with AP early Sunday. He said he had no further details on the death.
The "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" show is heard on more than 75 Top 40 and Hot AC radio stations and is a leader among most-listened-to contemporary morning programs, Biro noted. He added the program is also transmitted globally on American Forces Radio Network. The show's cast is also seen weeknights on the nationally syndicated TV show "Dish Nation," he added.
"All of us with YEA Networks and the "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" crew are heartbroken over the loss of our dear friend and leader," the network statement said. "Kidd devoted his life to making people smile every morning, and for 21 years his foundation has been dedicated to bringing joy to thousands of chronically and terminally ill children."
The statement said the cause of death would be released "at the appropriate time." Many fans of the show posted condolences and messages of mourning on a Facebook page devoted to the show. One Texas radio station ran photographs on its website of Kraddick.
"Oh Man, I just heard Kidd Kraddick died! He's my childhood dj. What a sad day. His poor family. He was always nice 2 me from the beginning," tweeted singer Kelly Clarkson.
Richie Tomblin, the head golf professional at the Timberlane Country Club Saturday, described Kraddick as looking ill when he showed up.
"He came out and he borrowed my golf clubs and went out to the driving range," Tomblin told AP when contacted by phone. "It's kind of a freaky situation. He came out. He practiced a little bit. He hit the ball at the first tee and wasn't feeling good and after that I didn't see him."
Tomblin said the event with hundreds of amateur golfers taking part went on without Kraddick present. He added he only found out afterward about the death and was still shaken and trying to come to grips with it.
"I'm still trying to figure it out. I really don't know what happened. Everyone keeps texting me asking, 'What's going on?' I really don't know," said Tomblin, adding he was even reluctant to touch the set of clubs Kraddick had borrowed earlier in the day.
Source: http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/07/radio_personality_david_kidd_k.html
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One of the few things worth talking about out of New York Jets training camp is the quarterback controversy. Will it be Mark Sanchez or Geno Smith?
In past years, head coach Rex Ryan has been reluctant to bench Mark Sanchez, and it seemed Ryan always made the decision. But with the addition of new GM John Idzik, he may not be making the decision alone.
Fans are calling for the rookie Geno Smith to start on opening day. He's young and exciting, two things the Jets have been lacking the last few years.
And with season expectations low, what do the Jets have to lose by starting a rookie quarterback?
However, one fan thinks otherwise.
Schraged doesn't think the Jets have much talent around the QB position so he would rather Smith gain experience on the bench.
"Whomever the starting QB is, the coaching staff will be putting them out there with no weapons, an O line that under performs and a running game that is with the addition of Chris Ivory, questionable at best... The best option may be to put Smith on the Bench and let him learn as much as he can in the film room and carrying a clipboard."
Do you agree with Schraged or do you think the Jets should start the rookie and see what happens? Sound off by leaving a comment below!
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A ten-year-old street vendor who was reduced to tears by a bullying official has melted the hearts of Mexicans after his humiliation appeared on social media.
Manuel Diaz Hernandez was set upon as he sold sweets, cough drops and cigarettes from a wicker basket trying to earn money to buy his own school supplies.
The video shows poor sandal-clad Tzotzil being confronted by a city inspector in Villahermosa, the capital of the Gulf coast state of Tabasco.
The official, identified as Juan Diego Lopez, is seen approaching the boy and taking several packets of cigarettes from the basket before forcing
Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article3827258.ece
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Source: http://www.facebook.com/wellandtribune/posts/10151604560968871
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The USTA today announced that Charles ?Parker? Smith of Tewksbury and 32 young wheelchair athletes will be participating in the 2013 USTA-ITF International Junior Wheelchair Tennis Camp in Mission Viejo, Calif., on July 28 to Aug. 2.
The camp will take place at Marguerite Tennis Pavilion and is for youth ages 12-18, who live with a permanent disabling condition and use a wheelchair when playing sports including tennis.
This year?s camp will include players from 10 different states and six different countries ? Argentina, Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. The camp is geared towards fun and camaraderie, while developing tennis skills in these young athletes.
Each day of camp consists of morning wheelchair tennis clinics and in-depth tennis instruction. Afternoon sessions include additional instruction, as well as an ITF-ranking wheelchair tennis tournament. Brad Parks, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and founder of wheelchair tennis, will be speaking to the campers on Tuesday, July 30. Campers also will receive world-class instruction from David Wagner, a three-time Paralympic gold medalist and US Open champion, as well as from?Dan James, the USTA?s National Head Coach and National Manager of Wheelchair Tennis, Jason Harnett, a USTA Wheelchair Tennis Assistant National Coach, and other esteemed wheelchair tennis coaches. Off-court activities for campers include a trip to Universal Studios.?
?We are thrilled and proud to hold this wheelchair tennis camp for these young athletes who want to develop their games,? said James. ?These athletes, some of whom are playing in this country for the first time, are being afforded a unique opportunity to play the sport they enjoy and forge relationships with other young people who share a similar lifestyle. We hope this camp will impact the growth of these young players for years to come.?
The clinic is sponsored by the USTA, the ITF, the Johan Cruyff Foundation, and the City of Mission Viejo, which is providing the local tennis courts.
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level, from local communities to the highest level of the professional game.?A not-for-profit organization with more than 770,000 members, it invests 100 percent of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking nine summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The USTA?s national charitable foundation, USTA Serves, provides grants and scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities. For more information on the USTA, log on to www.usta.com, ?like? the official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.
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Since their appearance in the middle of the 19th century, Italian organized crime and criminal organizations have infiltrated the social and economic life of many regions only in Southern Italy, the most notorious of which being the Sicilian Mafia, which would later expand into some foreign countries including the United States.
There are six known mafia organizations in Italy: Cosa Nostra of Sicily, 'Ndrangheta of Calabria and Camorra of Naples, are rather old: they started to develop between 1500 and 1800. Recently, two new organizations, Stidda and Sacra Corona Unita of Puglia have appeared.
Based primarily in Sicily, the Sicilian Mafia formed in the mid-19th century by clans which sprang out of groups of bandits; these groups gained local power and influence.[citation needed] In Sicily, the word Mafia tends to mean "manly" and a Mafioso considers himself a "Man of Honor." However, the organization is known as "Cosa Nostra" -- Our Thing?or Our Affair. The Sicilian Mafia originally engaged in such lower-level activities as extortion, cattle theft and, upon Sicily becoming part of a democratic Italy, election slugging in addition to other kinds of relatively low-level theft and fraud.[citation needed]
In the 1950s, Sicily experienced a massive building boom. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Sicilian Mafia gained control of the building contracts and made millions of dollars.[citation needed] It participated in the growing business of large-scale heroin trafficking, both in Italy and Europe and in US-connected trafficking; a famous example of this are the French Connection smuggling with Corsican criminals and the Italian-American Mafia.
Today, the Sicilian Mafia has evolved into an international organized crime group. The Sicilian Mafia specializes in heroin trafficking, political corruption and military arms trafficking and is the most powerful and most active Italian Organized Crime Group in the United States with estimates of more than 2,500 Sicilian Mafia affiliates located there.[3] The Sicilian Mafia is also known to engage in arson, frauds, counterfeiting, and other racketeering crimes. It is estimated to have 3,500-4,000 core members with 100 clans, with around 50 in the city of Palermo alone[4]
The Sicilian Mafia has had influence in 'legitimate' power, particularly under the corrupt Christian Democratic governments from the 50's-early 90's. It has had influence with lawyers, financiers, and professionals; also it has had power and resources by bribing or pressuring politicians, judges and administrators. It has less of these now than previously on the heels of the Maxi-Trials, the campaign by magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino and other actions against corrupt politicians and judges; however it retains some influence.
The Sicilian Mafia became infamous for aggressive assaults on Italian law enforcement officials during the reign of Toto Riina. In Sicily the term "Excellent Cadaver" is used to distinguish the assassination of prominent government officials from the common criminals and ordinary citizens killed by the Mafia. Some of their high ranking victims include police commissioners, mayors, judges, police colonels and generals, and Parliament members.
On May 23, 1992, the Sicilian Mafia struck Italian law enforcement. At approximately 6:00 p.m., Italian Magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three police body guards were killed by a massive bomb. Falcone, Director of Prosecutions (roughly, District Attorney) and for the court of Palermo and head of the special anti-Mafia investigative squad, had become the organization's most formidable enemy. His team was moving to prepare cases against most of the Mafia leadership. The bomb made a crater 30 feet in diameter in the road Falcone's caravan was traveling.
This became known as the Capaci Massacre. Less than two months later, on July 19, 1992, the Mafia struck Falcone's replacement, Judge Paolo Borsellino, also in Palermo, Sicily. Borsellino and five bodyguards were killed outside the apartment of Borsellino's mother when a car packed with explosives was detonated by remote control as the judge approached the front door of his mother's apartment.
In 1993 the authorities arrested Salvatore "Tot?" Riina, believed at the time to be the Capo di tutti capi and responsible directly or indirectly for scores if not hundreds of killings, after years of investigation which some believe was delayed by Mafia influence within the police and Carabinieri. After Riina's arrest control of the organization fell to Bernardo Provenzano who had come to reject Riina's strategy of war against the authorities in favor of a strategy of bribery, corruption and influence-peddling. As a consequence the rate of Mafia killings fell sharply but Mafia influence not only in the international drug and white slavery (prostitution) trade but locally in construction and public contracts in Sicily continued. Provenzano was himself captured in 2006 after being wanted for 43 years.
La Stidda (Sicilian, star) is the name given to the Sicilian organization started by criminals Giuseppe Croce Benvento and Salvatore Calafato, both of Palmi di Montechiaro, Agrigento province. The Stidda's power bases are centered in the cities of Gela and Favara, Caltanissetta and Agrigento provinces. The organization's groups and activities have flourished in the cities of Agrigento, Catania, Siracusa and Enna in the provinces of the same name, Niscemi and Riesi of Caltanissetta province and Vittoria of Ragusa province, located mainly on the Southern and Eastern coasts of Sicily.
The Stidda has extended its power and influence into the mainland Italy provinces of Milano, Genova and Torino. The members of the organization are called stiddari in Caltanissetta province and stiddaroli in Agrigento province. Stidda members can be identified and sometimes introduced to each other by a tattoo of five greenish marks arranged in a circle, forming a star called "i punti della malavita" or "the points of the criminal life."
The Cosa Nostra wars of the late 1970s and early 1980s that brought the Corleonesi Clan and its vicious and ruthless leaders Luciano Leggio, Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano sometimes referred to as "Cosa Nuova" into power caused disorganization and disenchantment inside the traditional Cosa Nostra power base and values system, leaving the growing Stidda organization to counter Cosa Nostra's power, influence and expansion in Southern and Eastern Sicily. The Stidda membership was reinforced by Cosa Nostra men of honor such as those loyal to slain Capo Giuseppe DiCristina of Riesi who had defected from Cosa Nostra's ranks due to the bloodthirsty reign of the Corleonesi clan.
The organization also looked to enlarge its membership by absorbing local thugs and criminals (picciotti) who were at the margins of organized crime to gain more power and credibility in the Italian underworld. From 1978 to 1990, former Corleonesi clan leader and pretender to the Cosa Nostra's "Capo di Tutti Capi" title, Toto Riina, waged a war within Cosa Nostra and against the Stidda spreading death and terror among mafiosi and the public in his quest for a crime dictatorship, leaving over 500 in Cosa Nostra and over 1000 in La Stidda dead, including Stidda Capos Calogero Lauria and Vincenzo Spina.
With the 1993 capture and imprisonment of Toto Riina, along with the currently jailed Bernardo Provenzano's, "pax mafia," following a new, less violent and low key approach to criminal activities the Stidda has gained power, influence and credibility among the longer established criminal organizations within Italy and around the world, making itself an underworld player in the United States, Canada and Germany. The Stidda is sometimes called the "Fifth Mafia" in the Italian media and press.
The Camorra first appeared in Cagliari, the southernmost port of Sardinia during the Middle Ages, and was carried during the mid-16th century to Naples, in the Italian Peninsula by Sardinian mercenaries, making it the oldest mafia in Italy, even predating the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. It started as a military group constisting of vigilantes belonging to Sardinia, a sort of policemen who respected the law of Tuscany and later Spain, that in 16th century ruled Naples. Once released, these members formed "clans" in the cities and continued to grow in power. The Camorra made its fortune in reconstruction after a powerful earthquake ravaged the Campania region in 1980. The Camorra is considered the second largest IOC group with over 200 clans and approximately 7,000 members.[5]
The Camorra specializes in cigarette smuggling and receives payoffs from other criminal groups for any cigarette traffic through Italy. In the 1970s, the Sicilian Mafia convinced the Camorra to convert the cigarette smuggling routes into drug smuggling routes with the Sicilian Mafia's assistance but not all Camorra leaders agreed. This brought about the Camorra Wars between two factions and almost 400 men were murdered. Those opposed to drug trafficking lost the war.
It is believed that nearly 200 Camorra affiliates reside in the United States. Many came to the USA during the Camorra Wars ever since the 19th century, as proved by an old organization best known as Black Hand. The Camorra conducts money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption, and counterfeiting. Some believe it is now the strongest mafia in Italy.
Main article: 'NdranghetaDerived from the Greek word andragath?a meaning courage or loyalty, the 'Ndrangheta formed in the 1850s. The 'Ndrangheta consists of 160 cells and approximately 6,000 members, world-wide some estimate there to be as many as 10,000 core members[6] and specializes in kidnapping and political corruption. The 'Ndrangheta cells are loosely connected family groups based on blood relationships and marriages. 'Ndrangheta presence in the United States is estimated between 100 and 200 members and associates. The majority of that presence is in New York and Florida. The 'Ndrangheta is also known to engage in cocaine (controlling up to 80% of that flowing through Europe)[7] and heroin trafficking, murder, bombings, counterfeiting, illegal gambling, frauds, thefts, labor racketeering, loansharking, illegal immigration, and kidnapping.
The Basilischi are a mafia organization founded in 1994 in Potenza. This organization has assumed a role for the control of illegal activities in the region. They are believed to be an independently run 'ndrina from the Rosarno Alliance involving 5 clans of in the provinces of Reggio Calabria & Gioia Tauro plain. Not a lot is known of them.
There is another belief that this group was created by local crime bosses and criminals with the help of the Pesce and Serraino 'Ndrangheta clans from Rosarno in the northern and western areas of the region of Calabria and so would more than likely be smuggling drugs and arms up Italy into the rest of Italy for these Clans.[citation needed]
Sacra Corona Unita, (SCU) or United Sacred Crown, is a Mafia-like criminal organization from Apulia (in Italian Puglia) region in Southern Italy, and is especially active in the areas of Brindisi and Lecce and not, as people tend to believe, in the region as a whole. The SCU was originally founded in the late 1970s as the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese (assest in Foggia) by Camorra member Raffaele Cutolo, who wanted to expand his operations into Puglia.
However a few years later with the downfall of Cutolo the organization became operating all on its own under the leadership of Giuseppe Rogoli. Under his leadership the SCU mixed Pugliese interests and opportunities with 'Ndrangheta and Camorra traditions. Originally preying on Puglia's substantial wine and olive oil industries, the group moved into fraud, gunrunning and drug trafficking and made alliances with international criminal organizations such as the Russian and Albanian mafias, Colombian drug cartels and Asian organizations. The Sacra Corona Unita consists of about 50 Clans with approximately 2,000 Core members[8] and specializes in smuggling cigarettes, drugs, arms, and people.
Very few SCU members have been identified in the United States, however there are some links to individuals in Illinois, Florida and possibly New York. The Sacra Corona Unita is also involved in money laundering, extortion and political corruption and collects payoffs from other criminal groups for landing rights on the southeast coast of Italy. This territory is a natural gateway for smuggling to and from post-Communist countries like Croatia, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
With the decreasing importance of the Adriatic corridor as a smuggling canal (thanks to the normalization of the Balkans area) and a series of successful police and judicial operations against it in recent years the Sacra Corona Unita has been considered, if not actually defeated, reduced to a fraction of its former power, which peaked around the mid-1990s. There is evidence that this group originated from the 'Ndrangheta but it is not know if this was a splinter group or a indirect formation with help from clans of the 'Ndrangheta.
Local Rivals
The internal difficulties of the SCU aided the birth of antagonistic criminal groups such as:
The Mala del Brenta, also known as the Mala del Piovese or Malavita del Brenta has been in operation throughout the Veneto region, across Northern Italy and into Croatia/Yugoslavia, Malta, Hungary and possibly Austria for the past twenty years.
According to Article 416-bis cp, introduced into Italy in 1982, the Malavita del Brenta falls into the category of mafia-type organization displaying all the characteristics described therein.[1] This is in spite of its origins in the Northern Italian region of the Veneto, and its North Italian membership base. Having originally spawned from the Southern Italian organized crime syndicates, who had operated and infiltrated the Veneto region during the 70's, their vision of unifying Veneto banditry into a mafia-style syndicate was first realised under the leadership of Felice "Angel Face" Maniero throughout the 1980s and 90's.
These original Sicilian mafiosi, controlled much of the mafia activity in the Veneto, throughout the 60's and 70's, and included most notably: Salvatore "Totuccio" Contorno, Gaetano Fidanzati, Antonino Duca and Gaetano & Salvatore Badalamenti and Giuseppe Madonia. Veneti malavitosi, or underworld figures and bandits, learned from these Sicilians the necessary means for organizing themselves and taking the reins of control from the successive two decades.
Often referred to as the fifth and smallest of the Mafia organizations across Italy, it operates under the sanction of the Corleonesi clan from Sicily and has strong links with other Cosa Nostra families, the 'Ndrangheta, Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita.
There is a small number of 'foreign' criminal organizations operating in Italy, such as Chinese Triads, Nigerian gangs and the Albanian gangs, of which the Albanians seem to be the most prominent. The Albanian gangs mainly operate in the more affluent northern parts of Italy. All these organizations operate mostly in prostitution under the permission and the control of the Mafia.
Those currently active in the United States are the Sicilian Mafia, Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia, 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia, and Sacra Corona Unita or "United Sacred Crown". The FBI refers to them as "Italian Organized Crime" (IOC).
The FBI estimates the size of the four IOC groups to be approximately 25,000 members and 250,000 affiliates worldwide. There are more than 3,000 members and affiliates in the United States scattered mostly throughout the major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest, California, and the South. However, their largest presence centers around Boston, New York, northern New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada, South America, Australia, and parts of Europe. These organizations are also known to collaborate with other international organized crime groups from all over the world.
There is a criminal organization in the French island of Corsica, known as the Unione Corse.
The major threat to American society posed by IOC groups centers around drug trafficking and money laundering. IOC groups have been involved in heroin trafficking for decades. Two major investigations which targeted IOC drug trafficking in the 1980s are known as the "French Connection" and "Pizza Connection." These and other investigations have documented their cooperation in drug trafficking with other major drug trafficking organizations. IOC groups are also involved in illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, frauds, counterfeiting, infiltration of legitimate businesses, murders, bombings, and weapons trafficking. Industry experts in Italy estimate that their worldwide criminal activity is worth more than $100 billion annually.
Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2013/07/26/Italian_police_swoop_on_Mafia_in_Rome/
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Stocks ended slightly higher on Wall Street Thursday as gains in energy and chemical companies pushed the market higher.?Even with plenty of earnings news from big companies, stocks have shuffled between minor gains and minor losses.
Trader Neil Catania, left, and Mark Muller, right, confer on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Good earnings from energy and chemical companies helped boost stocks Thursday.
Richard Drew/AP/File
EnlargeGains in energy and chemical companies helped nudge the stock?market higher Thursday.
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The modest move extends a pattern seen this week: Even with plenty of earnings news from big companies, the broader market has shuffled between minor gains and minor losses.
Cabot Oil & Gas and Range Resources reported revenue and earnings that trumped estimates, sending their?stocks?up 7 percent. Cabot climbed $4.85 to $76.56. Range Resources rose $5.34 to $81.39.
Facebook soared 30 percent after reporting earnings late Wednesday that easily beat analysts' forecasts thanks to higher revenue from ads on mobile devices. Facebook's?stock?gained $7.85 to $34.36.?
Nearly halfway through the second-quarter earnings season, the overall trend looks good, but not great, said Tyler Vernon, chief investment officer of Biltmore Capital in Princeton, N.J. "There have been some big disappointments, like Caterpillar yesterday, but we're seeing better and better numbers coming out."
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.31 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,690.25.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.37 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,555.61. The Dow was held back by Home Depot and Caterpillar, which warned Wednesday that its sales could sag.
The Nasdaq composite index gained 25.59 points, or 0.7 percent, to 3,605.19.
Analysts forecast that companies in the S&P 500 index will report earnings growth of 4.3 percent over the same period last year, according to S&P Capital IQ. At the start of July, the forecast was for growth of 2.8 percent. More than six out of every 10 companies have cleared analysts' earnings targets so far.
Improving profits should help push the S&P 500 index above 1,700 in the coming weeks, Vernon said.
D.R. Horton, the country's largest builder, and PulteGroup said orders for new houses jumped in the second quarter, but their results still fell short of what analysts had expected. PulteGroup also posted a 14 percent decline in profits
D.R. Horton dropped $1.82, or 9 percent, to $19.38. PulteGroup lost $1.90, or 10 percent, to $16.55, the biggest drop of any?stock?in the S&P 500.
"I think what you're seeing a bit of today is people questioning what higher mortgage rates mean for housing," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.
In the market for U.S. government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged from late Wednesday at 2.59 percent. Late last week, it was trading at 2.48 percent.
The 10-year yield acts as a benchmark rate for most mortgage loans. A sharp increase in the rate drives up mortgage costs and could slow down sales in the housing market.
It's still very low by historical standards, thanks in large part to the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program. The 10-year Treasury yield hit a recent low of 1.63 percent on May 3. By contrast, it was trading around 4 percent in the summer of 2008, shortly before the worst days of the financial crisis.
The Russell 2000 index of small-company?stocks?set another record high, gaining 10.35 points, or 1 percent, to 1,054.18. The Russell has trounced other indexes this year, gaining 24 percent versus 19 percent for the S&P 500 and the Dow.
Among other?stocks?making big moves:
? Las Vegas Sands, a major casino operator, fell 55 cents, or 1 percent, to $54.40 after it posted lower revenue and income than financial analysts had expected.
? Visa rose $7.86, or 4 percent, to $194.61. Visa returned to profitability in its third fiscal quarter and reported strong revenue growth as the company processed more transactions worldwide.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6wXtBPJceZA/Stocks-gain-slightly-on-energy-earnings
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Ahead of Vice President Joe Biden's maiden visit to India, a top US naval commander has said ties between the navies of the two countries have hit the "big time" as they are conducting coordinated operations.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan W Greenert characterised navy-to-navy ties as "solid and growing" and said bilateral wargames had progressed from "two ships going by doing flashing lights probably about a decade ago, to coordinated operations, carrier air wing and under sea".
"And that's when you hit the big time, when you can work with a partner under the water and ensure yourself, you're not going to run into each other, and we are at that level with the Indian Navy," Greenert told reporters in response to a question about the US re-balancing its strategy in Asia Pacific.
His comments came ahead of Biden's four-day visit to India starting Monday, July 22. Biden will hold meetings with the top leadership, including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Greenert, however, said the India-US Malabar naval exercise had been scaled down because of "issues" on both sides. He did not give details about the move.
"We had to de-scope it some, because of each of our issues but we've kept the exercise and we've kept it as high-end and complex," he said.
"It just may not run as long. So I'm comfortable at that level, and we try to work to the level that resonates with both our navies."
On ties between the US and Chinese navies, Greenert said, "I like the trend we're on right now and working toward and, in some cases, getting some tangible outcome of working together.
"We operated together a humanitarian assistance, disaster relief scenario, doing command-and-control together, doing the proper protocols at sea, and we agree, this needs to continue."
... contd.
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Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indiaus-naval-ties-have-hit-the-big-time-us-admiral/1144643/
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Brandon McDonald (D.C. United photo)
With a trade in the works, veteran center back Brandon McDonald flew to Utah from Washington on Monday and was ready to practice with Real Salt Lake. He just had to wait for the deal to go through.
On Wednesday morning, D.C. United made it official: The struggling club had dealt one of its most experienced players to MLS?s Western Conference leaders for two draft picks.
?Spiritually, I am still part of what is going on in D.C.,? he told the Insider in a phone conversation Wednesday night. ?It?s a family. It?s something you don?t get too often in your career. It was a special time.?
But with playing time dwindling the past two months, McDonald approached United Coach Ben Olsen and General Manager Dave Kasper?about exploring other options.
?We all knew I needed a fresh start,? he said. ?There was no bad blood. It was all good. I wanted to stay and fight it out. I didn?t want to leave something unfinished, but I wasn?t playing either. I wanted to go somewhere I would play.?
McDonald, a cornerstone of last season?s drive to the Eastern finals, had faltered in multiple matches in the spring and had an emotional meltdown at halftime of a loss at Columbus.
He plummeted on the depth chart, falling behind young backs Ethan White and Conor Shanosky, and did not accompany the squad to Seattle and Denver for the two most recent league matches.
Real Salt Lake expressed interest a few weeks ago, McDonald said. United was eager to dump his $235,000 salary ? fourth on the payroll behind Dwayne De Rosario, Chris Pontius and Dejan Jakovic ? and clear space for future moves. No MLS club would accept an out-of-form player at that rate, so United had to keep a portion of McDonald?s number on its books for the remainder of the season. United officials declined to reveal the financial breakdown.
McDonald will reunite with Real forward Robbie Findley ? they were teammates at the Sereno youth club in Arizona that also included former MLS players Rob Valentino and Michael Gavin.
McDonald admitted the inactivity with United has left him short on fitness. But with Real understaffed on the backline because of injuries, he said he is prepared to play if needed Saturday night against visiting Sporting Kansas City.
McDonald wanted to retain his No. 4 jersey, but Aaron Maund has it. The next preferences were 14 and 7, but those were taken. He considered 77, but that was retired?Andy Williams?s former number. ?He?s a legend around here!? McDonald said. So he chose No. 44.
United and RSL have already met in the regular season ? a 1-0 DCU victory in March at RFK Stadium ? but they could collide in the U.S. Open Cup final. (Both are semifinalists.) McDonald, however, is cup-tied to United after playing 27 minutes against Philadelphia in the round of 16.
?I?m going to miss D.C. ? my friends, the organization, the fans, who deserve better than what we gave them this season,? he said after two years, mostly as a starter, with United. ?This is a new beginning for me. I will help any way I can and try to help [RSL] win a championship.?
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iOS 7 continues Apple's long history of gesture-based controls, some system-wide like the new swipe up from the bottom bezel to open Control Center, and some app (or multi-app) specific, like the new swipe right from the left bezel to travel back to the list views in Mail or Messages. Gesture controls can be tricky, however. If not direct they can be hard to discover, if not consistent they can be hard to habituate, and if not carefully considered they can collide and conflict with each other, both system-wide and app specific.
Here's what Apple has to say about some of the gestures in iOS 7.
Just swipe up from any screen ? including the Lock screen ? to do things like switch to Airplane mode, turn Wi-Fi on or off, or adjust the brightness of your display. [...] Just swipe down. And get up to speed. [...] And with a swipe, you can go back or forward a page. [...] To quit an app, just swipe it up and out of preview. [...] With a swipe, you can capture what you want the way you want. [...]
And here's what Apple's shown off so far.
Apple also showed switching Camera modes by swiping between them, as well as previously existing gestures like swiping between days in the Calendar, images and videos in Photos, and there may be other gestures, both informational (peek) and navigational (change) that Apple hasn't yet shown off yet as well.
Like Notification Center, Control Center will colide with anything already using a swipe-up-from-the-bottom gesture. Hue, the app that controls Phillips' Hue lightbulbs, comes immediately to mind. In Hue, you currently swipe up to access controls for all the lights. That'll have to change, as will any other app that currently uses something similar.
Because the swipe-right gesture appears limited to certain apps, namely Mail and Messages, it won't collide with other apps already using that gesture. However, the way Apple is implementing the interface in iOS 7 in general, because of that gesture in Mail or Messages, could make other apps look odd. Especially ones that currently use the popular "hamburger button and basement sidebar" design (I'm looking at you Facebook, Google apps, etc.)
Even if iOS doesn't stomp all over them, if they look wrong, or simply feel wrong on iOS 7, they may be forced to change and become more Mail or Messages-like. (And that might not be a bad thing.)
The good news is that all of these are direct manipulations. The bad news is that they're not all consistent or symmetrical.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of gesture controls, direct manipulation and abstract commands. Direct manipulation is akin to interacting with a physical object. Tapping a virtual button works like tapping a real-world button. Touching and sliding a virtual panel works like touching and sliding a real-world panel. Turning a virtual page works like... you get the idea. There's a 1:1 relationship between action and result that, when well implemented, feels like you're doing it, not just triggering it. That's why they're more discoverable (you can often chance upon, and quickly come to understand them, through play), and more easily remembered. They also offer the potential to "peek" at information by only partially sliding a panel open or turning a page. However, the number of ways you can directly manipulate an interface element are inherently limited.
Abstract commands are when the gesture performed on the touchscreen has little or no relationship to the function it performs. There's no 1:1 relationship, and like a button you're ultimately watching rather than doing. Swiping on a screen, waiting, and then watching it change is an example of how simple yet visceral the difference can be. Yet, for things like games, tracing a pattern on the screen to cast a spell or invoke a special attack work wonderfully well. Abstract controls, however, because they're abstract and because they can be far more numerous than direct manipulation are nowhere nearly as discoverable (you almost always need to be told about them), and they require a lot of memorization.
There are hybrids as well. Multiple finger gestures add a level of abstraction to direct manipulation. An example would be swiping with one finger to move the content on screen, swiping with two fingers to move between screens, and swiping with three fingers to move between apps. Each one directly manipulates something, but you have to remember a modifier to control exactly which something you're manipulating.
As much as people like to joke about Apple hating buttons, and minimizing buttons on their devices, iOS has always had a lot of buttons. There's the hardware Home button, of course, which is always there, an escape hatch for every mainstream user that, with a single click, will always return them to a known state (the Home screen). Beyond that, iOS has and continues to use a plethora of software buttons (even if many of them are now being rendered more like text links in than the previous, simulated mechanical button style).
Yet iOS has also always made use of multitouch gestures. Indeed, one of the biggest attractions of the original iPhone was its implementation of swipe, pinch, flick, and other intuitive, direct manipulations. Abstract commands were also included early on, most famously swipe-to-delete.
With the iPad version of iOS, Apple introduced system-wide gesture navigation. With four fingers you could swipe sideways between apps, up to get to the fast app switcher, and pinch to get back to the Home screen. Consistent throughout the system, once familiar, they made moving around iOS faster and easier.Because the iPad navigation gestures came later, however, they collided with some of the gestures already implemented by developers. The classic joke became Fruit-Ninja-ing your way out of the game and into Mail.
Apple didn't, and hasn't yet brought them to the iPhone, ostensibly because 4-finger gestures would be prohibitive on the smaller screen, and no obvious alternative presented itself.
Notification Center, which brought edge-gestures to iOS, caused similar collision problems with apps that had already implemented a downward swipe for their own controls. (Some mitigation was possible thanks to an intercept that only presented the grabber for Notification Center on first swipe, requiring a second swipe to "confirm" and actually pull it down.)
Fast camera access in iOS 6 let you swipe up from the bottom to get to the Camera app. However, since it was limited to the Lock screen, Apple had full control of the experience.
All this to say that simple, direct manipulations tend to be robust and easy to remember and make a lot of sense on the system-level, while abstract gestures are fiddly, tough to remember, and make more sense as advanced shortcuts for power users and gamers.
Apple, not surprising, sticks almost entirely to direct manipulation for iOS and relegates abstract controls to accessibility, where quantity trumps all other concerns.
Where iOS 7 appears to be more problematic is in its consistency. Direct manipulations are more easily discovered, but in order for them to be habituated they need to be consistent. Notification Center is the perfect example. Any time, from anywhere, you can swipe down and what happens is exactly what you expect to happen - it appears.
Control Center should be the same. That it overlaps with fast camera access on the Lock screen is unfortunate and slightly awkward, but it shouldn't be hugely problematic. (The iOS 7 Lock screen has far bigger problems to fix right now anyway.)
The sideways gestures are where iOS 7 starts running into problems. First, because they're only implemented in specific apps, they require the user to remember which apps include them. Worse, because they're implemented inconsistently and asymmetrically across apps, they require the user to remember what they do in each app. That's a high cognitive burden.
For example, in Safari - and in Photos, Calendar, Weather, and other apps before it - swiping from left to right takes you back a screen in the sequence, and swiping right to left takes you forward. That's logical and symmetrical. Even Camera, where swiping changes modes, moves through the modes in sequence and remains consistent.
However, in Mail and Messages, swiping from left to right doesn't take you back through the sequence of messages, but up in the message hierarchy. You swipe back from message to message list to - in mail alone - message list box. Where it gets more challenging is swiping from right to left, because not only doesn't that take you forward through the sequence, it doesn't take you deeper into the hierarchy either. What it does do is switch from direct manipulation to quasi-abtract command, revealing a destructive action - delete. That's not only a massive cognitive change, but its asymmetrical (swiping different directions results in massively different behaviors), and its inconsistent with other apps.
Photos can have hierarchies with albums, Calendar days with months, so there's some overlap, but Apple's recognizing that hierarchies in Messages and Mail are far more important in real-world use cases than they are in other apps, and re-assigning the gesture. They're also keeping it simple by not, for example, leaving a one finger swipe to move through sequences of messages and using a two-finger swipe to move back to the hierarchy. That's understandable and, in a world filled with trade-offs, sensible.
Switching from direct manipulation to go back to abstract command to delete is less understandable and sensible, but more a reflection of a legacy control Apple's been using since iOS 1 (iPhone OS 1.0).
In a perfect world swiping from right to left from the edge would move you into whatever message your touching, while touching a message and holding would allow you to delete it, much like cards and tabs. Apple has used modal gestures before, for example an edit button that changes an upward movement from the general scroll gesture to a specific item re-arranging gesture. It adds complexity but also functionality. Detect if the gesture started at or near the edge, and if so make it navigation. If not, if it started on the meaty part of an item in a list, make it editorial. It will require learning, but not much.
As to fast Camera access on the Lock screen, having top, left, and bottom + bottom-offset gestures seems less well balanced that having top, left, bottom, and right gestures. Swiping one way to unlock and the other to enable fast actions, Camera now, who knows what else later, might be a workable trade off.
The most important thing is consistency. Unless and until a swipe takes you back in every app where there's something to go back to, it'll always be harder to remember and become habituated to. Unless and until a forward swipe does something in every app where there's a backward swipe, and there's something to forward to, likewise.
For gestures to really become intuitive and mainstream, they have to always be where they're expected, and always do as expected. And when compromises have to be made, they have to make sense under the circumstances.
iOS 7 is a great start, but it still feels a lot like a start.
Gestures are an incredibly rich, incredibly deep topic that's difficult to write about and far, far, far more difficult to design and develop. A lot of supremely talented people are working on implementing them, and things like pinch-to-zoom have shown, when done right, they can quickly become integral parts of mainstream computing.
iOS 7 gestures will ship with the rest of the update sometime this fall. In the meantime, let me know what you think - which gestures do you prefer, and how would you like to see them implemented?
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/YV23SAPEVJs/story01.htm
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Microsoft is reportedly preparing a massive Windows Blue update for 2014, while a potential GDR3 update might arrive later this year with support bigger, faster, higher-resolution devices.
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Windows Phone 8 (WP8) was a major improvement over the previous Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. It helped Microsoft boost its market share, especially due to Nokia's Windows Phone devices, but the company has yet to secure a significant foothold in the highly-competitive smartphone market. Windows Phone's market share is still in the low single digits, while Android and iOS only seem to soar.
WP8 brought support for key features such as microSD cards and multi-core processors, but Microsoft has not released any major update yet. The company finally released the changelog for its upcoming update, the General Distribution Release 2 (GDR2), but it revealed no major changes.
The GDR2 update will add improvements to Xbox Music, will bring an FM radio feature and will allow users to set a camera Lens as the default camera app, among other things. The update will also offer some stability improvements and minor changes, but nothing major so far.
According to The Verge, however, that's actually a good thing. Microsoft reportedly entered a "shut up and ship" mode, focusing more on a massive Windows Phone Blue update slated to launch in 2014, so that's why it hasn't delivered any significant changes yet.
"The future update, expected in early 2014, looks set to include a notification center, improved multitasking, and changes to built-in apps," The Verge reported. "We understand that Microsoft is considering back porting some of the 'Blue' features, including a rotation lock option, to a GDR3 update due later this year. Any ported features are said to support future hardware arriving later this year, and sometimes at the request of specific phone makers like Nokia."
Not a single Windows Phone 8 device currently available on the market packs a quad-core chipset, and none of them sports a "phablet"-like screen size. The GDR3 update, however, may change all that, as Microsoft is reportedly planning to extend support to 5- and 6-inch devices with 1080p displays and quad-core chipsets. This update is expected to arrive by the end of the year, but no exact release date is available yet.
The Windows Phone Blue update, meanwhile, will reportedly bring notable new features such as a notification center, better multitasking and changes to WP8 pre-installed apps. Some of those features may become available earlier as part of the rumored GDR3 update.
If Microsoft will finally support powerful, quad-core phablets by the end of the year it may see a significant boost in market share. High-end devices boast 1080p displays and quad-core processors such as the Snapdragon 600 and the latest Snapdragon 800, while Windows Phone 8 devices are still packing dual-core chipsets and lower-resolution displays. Windows Phone has a lot of catching up to do, but this may be the break it needs.?
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NEW YORK (AP) ? The baseball players' association says any suspensions resulting from the sport's latest drug investigation likely won't be served until next year if the discipline is challenged before an arbitrator.
Union head Michael Weiner expects Major League Baseball will notify the union of its plans for penalties in the next month, and the association will maintain any discipline should not be announced until after a grievance hearing, and then only if arbitrator Fredric Horowitz upholds a ban.
"We're going to have a discussion with them. That discussion will include whether or not names of suspended players will be announced publicly," Weiner said Tuesday during a meeting with the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Former MVPs Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun are among the more than a dozen players under investigation for ties to Biogenesis, a closed anti-aging clinic in Florida linked with the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs. MLB officials have been interviewing players, who have been represented by the union and their own lawyers.
A provision in baseball's drug agreement says discipline for first offenders can be announced before a hearing if the penalty results from an allegation that became public other than through MLB or a team. Miami New Times published allegations in January, but the union could argue that a penalty results from evidence baseball has gathered rather than the newspaper account.
After MLB and the union decide how to process grievances, hearings will be scheduled before Horowitz ? but not before September and possibly later. Each player is entitled to a separate hearing, and Weiner said the union wants Horowitz to hear all cases.
"When all the interviews are done, we will meet with the commissioner's office and we'll try to work something out," Weiner said. "Our players that deserve the suspensions, we'll try to we'll try to come up with a fair suspension. Our players that don't deserve suspensions, we will argue that they don't deserve a suspension. And I hope we have success. We may not have success on every single player, but I hope we have a fair amount of success."
MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred declined comment.
Weiner spoke from a wheelchair and said symptoms have increased in the last month from a brain tumor he was diagnosed with last summer. He currently can't move his right side or right arm and must use a wheelchair.
Weiner said the union will appoint a deputy executive director within a week or two. Continued...
Most of his talk was dominated by the drug investigation.
While most suspensions have been for positive tests since the joint drug agreement was reached in 2002, players also can be penalized for "just cause," based on other evidence.
"In theory, they could be suspended for five games or 500 games," Weiner said. "We could then choose to challenge or not, but the commissioner's office is not bound by the 50-100-life scale."
If multiple players are disciplined, management and the union would have to decide the order of the grievance hearings.
"They've got to prove all those cases. I like Dan Halem, a lot, but he's going to be running around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off," Weiner said, referring to an MLB senior vice president. "If that's the circumstance, we'll just have to schedule them and get them done as quickly as we reasonably can. And if we have the number that you suggest, it's going to take a while."
Weiner said the union has taken the position that players can't be penalized for refusing to answer MLB's questions in the investigation. Arbitrator Raymond Goetz overturned Bowie Kuhn's suspension of Ferguson Jenkins in 1980, ruling the pitcher couldn't be penalized for refusing to answer questions while criminal charges were pending in Canada.
"Obviously we have looked at Jenkins in connection with this matter and whether or not it would apply, and our conclusion is that it clearly does," Weiner said.
Speaking before Weiner in a separate session, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig repeated his call to toughen penalties in the drug agreement for 2014.
"We've heard from a lot of players that increased penalties are called for. We've heard from a lot of other players that don't think increased penalties are called for," Weiner said. "And I imagine we will work it out at or near in early December and then have a negotiation with them over that very subject."
Source: http://delcotimes.com/articles/2013/07/17/sports/doc51e66229cee7b871948855.txt
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Written on Tue, 07/16/2013 - 6:37am
By Shiri Gupta
Below are the three companies in the Construction Materials industry with the lowest Debt-to-Capital ratios. The debt-to-capital ratio is an important measure of how a company is financing its operations along with some insight into its financial strength, relative to other companies in its industry.
United States Lime & Minerals ranks lowest with a a Debt-to-Capital ratio of 17.8%. Vulcan Materials is next with a a Debt-to-Capital ratio of 41.8%. Martin Marietta Materials ranks third lowest with a a Debt-to-Capital ratio of 43.3%.
Eagle Materials follows with a a Debt-to-Capital ratio of 43.7%, and Texas Industries rounds out the bottom five with a a Debt-to-Capital ratio of 48.7%.
SmarTrend recommended that subscribers consider buying shares of United States Lime & Minerals on June 19th, 2013 as our technology indicated a new Uptrend was in progress when shares hit $50.83. Since that recommendation, shares of United States Lime & Minerals have risen 8.4%. We continue to monitor United States Lime & Minerals for any potential shift so investors can protect gains and will alert SmarTrend subscribers immediately.
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Ticker(s): USLM VMC MLM EXP TXI
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