If Israel recognizes the Armenian Genocide it won?t be the end of the world - Jerusalem Patriarch

??If Israel recognizes the Armenian genocide it won?t be the end of the world,? Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Nourhan Manougian told Lauren Gelfond Feldinger of Haaretz in an interview published on Friday, according to Asbarez.com.

Elected the 97th Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem in January, Manougian is now one of the top Armenian Christian leaders worldwide, in a community scattered over the globe. In Jerusalem, where the Armenian Christian presence dates back almost 1,700 years, he is also one of the most powerful Christian clerics. The Armenian patriarch shares oversight at the ancient Christian holy sites with the Greek Orthodox and Latin ?(Roman Catholic?) patriarchs.

But despite the historical presence, the tiny Old City Armenian community often feels sidelined, Manougian told Haaretz. As the number of community members relentlessly shrinks, and is now only a few hundred, he worries if there will be future generations. Day-to-day life, he says, is also a balancing act, finding a place between the powerful Jewish Israeli and Muslim Palestinian communities. Israeli scholars echo the same concerns.

At the core of Armenian insecurities are successive Israeli governments that have ruled over them since 1967 but never officially acknowledged the 1915 Armenian genocide or its estimated 1.5 million deaths by Ottoman Turkish forces.

Many of Jerusalem?s Armenians, including Manougian, are the children and grandchildren of the survivors of the genocide. His father fled Armenia through the desert that became known as the ?death fields,? as he headed to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Born in Aleppo in 1948 and orphaned by age 5, Manougian grew up in that city, with poor relatives and the stories of the survivors around him. After seminary and ordination, serving Armenian Christians took him from Lebanon, across Europe and the United States, and to Haifa, Jaffa and finally in 1998, to Jerusalem.

Here, Armenians believe that Israel?s silence on the events of 1915 is based on maintaining favor with Turkey. ?If you ask me, [recognizing the genocide] is what they have to do,? said Manougian of Israel. ?What if they accept it? It won?t be the end of the world.?

Manougian also felt marginalized by Israel, while waiting five months for the state to officially recognize his title. Manougian was elected after the 2012 death of Patriarch Torkom Manoogian. Palestinian and Jordanian leaders recognized him days after the January election. Israel did not do so until June 23.

Initially, the patriarchate postponed Manougian?s inauguration, waiting for Israel to reorganize the government following its January 22 elections. But as months passed and the recognition application continued to be ignored, the patriarchate on June 4 held the inauguration anyway.

There is no law requiring it, but sending a formal letter of recognition is a Holy Land tradition dating to the Ottoman era, Manougian said. ?The first [Israeli] letter was signed by Ben-Gurion.?

The Prime Minister?s spokesperson did not give a reason for the delay. But Dr. Amnon Ramon, a Hebrew University and Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies expert on local Christians, said that his impression was that the delay was caused by bureaucracy and lack of priority. In researching his 2012 book, ?Christians and Christianity in the Jewish State? ?(in Hebrew, published by the JIIS?), he found that Israel?s relations with Christians and church institutions are among the lowest priorities in policy and practice of the local and national government bodies, he said.

While Ramon works on improving government relations with Christians, he also encourages Christians, including Armenians, not to allow caution to stop them from lobbying for their own needs. Christians ?have to look at the Israeli side, the Palestinian side, be very cautious, and sometimes this leads them to inaction.?

OldCity Armenians live more closely with the Palestinians and say their relations with them are better than with official Israel or some of their Jewish neighbors. Bishop Aris Shirvanian says that ?they don?t spit on us,? referring to a phenomenon sometimes encountered by Christian clergy in the OldCity.

?We have no legal problems with them,? said Bishop Aris Shirvanian. But the Palestinians have also not recognized the Armenian genocide. ?The whole of the Islamic countries do not recognize the genocide because Turks are Muslims,? he said.

Being Christian in Jerusalem is complicated, he added. ?When you are dealing with two sides [Israelis and Palestinians], you have to not take one side against the other.?

?

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Source: http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/06/29/nourhan-manougian/

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Kerry says progress made in peace talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry smiles at a question from a reporter during a news conference about his trip to the Middle East, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry engaged in breakneck shuttle diplomacy to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks over a four-day span with multiple trips to Jordan and Israel and a stop in the West Bank town of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry smiles at a question from a reporter during a news conference about his trip to the Middle East, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry engaged in breakneck shuttle diplomacy to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks over a four-day span with multiple trips to Jordan and Israel and a stop in the West Bank town of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about his trip to the Middle East during a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry engaged in breakneck shuttle diplomacy to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks over a four-day span with multiple trips to Jordan and Israel and a stop in the West Bank town of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas brief the media after the meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry continued his frenzied shuttle diplomacy Sunday to restart Mideast peace talks, but while Israel says it's ready to sit down, it showed no sign of bending to the Palestinians' long-standing demands for negotiating a two-state solution to the conflict. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry completed a new round of shuttle diplomacy Sunday without a hoped-for breakthrough in relaunching Mideast peace talks, but optimistically said he had narrowed the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians and vowed to return to the region soon to complete his mission.

Kerry said he was working on an emerging "package" meant to bring the sides together, and said he would leave a team of aides in the region to continue the efforts.

"With a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach," he told reporters, shortly before leaving Israel for an Asian security conference in Brunei.

It was not clear how much progress Kerry had truly made. He refused to provide details of the package he is working on, and Israeli and Palestinian officials, at Kerry's request, remained mum.

Even before negotiations have begun, the gaps remain wide on simply establishing the ground rules.

Negotiations have been stalled since 2008, in large part due to Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians claim both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for a future independent state alongside Israel and have demanded that Israel stop building settlements on occupied lands before talks resume. More than 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in areas sought by the Palestinians, making it increasingly difficult to partition the land into two states.

The Palestinians also say Israel's pre-1967 frontiers should be the baseline for the final borders between Israel and a future Palestine. Previous Israeli leaders have accepted the 1967 lines as a starting point for talks. But Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, while endorsing the idea of a Palestinian state, has refused the Palestinian demands, saying talks should begin immediately without any preconditions.

Netanyahu has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, saying it would threaten Israel's security and noting the Jewish people's biblical connection to the West Bank. He also rejects any division of the holy city of Jerusalem, home to sensitive Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy sites.

His tough line and the continued construction of settlements have raised Palestinian accusations that he is not serious about pursuing peace.

The Palestinians also seek the Gaza Strip for their state. Israel, which captured Gaza in 1967, withdrew in 2005. Hamas militants subsequently overran the area.

Kerry was on his fifth visit to the region since taking office early this year. Starting Thursday night, he shuttled between Amman, Jordan, Jerusalem and Ramallah, West Bank, holding three meetings each with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Netanyahu.

Their talks were long, sometimes stretching into the wee hours of the morning. His last meeting with the Israeli prime minister and his advisers ended after 3 a.m. Sunday. Afterward, Kerry took a pre-dawn stroll in Jerusalem with senior advisers. Kerry, the sleeves on his white shirt rolled up, walked with a security escort to a park near the hotel, gesturing and talking with his top advisers on the Mideast peace process. Just hours later, he traveled by convoy to Ramallah for one last meeting with Abbas, cancelling a trip to Abu Dhabi to extend his work with Israel and the Palestinians.

Addressing reporters at Israel's international airport, an exhausted Kerry, running on adrenaline, said he would have stayed longer if he did not have to attend the international conference.

"I am very positive," he said. "I also know progress when I see it, and we are making progress," he added.

He said both Netanyahu and Abbas had asked him to return to the region ? on what would be his sixth visit. But he declined to disclose, even broadly, the main elements of the "package" being pursued to restart talks.

Kerry said it was best not to float ideas for others to "tear apart, evaluate and analyze." He said he would not have agreed to leave his staff in place if he didn't think it was possible to flesh out a "serious" framework for restarting discussions.

"I think this is worth it, folks," he told reporters. "Obviously, the work has to be completed. People have to make a few choices still. But the gap has been narrowed very significantly."

A Palestinian official who was briefed on Kerry's efforts said the package would likely include, as a goodwill gesture, the release of some Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. He said the Palestinians were told that Netanyahu is prepared to restrain settlement construction and to discuss the 1967 borders, without any promise to withdraw to those lines. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The emerging deal is also expected to include large amounts of international aid to the Palestinians; Israeli agreement to allow the Palestinians to launch new development projects in the West Bank; and Palestinian pledges to halt their campaign of seeking recognition of their independence in international bodies before there is a peace agreement.

Over Israeli and U.S. objections, the Palestinians last year won upgraded observer status at the United Nations, and they have threatened to pursue war crimes charges against Israel if peace efforts remain stalled.

Israel's Channel 2 TV, citing anonymous Israeli officials, said there had been progress, but sticking points remained in the areas of settlements, prisoners and borders. It said Kerry was expected back in a week or so and was aiming to restart talks before the Muslim holiday of Ramadan begins early next week.

Addressing his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu showed little signs of bending.

"We are not putting up any impediments on the resumption of the permanent talks and a peace agreement between us and the Palestinians," he said.

At the same time, he said, "We will not compromise on security, and there will be no agreement that will endanger Israelis' security."

He added that any agreement would be presented to the public in a referendum.

Critics have said such a step would merely add an additional obstacle to implementing any deal, which would require a broad pullout from the West Bank.

Following Sunday morning's meeting in Ramallah, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, reported progress but said gaps remained.

"I cannot say we have a breakthrough," he said. "All I can say once again is no one benefits more from the success of Secretary Kerry than the Palestinians, and no one stands to lose more from its failure than Palestinians."

As Kerry strolled to the tarmac Sunday, his top Mideast adviser patted him on the back, but both knew the job was not finished.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-30-ML-Kerry/id-4139819019e240dfa6a8437d9abf6f30

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'Nobody's going to Geneva,' White Rock mayor touts lower expenses

In his first full year leading the city, White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin claimed a third more in expenses than that claimed by his predecessor, Catherine Ferguson, in her last year at the helm.

According to a June 24 report from the city?s financial services director, Baldwin ? who was elected mayor in November 2011 ? claimed $9,831 in expenses last year. Ferguson claimed $6,960 in 2011, prior to Baldwin?s election in November, and just $3,248 in 2010, her last full year.

Baldwin told Peace Arch News the difference was likely due to Ferguson not being able to attend as many conferences.

Last year, those included the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Saskatoon and the Union of BC Municipalities in Victoria, along with events ?that I get invited to all the time, but cost a lot of money.?

?I don?t think it?s too high,? he said of the total charged to taxpayers. ?If you compare it to, say, Dianne (Watts?) in Surrey, mine is not very high. We go to the same stuff pretty much, except she goes to China and whatnot.?

At the council meeting, Baldwin noted the combined expenses of all seven of the city?s politicians ($26,054) was less than that reported by some individual Surrey council members. Watts alone charged $28,724.

?Nobody?s going to Geneva,? Baldwin quipped, an apparent reference to Watts? $2,807 trip to attend a mayors? conference in Switzerland.

Baldwin?s remuneration for 2012 was $59,023. Couns. Al Campbell, Helen Fathers, Louise Hutchinson and Larry Robinson were each paid $28,689 (up from $27,568 in 2011); Coun. Grant Meyer was paid $28,200. Meyer attributed his lesser pay to changes in the deputy-mayor schedule.

Coun. Bill Lawrence ??who won his seat in November?s byelection to replace the late Mary-Wade Anderson ? earned $2,775; Anderson, who died in June 2012, earned $12,440.

Following Baldwin, Hutchinson claimed the next highest in expenses ($4,030). Fathers was next ($3,876); then Robinson ($3,424), Meyer ($2,327), Campbell ($1,821), Anderson ($720) and Lawrence ($25).

Remuneration to city staff last year totalled $9,065,491.

Highest-paid was the city?s director of financial services, Sandra Kurylo, who received $144,341, followed by fire Chief Phil Lemire ($134,226), city manager Dan Bottrill ($133,105) and director of development services Paul Stanton ($128,544).

(Totals for Kurylo, Lemire and Stanton include pay for unused vacation and banked time.)

Bottrill?s pay represents his first 9? months with the city. He took over as city manager in mid-March of last year, following the sudden retirement of Peggy Clark, whose compensation had been a campaign issue for Baldwin. According to city documents, Clark received $185,760 in her last year as city manager.

Director of municipal operations Greg St. Louis ? whose predecessor?s wages were also criticized by Baldwin ? was not listed in the report, which included only remuneration greater than $75,000. St. Louis began working for the city July 30.

The staffer claiming the most in expenses for 2012 was Lemire, at $5,756, followed by web technician Ying Lin ($4,763); deputy fire Chief Bob Schlase ($3,909); and Kurylo ($3,710).

Figures were released as part of the city?s financial statement for the year ending Dec. 31, 2012.

?

Source: http://www.peacearchnews.com/news/213589051.html

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Trouble in Syria continues as President Bashar al-Assad's troops bombard Homs

Activists said jets and mortars pounded rebel territory and soldiers attacked the district of Khalidiyah.

Videos on the internet showed heavy explosions and clouds of white smoke after what activists said were air strikes on the neighbourhood of Jouret al-Shiyyah.

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Egyptian clerics warn of 'civil war' ahead of mass protests

As Egypt approaches a weekend of confrontation, the divide between those who love and those who despise President Mohammed Morsi and his pro-Islamist government is wider than ever. NBC's Charlene Gubash reports.

By Charlene Gubash and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

Egypt risks sliding into civil war, the country's leading religious authority warned Friday, as the nation braced itself for mass nationwide protests.

Organizers of "June 30" demonstrations ? which mark one year since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's election ? claim they have the backing of an estimated 15 million Egyptians who want him to resign.

---

"Only God knows what will happen" Sunday, said Gamal Abdul Aziz, a pro-Morsi car mechanic in Madba'a, a blue-collar district in Cairo.

There were ominous signs Friday. U.S. officials told NBC News that they were investigating reports that a U.S. citizen was stabbed to death Friday during protests in Alexandria, where at least 80 other people have been wounded, the state news agency MENA reported.

The State Department authorized the departure of a limited number of non-emergency employees and family members and warned U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Egypt.

NBC News

Gamal Abdul Aziz, left, a pro-Morsi car mechanic, argues with anti-Morsi computer science student Mohamed Abdul Munim, right, while being interviewed this week.

Building on discontent about a range of social and economic issues, Morsi's opponents hope to force early presidential elections.

His supporters, meanwhile, have promised they will also take to the streets to defend the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government.

"Vigilance is required to ensure we do not slide into civil war," clerics of the Al-Azhar institute said in a statement broadly supportive of Morsi, Reuters reported.

It blamed "criminal gangs" who besieged mosques for street violence that the Brotherhood said has killed five of its supporters in a week.

In an example of just how polarized the debate over Egypt's future has become, Aziz and his family became embroiled in a shouting match with a nearby resident, anti-Morsi computer science student Mohamed Abdul Munim, 23, while being interviewed this week.

Amr Nabil / AP

Egyptian drivers wait outside in long lines at a gasoline station in Cairo on Tuesday.

The argument, which took place after NBC News filmed a political discussion between the two, ended when Munim stormed off.

The dispute and recent violence ? one man was shot dead and four other people were wounded in an attack on a Muslim Brotherhood office Thursday ? was an ill omen for Sunday's marches.

The country's powerful army, which helped protesters topple Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime in 2011, has reinforced its presence in cities like Cairo and Port Said.

Munim said he believed "most" of Egypt's registered 50 million voters will be out on the streets, supporting one side or the other.

"We are sure that we will go out and get beaten up by the [Muslim] Brotherhood, [but] we are going out despite this," he said. "There is no security. There is economic collapse. The electricity cuts off and everybody is suffering. They will say Morsi is not at fault, but electricity didn't cut off when the military governed."

Aziz, meanwhile, said his life had improved under Morsi and accused the mostly secular opposition of "waging a war against Islam."

"Can you build a house in a day? No, it takes time." he said. "What can a president do in one year when a country is in ruins? The old [Mubarak] regime stole the country and left it destroyed."

In a sign of the nervousness many felt, Egyptians were stocking up on food, fuel, water and cash in the days leading up the protests.

'The Daily Show's' Jon Stewart took his satire to Cairo on Friday, appearing on a show hosted by the man known as 'Egypt's Jon Stewart,' who has faced investigation for insulting the country's president and Islam. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe reports.

Morsi's supporters claim the demonstration ? organized by an opposition umbrella group named "Tamarod," meaning "Rebel" ? is setting the stage for a repeat of the 2011 Arab Spring revolution.

Mahmoud Badr, a 28-year-old journalist and founder of the Tamarod movement, dismissed a televised speech by Morsi on Wednesday night in which the president appealed for calm.

"Our demand was early presidential elections, and since that was not addressed anywhere in the speech, then our response will be on the streets" Sunday, he told the English-language Egypt Independent news site.

The U.S. Embassy announced Tuesday that it would be closing its doors for the day of the demonstrations, but it added that "potentially violent protest activity may occur before June 30," and urged U.S. citizens to "maintain a low profile" from Friday onward.

Underscoring fears of violence, defenders of Morsi revealed plans Tuesday to form vigilante groups to protect public buildings from opposition demonstrations, the Egypt Independent reported, quoting Safwat Abdel Ghany, a member of Islamic umbrella organization Jama'a al-Islamiya.

"If chaos sweeps across the country, Islamist groups will secure state institutions and vital facilities against robbery by thugs and advocates of violence," he was quoted as saying.

Members of Tamarod were so confident that they would force Morsi from power that the organization set out a constitutional "road map" that it said would take Egypt forward without a president until new elections.

Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute think tank, said this week that battle lines were drawn between "an enraged opposition" and "an utterly incapable, confrontational ruling party that now counts some of Egypt's most violent political elements as its core supporters."

"Rising food prices, hours-long fuel lines and multiple-times-daily electricity cuts ? all worsening amidst a typically scorching Egyptian summer ? have set many Egyptians on edge, with clashes between Brotherhood and anti-Brotherhood activists now a common feature of Egyptian political life," he said.

"Whatever happens on [Sunday], it can't end well," he added.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Morsi: Political division threatens Egypt's democracy

Egypt's Islamists rally to show Morsi support ? and warn opponents

Egypt's Coptic Christians say they are 'no longer safe'

This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:30 AM EDT

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More to Discover at Summit Arts Festival This Weekend ...

Organizers say tickets are still available for events, including a performance by the Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre.

With two days left, the first Discover Summit Arts Festival is turning into a success, organizers said.

"I?ve attended numerous events and posted photo albums on our social media site and met with various attendees at each event," spokeswoman Jean Criss said. "I?ve heard many positive comments from the public. They are pleased that Summit brought a festival of this type to the community and are hopeful we will do this again next year."

Most of the events in the week-long affair are just about completed, Criss told Patch, but added there is more to come.

"We still have other performing arts, visual arts and healing arts programs taking place through Saturday," she said. " The fact that most events are free to the public is encouraging to all attendees, and even the paid events are priced at a low-fee to encourage attendance."

Criss said there is no hard data yet on attendance figures.?

"Although each event has managed and been encouraged to track their individual attendance, we may not know total attendance until our post-mortum festival meeting," she explained.?"However, I would guestimate that since the Festival of Fine Arts & Crafts kick-off event?on Sunday,?which drew hundreds of people from all over New Jersey to Summit on a hot sunny day, we?ve seen close to 750 to 1,000 people since then."

She said Wednesday?night?s jazz concert at the Reeves-Reed?Arboretum was especially well-attended, with about 75?people in attendance.

?Tickets, Criss said,?are still available for this weekend's?paid events.

"Most events?on Friday?and?Saturday?are free, with the exception of the Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre [performance] Friday?night for $15 per?person, the Authentic Argentine Tango School?Saturday?for $20 per?person for an all-day pass and Saturday's Minuetto Music Finale Concert?Saturday is $10." ?

For details on the remaining program and obtaining tickets for Friday and Saturday's events,?please go to?visit the?Discover Summit Arts website.?

And when the arts festival ends Saturday, the party isn't quite over for area culture fans, Criss said.

"There are four ongoing exhibits?that will continue in Summit," she said.?

They are:

• ?ART in the Window? will be featured in the windows of Hill City businesses all week
• The Summit Free Public Library exhibit of ?Local Scenes? paintings, up through July 16
• ?Passion Through Art ? Winner?s Circle exhibition,? at Overlook Medical Center through July 16
• ?Elements: The Sculptures of Tom Holmes,? on display at the Reeves-Reed Arboretum through Oct 31.?

Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the festival. Criss said those who wish to donate to the effort can send checks to:?

Summit Area Public Foundation/DSA
P.O. Box 867
Summit, N.J. ?07902-0867

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Source: http://summit.patch.com/groups/arts-and-entertainment/p/discover-summit-arts-festival-promises-more-to-enjoy-this-weekend

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Forget an Android gaming console, Google can make a killer ...

Finally, my dream of a Google smartwatch is looking more like a reality!?News hit the rounds on Thursday that Google is taking its next steps into becoming a hardware maker as the Wall Street Journal reported plans for an Android gaming console, media streaming device and a smartwatch.

I?m not too excited about a gaming console: There are already enough gaming devices available and as far as media sharing hardware, Google has already attempted this with its ill-fated Nexus Q last year.?But a smartwatch? Now that sounds exciting for a few reasons.

For starters, the wearable device market is finally showing signs of life. There have been intelligent watches for years but it?s only recently that the hardware needed to make a fantastic smartwatch has appeared. Chips are becoming more powerful, even as they use less juice and become smaller. Wireless technologies are advanced as well: The Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy standard is a great example. Touch screens and noise-cancelling array microphones now help with input on devices of nearly any size.

So it?s not surprising to me that some recent smartwatches have quickly gained a following or raised millions of dollars in crowd-sourced funding. Think of the Pebble or, more recently, the Kreyos Meteor, for example. Sony is also participating here, having just announced a newly updated SmartWatch 2 that arrives in September. Various other companies too are all taking a crack at being on your wrist: MetaWatch, WIMM, I?m Watch?. and the list goes on.

I?ve tried a number of these wearables in the past, but time and again, I keep returning to the Motorola MotoACTV smartwatch. It continues to impress me because unlike most of the other smartwatches, it?s not a simple second screen for your smartphone. Yes, it can show incoming messages, calls or social networking status updates when paired with a phone but it provides plenty of standalone functionality as well: GPS exercise tracking, a virtual caddie and scorekeeper on the golf course, a step tracker and an MP3 player with its built-in music player and 8 or 16 GB of flash storage.

What does that have to do with Google? A lot, since Google owns Motorola. Yes, it runs Motorola as a completely separate division, but it would nonsensical for Google not to take a good hard look at the MotoACTV for the basis of a new smartwatch. To be honest, most of what Google needs is already present and accounted for in the MotoACTV, even though the device is two years old.

It already runs on Android ? something the WSJ reported a new Google smart watch would do as well ? and has nearly every type of connectivity option available: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Sure, the components need an upgrade from 2011 standards, but the basis of a great smart watch is already there.

There?s more, however, that Google has in its arsenal of tools to make a great watch, even if it isn?t based solely on the MotoACTV: Google Now and Google Glass.

Google Now provides personal, contextual information on phones and tablets today based on your email, calendar and web searches. Look up an address on the web and Google Now will?provide directions and an estimated time of arrival based on traffic without having to be asked. If you have to travel for an appointment on your calendar, Google Now notifies you when it?s time to leave. Nearby events, stock prices, sports scores for your favorite teams are part of Google Now as well. And collectively, these are exactly the bite-sized type of bits that are perfectly suited for a small screen on the wrist.

The card-based look of Google Now could easily work on a small screen. We already know that because Google took a similar approach with the Google Glass user interface. It?s simple to navigate through Glass with a finger swipe on the glasses and the screen don?t inundate with information. Again, that?s perfect for a wristwatch. And the look of Google Glass, which Google designed, isn?t too bad for the type of product that it is.

Bear in mind that Google isn?t the only ?big player? reportedly working on new wearable devices. Rumors of Apple building a smartwatch have been making the rounds for some time. And that makes sense: Apple often jumps into product markets with big opportunities, but only when it?s sure it can deliver the best experience. And both companies could benefit from developers creating new apps for wearables.

While I have no knowledge of Google?s detailed plans for a smart watch, I can see that the company has all of the ingredients of a potentially successful recipe. With just a small bit of hardware tweaking to the existing MotoACTV in a more fashionable design, combined with the basics of Google Now and the ability to run small but useful standalone Android apps, I?d stand in line for a Google smart watch. Would you?

Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/06/28/forget-an-android-gaming-console-google-can-make-a-killer-smartwatch/

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Watch: Senate votes on immigration bill

The Senate will vote on a sweeping immigration reform bill on Thursday afternoon, and a recently hashed-out compromise on border security is expected to win over some conservative support for the measure.

Early Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted 68-32 to end debate on the bill, a key procedural hurdle. A full vote on the bill is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. Fourteen Republicans voted with the entire Democratic caucus to move the bill forward. The vote brings Congress a step closer to passing its first major immigration reform since the 1986 amnesty bill that legalized more than three million immigrants.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said on the Senate floor that the "historic legislation recognizes that today's immigrants came for the right reason, the same reason as the generations before them...the right to live in a land that's free."

The "Gang of Eight," a bipartisan group of senators who drafted the bill, had hoped to get 70 out of 100 senators to vote to pass the bill and send a strong signal to the Republican-controlled house that the legislation is bipartisan. But on Wednesday, test votes drew only 67 votes each, suggesting the bill might fall short of that goal.

The reform will implement a mandatory, national employment verification system, allow for more legal immigration of low- and high-skilled workers, beef up border security and eventually give green cards to most of the nation's 11 million unauthorized immigrants.

The bill has moved to the right in the Senate on border security, thanks to an amendment adopted last week that will double the number of Border Patrol officers and increase fencing on the southern border by hundreds of miles before any unauthorized immigrants are offered permanent legal status. But House members working on their own version of immigration reform told The Hill this is not enough: They would prefer that no unauthorized immigrant be offered even temporary legal status until all the border security measures of the bill are fully implemented. Republican chief deputy whip Peter Roskam told reporters the bill is a "pipe dream" that will never pass the House.

Union leaders representing both Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers say they oppose the bill, and groups that seek lower immigration levels have tried to rally members to call and write senators asking them to kill the bill. But so far, the critics of the bill have been outnumbered. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has worked as a conservative ambassador for the legislation. Rubio highlighted his immigrant parents' journey to the United States in a speech on the floor Thursday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/news/senate-takes-immigration-vote-supporters-back-off-70-143951088.html

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Europe clinches deals on banks, budget, youth jobless

By Luke Baker and Paul Taylor

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders agreed on new steps to fight youth unemployment and promote lending to credit-starved small business on Thursday after deals on banking resolution and the long-term EU budget gave their summit a much needed lift.

The 27 leaders resolved to spend 6 billion euros over the next two years to support job creation, training and apprenticeships for young people, and to raid unspent EU budget funds to keep the effort going thereafter.

Critics say the money is a drop in the ocean with more than 19 million people unemployed in the EU, and more than half of all young people under 25 without a job in Spain and Greece.

Leaders also approved plans for the European Investment Bank to lend hundreds of billions of euros to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly in southern EU states where bank finance has largely dried up due to the euro zone's debt crisis.

"The last 24 hours have been a great success," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference. "Today we have agreed the money to back up our words."

After late-night talks in Luxembourg, European Union finance ministers agreed how to share the cost of future bank failures among investors and wealthy savers as far as possible.

Separately, negotiators for the European Parliament, the European Commission and EU member governments clinched a deal on a 960 billion euro ($1.25 trillion) seven-year budget for the bloc for the period 2014-20, ending months of squabbling.

The leaders unanimously endorsed the agreement, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy said, overcoming a last minute snag over Britain's rebate, which will remain intact. The European Parliament must approve the deal next month so the new budget can take effect next January.

The banking resolution agreement designed to shield European taxpayers from having to foot the bill for rescuing troubled banks will be implemented on a national basis from 2018.

It lays the ground for a single system to resolve failed banks in the euro zone and the 27-nation EU, the second stage of what policymakers call a European banking union, meant to strengthen supervision and stability of the financial sector.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, will put forward proposals for a single resolution mechanism next week, but any deal on it is a long way off because EU paymaster Germany opposes taking any liability for other countries' banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the EU budget breakthrough, saying it would allow new spending on everything from agriculture to research, roads, bridges and development aid to move ahead, promoting economic growth in Europe.

LOW GROWTH, NO JOB

With two major obstacles out of the way, EU leaders faced a far less awkward agenda during the two-day summit focused on unemployment, the most devastating legacy of the crisis that has bedevilled the EU since 2010.

The last summit before Germany's September general election - a key date in Europe's political calendar - was one of the least contentious of the past three years.

But Merkel, favorite in opinion polls to win a third term, denied widespread talk that key European decisions on crisis management, banking union and issues such as entry negotiations with Turkey and carbon emissions for cars were on hold until after the vote.

"I know of no issue on which a decision has not been taken because of the fact that we have elections in three months' time," she told reporters.

The calm summit mood was a far cry from the peak of the debt and economic turmoil of late 2011 and early-to-mid 2012, when there was a real threat of the euro zone collapsing.

Since then, thanks largely to a promise by the European Central Bank last July to do whatever it takes to defend the single currency, pressure from financial markets has eased and EU leaders have made some progress in reforming their economies.

As well as strict new rules on budget deficits and tighter oversight of budget spending plans by the European Commission, steps have been taken to improve banking supervision and weaken the link between indebted countries and problem banks.

From late next year, the European Central Bank will become the single supervisor for virtually all the euro zone's 6,000 banks - the first stage of banking union.

The next step, the creation of a single resolution mechanism, is likely to prove a deeply divisive and drawn out process, with sharp differences between the views of the EU institutions, Germany, France and other member states.

Further-reaching plans for a single bank deposit guarantee across the euro zone look unlikely to gain traction due to German and north European opposition, although officially the idea remains on the table.

Most of Europe has been either in recession or on the brink for the past three years, while unemployment has steadily risen. EU unemployment now stands at 11 percent, the highest since records began, with youth unemployment a particular problem, especially in Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus.

The new EU fund will back a "youth employment initiative" that would offer people under 25 a promise of a job, training or apprenticeship within four months of leaving education or becoming unemployed.

Politicians and sociologists are worried that extended unemployment for young Europeans will lead to a "lost generation" that never gets fully incorporated into economic life, with deep psychological and financial implications.

That will even further undermine Europe's ability to boost growth and compete with the rest of the world, especially China and a United States that is shifting its focus to Asia.

($1 = 0.7691 euros)

(Additional reporting by Charlie Dunmore, Robin Emmott, John O'Donnell, Martin Santa, Jan Strupczewski, Noah Barkin and Anders Melin in Brussels; Editing by Noah Barkin)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-leaders-clinch-deals-banks-budget-youth-jobless-004256744.html

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Obama: not 'scrambling jets' to get NSA leaker Snowden

President Obama remarks on the situation with admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden, saying he has no plans to disrupt relations with Russia and China, nor to scramble jets to capture the "29-year-old hacker."

By Jim Maceda, F. Brinley Bruton and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

President Obama said he should not have to speak personally with the leaders of Russia and China regarding self-professed NSA leaker Edward Snowden, and said he was ?not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker? during a press conference in Senegal on Thursday.

The president was on the first leg of a trip to Africa when he struck the seemingly dismissive tone regarding the former defense contractor who claimed to have leaked details of two top-secret government data-gathering programs before initiating an international manhunt that has grown to involve the governments of China, Ecuador, and Russia.

Obama said that the revelations first published in British newspaper The Guardian and The Washington Post ? and the ensuing search for Snowden, who has been charged with theft of government property and two offenses of espionage statutes ? have the makings of a big-screen spy caper, but that he would not engage in ?wheeling and dealing and trading and a whole host of other issues, simply to get a guy extradited so he can face the justice system here in the United States.?

Snowden, 30, is believed to still be hiding at a Moscow airport awaiting a ruling on his request for asylum from the government of Ecuador. Snowden flew to Russia from Hong Kong over the weekend but has not been seen since his arrival. Russian officials told Reuters that he remains in a transit area at Sheremetyevo airport.

He was not aboard an Aeroflot flight that departed Moscow to Havana on Thursday, the first stop on an anticipated escape route to the South American country.

?Now I get why it?s a fascinating story from a press perspective and I?m sure there will be a made-for-TV movie somewhere down the line,? Obama said, adding that ?in terms of U.S. interests, the damage was done with respect to the initial leaks.?

Dolores Ochoa / AP

A man reads a newspaper with the Spanish headline "Snowden stuck at Moscow airport" in Quito, Ecuador, on Wednesday.

Snowden?s case resolved ?some pretty significant vulnerabilities? at the National Security Agency, Obama said. Snowden worked for defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton before being fired, and said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that he took the job to gain access to sensitive information. NBC News could not independently verify the report.

?There have been some useful conversations that have taken place between the United States government and the Russian government,? Obama said. ?And my continued expectation is that Russia ? there are other countries that have talked about potentially providing Mr. Snowden asylum ? recognize that they are part of an international community and that they should be abiding by international law.?

The U.S. is worried that Snowden might have other documents in his possession that he may ?dribble out,? Obama said.

?I continue to be concerned about the other documents that he may have. That?s part of the reason why we?d like to have Mr. Snowden in custody,? Obama said. ?But what I think we?re going to continue to do is make sure that we are following the various channels that are well established and the rules that are well established to get this thing done.?

Ecuador?s communications minister said on Thursday that his country renounced hundreds of millions of dollars in trade tariff benefits, the Associated Press reported. Communications Minister Fernando Alvarez said the trade benefits being considered for renewal by U.S. lawmakers had become an ?instrument of blackmail? as the country considered granting asylum to Snowden.

Ecuador ?does not accept threats from anybody, and does not trade in principles, or submit to mercantile interests, as important as they may be,? Alvarez said, according to the AP.

In Washington, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has threatened to lead the effort to remove preferential trade treatment for Ecuadorian goods if the country decides to offer asylum to Snowden.?

"Edward Snowden is a fugitive who has endangered? the national security of the United States," Sen. Robert Menendez?said in a statement?released late on Wednesday.??"Trade preferences are a privilege granted to nations, not a right. ?I urge [Ecuadorean] President Correa to do the right thing by the United States and Ecuador, and deny Snowden's request for asylum."

In 2012, Ecuador exported some $5.4 billion worth of oil, $166 million of cut flowers, $122 million of fruits and vegetables and $80 million of tuna to the United States.?

Menendez said he would lead efforts to stop the renewal of Ecuador's duty-free access to America markets under the Generalized System of Preferences program, which expires on July 31.??He also said he'd try and block renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, which also expires at the end of July.

The ongoing incident has also heightened tensions with China, as the country?s defense minister said that the U.S. Internet monitoring program revealed in documents leaked by Snowden ?has revealed the concerned country?s true face and hypocritical behavior.? Defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun did not explicitly name the United States in his comments, Reuters reported.

Also on Thursday, a government official in Switzerland said the country still has questions about Snowden's time?working in Geneva as a CIA operative, Reuters reported. Swiss?Foreign Minister?Didier Burkhalter said they received a "diplomatic" response from the U.S. to questions about Snowden's time in the country from 2007 and 2009, but "have decided to discuss these points further in the future with the Americans."

NBC News' Ghazi Balkiz and Reuters contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:02 AM EDT

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20 bodies found in India rescue helicopter crash

GAUCHAR, India (AP) ? Paramilitary soldiers on Wednesday recovered 20 bodies from a steep hillside in northern India where a helicopter crashed while on a mission to rescue people stranded in monsoon floods, the country's air force chief said.

The helicopter crashed late Tuesday when its rotor blades hit the hillside while returning with survivors of flooding and landslides that have killed more than 1,000 people and washed away thousands of homes, roads and bridges since mid-June in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

Soldiers using ropes reached the crash site early Wednesday and found the bodies of 20 people, including five air force crew members, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne told reporters.

The helicopter's cockpit voice recorder was recovered and an inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the crash, Browne said.

Some 45 aircraft have been used in rescue and relief operations, but intermittent rain and dense fog have dogged the efforts since Sunday.

Troops on Wednesday were trying to rescue about 5,000 people who remained stranded in the towns of Badrinath and Harsil 10 days after torrential rains triggered the flooding and landslides.

Browne visited the hill town of Gauchar, the center of the rescue and relief operations. He assured flood survivors that helicopters would rescue everyone stranded in Uttarakhand despite the bad weather.

Hundreds of thousands of Hindus make the Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage to four temple towns in Uttarakhand each year, usually returning home before monsoon rains in July make the mountainous area much more treacherous, but unprecedented heavy rains fell around mid-June this year and caught many by surprise.

About 92,000 people from hundreds of villages and towns hit by the floods have been rescued. Landslides and floods flattened entire towns, roads were washed away and communication links snapped, cutting off many people and necessitating air rescues.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/20-bodies-found-india-rescue-helicopter-crash-081324306.html

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Oprah tops Forbes most powerful celebrity list

By Patricia Reaney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After two years as a runner-up, Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful celebrity on Wednesday by Forbes, heading the six women and four men who make up the top 10.

It was the fifth time the former talk show host who runs her own TV network has headed the annual ranking of 100 celebrities.

Singer Lady Gaga came in second, followed by director/producer Steven Spielberg and singers Beyonce and Madonna.

"There is nobody else with that kind of consistency and power," said Dorothy Pomerantz of Forbes.com. "There are only three people who have been on every single one of our lists since 1999. It is Oprah, Howard Stern and Steven Spielberg."

Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, who was No. 1 last year, dropped to 12th place.

With earnings of $77 million from June 2012 to 2013, Winfrey was not the highest earning celebrity, an honor that went to Madonna who made $125 million. But Forbes said Winfrey's position in Hollywood and her presence in the press, on television and in social media propelled her to the No. 1 spot.

"She still wields an enormous amount of power, which is really what we look for in our fame matrix. She is taking this cable network and turning it around just through the sheer force of her will, her connections and her ability."

Despite hip surgery, which forced her to cut short a tour, Lady Gaga earned $80 million in the past 12 months which, along with her army of fans and powerful social media presence, assured her second place.

"She is still a huge force in pop music. Even when she is not playing, people are talking about her and speculating about her," Pomerantz said.

Spielberg, with earnings of $100 million in the last year, was the top man on the list, ahead of rock star Bon Jovi at No. 7, tennis champion Roger Federer and Justin Bieber, the youngest member of the list, squeezed into the top ten at No. 9.

Although only 23, sixth place singer Taylor Swift, made the list for the first time and rounded out the top 10 along with Emmy-award winning TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

MONEY, FAME, SOCIAL MEDIA

Forbes based a celebrity's earnings on income from tours, books, contracts, endorsements, movies and residuals. Each celebrity was given a marketability score, developed by California market research firm E-Poll.

It gauged fame and influence by how often celebrities appear in the media. It used Starcount, a Singapore-based company that looks at 11 social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to determine their presence in social media.

"In today's world celebrities have this enormous ability to reach out to their fans, who really are their customers, and to sell their product, which is really themselves. If they don't take advantage of that it hurts them," said Pomerantz.

Pop stars, most notably Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Barbados-born singer Rihanna, are particularly good with handling social media, according to Forbes.

Top celebrity couples include Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z (32), American football quarterback Tom Brady (65) and his model wife Gisele Bundchen (81), and actor Ashton Kutcher (53) and his girlfriend Mila Kunis (89).

Best actress Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, who was No. 49, is a newcomer to the list this year, as is Hugh Jackman, who was No. 11, and new father Channing Tatum (23).

For the full list of the top 100 celebrities, click on: www.forbes.com/celebs

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Christopher Wilson and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oprah-tops-forbes-most-powerful-celebrity-list-041409381.html

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Why Facebook Would Want Its Own News Reader

Facebook is reportedly building a mobile app -- not so uniquely dubbed "Reader" -- for browsing news stories on smartphones and tablets.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/06/why-facebook-would-want-to-its-own-reader/

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Dog buries puppy in Iraq: Why is this video so popular?

A video of a dog compassionately burying a dead puppy has gone viral. That the video garners such attention among humans is perhaps a reflection on how we see the world ? as much as the how a canine in mourning behaves.

In the video, whose title translates from Arabic to ?dog buries his son in Iraq,? a dog gently sniffs the puppy ? found in a ditch with empty water bottles ? then proceeds to tenderly bury it, nudging with his nose the sand and dirt over the little body. In the background, three men talk inaudibly in Arabic while the dog works and then call out, in English, ?thank you very much? as the dog finishes and leaves.

The video does not give any other information about the scene, such as where exactly it was shot, who took the video, the relationship between the two dogs, or how the puppy died.

RECOMMENDED: Dog breeds: The most popular pooches in US since 1880

The video, posted last week to YouTube, has since gone viral. There?s nothing that web audiences like more than animals behaving like people, especially when that animal is replicating our kindest, most selfless practices. Last month, an Oklahoma zoo captured a lion and a puppy "kissing." Last year, a video of a dog assuming maternal duties for an abandoned kitten also went viral, as did another video of a dog trying to push a dog that a car had just hit and killed out of a road. Other videos of dogs standing sentry at the graves of their owners or crying for deceased animal friends have also made the Internet rounds.

Humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize the animal kingdom. But these videos arguably offer a portrait of a moral animal who embodies the best in human behavior.

"Grief is one of the basic emotions dogs experience, just like people, Dr. Sophia Yin, a San Francisco-based veterinarian and applied animal behaviorist, told HealthDay.com. Dogs also feel fear, happiness, sadness, anger, as well as possessiveness.

While dogs do experience emotion, the recognizable behavior through which dogs express that emotion is probably learned from humans, say some scientists. Studies have found that dogs have an extraordinary capacity to learn and mimic human behavior. Two years ago, researchers found that dogs learn from their owner?s facial cues to perform good behavior when their owner is watching and to save the misbehavior until their owner?s back is turned, like a wised-up child pilfering from the cookie jar.

Does that mean this dog in Iraq learned from its owners how to mourn the loss of a child? We don't know. Certainly, Iraq has been a venue for some of the worst in human behavior in recent years. But the fact that "even dogs" can express compassion is perhaps why we respond so well to such videos: They are encouraging, hopeful reminders that such actions are natural to all beings, including humans.

RECOMMENDED: Dog breeds: The most popular pooches in US since 1880

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dog-buries-puppy-iraq-why-video-popular-143108532.html

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Zeebox launches developer portal, widens access to its second screen platform

Zeebox is clearly busy these days. It just added automatic show syncing and recommendations to its second screen app a few days ago, and it's back with a new developer portal that opens the Zeebox APIs to everyone, not just partners. Those building mobile and web apps can now integrate Zeebox's guides, social networking and tagging into their projects, as well as create synchronized widgets for Zeebox's own release. If you're inclined to build on the company's TV experience, it's free to try the programming tools you'll find at the source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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Los Angeles puts ridesharing companies on notice, demands local permits

Someone didn't get the memo, apparently. Despite California's Public Utilities Commission giving ridesharing services the all clear on a statewide level, Los Angeles' Department of Transportation has sent cease-and-desist warnings to Lyft, Sidecar and Uber, claiming that all three are breaking local laws by operating without city permits. Drivers could face arrests and lose their cars if they keep serving customers, according to the notices. Not surprisingly, the ridesharing firms have a very different opinion. Uber tells Engadget that it's operating a limousine-like service which only needs PUC permission to operate, and Lyft says it's talking with the Mayor's office to resolve what it believes is a "state issue." For now, we're at an impasse -- let's just hope that Los Angeles follows in New York's footsteps and tries to reach a happy medium.

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

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News from Headquarters | The Wildlife Society News

TWS Member Portal?
On June 11, The Wildlife Society made a huge leap with the conversion from our old associated management system (iMIS) to our new system (MemberNation). We firmly believe that this change will have a positive impact on our enterprise solutions and will create a better user experience for our members as well as more robust reporting and analysis for staff.

In the coming weeks and months, you will see additional enhancements to the member portal. If you have not activated your member portal, follow these instructions:

1. Visit wildlifer.org,
2. Click the Member Portal link in the upper right-hand corner,
3. Enter the email address you have on file with TWS,
4. Click retrieve password.

If you are still having difficulties, please contact Danielle Prete, Membership Coordinator, at dprete@wildlife.org.

In Memory
TWS member Kristina Norstrom, a biologist with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD), died in a helicopter on May 29, 2013, in northern Alberta, Canada. She was surveying for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and collecting radio collars that had fallen off the animals when the Bell 206B JetRanger helicopter crashed in a remote wooded area in northwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the?cause of the crash. Kristina was a member of the Alberta Chapter and the Canadian Section. Our deepest sympathies to her family and colleagues on this tragic loss.

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/the-wildlifer/the-wildlifer-2013-june/news-from-headquarters-13/

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Dr. Oz on the Real Threat to The Sopranos

When I heard of actor James Gandolfini?s untimely passing after a heart attack, I was reminded of a recurring theme in the television series he made so memorable. His tough mafia don character valued family above all, but was incessantly anxious about his ability to protect them and keep them well. Tony Soprano did keep his family safe?in his decidedly unconventional fashion. And Gandolfini, a husband and a father of two, looked after his own as well ? until he left them altogether, claimed by a heart attack at just 51.

When it comes to our health, we are all like the much-missed Gandolfini. We will do anything for the people closest to us ? anything, that is, except take the steps we need to maintain our health and allow us to spend as many years as possible loving and playing with the people we treasure most.

If even tough guys like Tony Soprano need to get checked out, the rest of us do too ? whether we think we?re in good shape or not, and whether we?ve ever had chest pains or not, since plenty of people are pain free until the very moment their heart gives in. Some have argued that Gandolfini?s past substance abuse contributed to his premature death. Perhaps it did. But we shouldn?t ignore the more obvious risk factor: at just over six feet tall and around 272 lbs. (123 kg), he was an outsized personality in a dangerously outsized body. In a country that is simultaneously obsessed with bodily perfection, even as two-thirds of us are overweight or obese, weight has become an exceedingly fraught topic, and in the first hours after Gandolfini?s death, some commentators sought to sidestep the topic, wondering how a vigorous man with no known health complaints could have suddenly succumbed. But if we saw an anorexic teenager we wouldn?t pretend she wasn?t heading for serious health trouble, so why should we be so coy at the other end of the weight spectrum?

A key role in anyone?s weight gain may be stress?something that can be a defining feature of a celebrity?s day. Stress hormones such as cortisol can hijack our normal appetite sensors, pushing us to eat even when we are not hungry. This is particularly dangerous when the excess fat that results from overeating is belly fat, which squeezes the kidneys. Since it?s the kidneys that, in turn, regulate blood pressure, it?s no surprise that overweight people are at such high risk of hypertension, the leading cause of heart attack and stroke. Belly fat also harms the liver, prompting it to release more cholesterol. In many people, those changes can block the ability of insulin to break down blood sugar, contributing to diabetes, which wears away at our major arteries and leads to atherosclerosis, a condition often discovered after lethal heart attacks. Half of all victims die during their first heart attack because they do not know their risk factors or do not recognize the subtle warning signs that make their hearts vulnerable.

This awareness can be a life saver, and two of Gandolfini?s own Sopranos cast mates are living proof. Vincent Pastore and Frank Vincent both had heart artery blockages that resembled the type that may have killed Gandolfino. They both noted increasing shortness of breath, and although they did not realize at the time they were at risk of heart disease, they were brave and wise enough to seek help for their symptoms; each had life-saving surgery at my center during the run of The Sopranos. Shortness of breath is a telltale sign of cardiovascular trouble, since it results when the heart cannot even pump the blood out of the lungs, essentially meaning we are drowning from lack of oxygen. But most of us ignore this symptom and many people have no symptoms at all?until it?s too late. And that is why we suffer the loss of so many wonderful people like James Gandolfini.

It wasn?t easy for Pastore and Vincent to shed their afraid-of-nothing mobster characters and visit the doctor. In fact, when Pastore first met my colleague Michael Argenziano, he introduced himself by his Soprano?s nick name of ?Big Pussy.? Dr. Argenziano had never seen the show and was caught off guard. Don?t worry, he assured him, we?re all afraid in situations like these. But showing up for treatment in the first place was a profound act of courage?courage that is fortified by our deep desire to protect our families.

Pastore and Vincent both agreed to speak openly about their cases because they hope their stories will serve as an important example. For those willing to follow it, here is my gauntlet for the brave:

First, if your belly looks like James Gandolfini?s, you need a check up. I am specifically asking you to measure your waist size at the belly button and honestly report if this number is more than half your height. Forget using your current belt size as a tool, since most men slip it below the belly fat pad.

Second, ensure that your baseline risk factors like hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol are under control. These are often corrected with lifestyle alone.

Third, shortness of breath from walking up two flights of stairs or any sudden change at all in your breath or stamina is worrisome. Think of it as the equivalent of having chest pain.

Fourth, what have you eaten in the last 24 hours? Fatty and fried foods cause spasms in blood vessels, which limits blood flow for six hours, at which point we often have another fatty meal. Most heart attacks occur on Monday mornings because of our dietary transgressions over the weekend and the stress of the upcoming work week. What you eat and do today will effect the chance of a heart attack tomorrow.

We?ll never know what wonderful work James Gandolfini would have done if he had had a full measure of years. We?ll never know either the things he would have taught his young daughter, who will have her first birthday in October. We do know the steps that might have helped him live to have all those experiences, and they?re the same things that can help protect us?and our families?too.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dr-oz-real-threat-sopranos-094550353.html

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Tropical storm Cosme: Hurricane Cosme by Tuesday?

Tropical?storm?Cosme?is strengthening off the coast of Mexico, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center says tropical storm Cosme will probably become a hurricane midday Tuesday.

By Associated Press / June 24, 2013

NOAA has projected the likely path of tropical storm Cosme as it continues up the coast of Mexico. The orange circle indicates the tropical storm's position at 2 p.m. on Monday. Black circles with an S indicate tropical storms, with wind speeds between 39-73 mph. Black circles with an H indicate hurricane-force winds, with speeds between 74-110 mph.

Courtesy of NOAA

Enlarge

Tropical?Storm?Cosme?is strengthening in Pacific waters southwest of the Mexican mainland and forecasters say it's expected to become a hurricane within a day.

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The?storm's?maximum sustained winds Monday afternoon have risen to 60 mph (95 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says more strengthening is expected in the coming 48 hours with?Cosme?expected to become a hurricane sometime Tuesday.

Cosme?is centered about 335 miles (535 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and is moving northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings are in effect.

The hurricane center says ocean swells generated by the?storm?will begin affecting a swath of the Pacific coast from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes later Monday night with life-threatening surf and rip currents possible.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/9Q3d-h26i58/Tropical-storm-Cosme-Hurricane-Cosme-by-Tuesday

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Socialists ahead in Albanian election count

TIRANA, Albania (AP) ? The Socialists appeared to hold an early lead as counting in Albania's election got under way Monday, a day after a deadly shooting outside a polling station.

Despite the shooting, international election monitors noted overall improvements ? seen as key test for the country's aspirations to forge closer ties with the European Union.

With less than a quarter of Sunday's votes counted, the Central Election Commission said the Socialists' coalition was taking 52 percent of the vote, while the Democrats had 37 percent. The Democrats, who are led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, won 48 percent of the popular vote in 2009.

In Albania, parliamentary seats are awarded on a party's share of the vote in each of 12 districts. For example, a party which won 50 percent of the vote in a 12-seat district could expect to win six seats. There are 140 seats in parliament.

Turnout was 54 percent of some 3.3 million registered voters, according to CEC estimates. Sunday's election was the eighth since the fall of communism in 1990.

Election observers from the Vienna, Austria-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said an overhaul of voting procedures last year had helped improve the country's election standards, but expressed disappointment at a pre-election dispute over the make-up of the election commission.

"Voting proceeded well, but with technical irregularities, and counting was delayed in many areas," said Roberto Battelli, head of the monitoring mission.

Confident of winning, the Socialist leader Edi Rama said his opponent had a role to play in Albania's future.

"This is the moment in politics when losers should take part in the victory of their country ... Albania should hold its head high after these elections," Rama said.

Full results were not expected until Tuesday, and the Democrats insisted the early returns were misleading.

"When all the ballots are counted we shall be the winners," party official Gerti Bogdani said, calling for a "peaceful, calm and regular" vote-counting process.

Although the election campaign was highly acrimonious, it was generally considered peaceful until Sunday's shooting in the north Albanian city of Lac.

A police spokesman said Gjon Gjoni, 49, died after being shot in an exchange of fire that also wounded Mhill Fufi, 49, a candidate for Berisha's governing Democratic Party, and a relative of Fufi.

The violence drew condemnation from an EU official.

"Violence is simply not acceptable and cannot be tolerated," Ettore Sequi, the EU ambassador to Tirana, told Associated Press television." These elections are a crucial test for the democratic maturity of the country a test for the smooth functioning of the Albanian institutions."

In 2009, three people were killed in politically motivated attacks during the campaign. They Socialists boycotted the parliament for a long time in protest to what it called manipulation from the governing Democrats.

Albania, now a NATO member despite a rocky road to democracy, has been denied EU candidate status twice since 2009 because of criticism that it has not done enough to fight corruption and proceed with democratic reforms that include its ability to hold elections that comply with international and European standards.

Last month, parliament held an extraordinary session to pass the last three laws in a series of 12 key recommendations required by the EU as part of the country's quest for eventual membership.

___

Associated Press writer Nebi Qena in Tirana contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/socialists-ahead-albanian-election-count-160651501.html

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