Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273665619?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Three Afghans dead in new blast at U.S. base in Afghan east
KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.
The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the eastern town of Khost, saying they had sent a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives to the base.
"The target was those who serve Americans at that base," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Afghanistan's NATO-led force said the bomber did not get into the base nor breach its perimeter. Police said the three dead were Afghans who were outside the base, which is beside a military airport.
The al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, widely regarded as the most dangerous U.S. foe in Afghanistan, is active in Khost province, which is on the Pakistani border.
After more than a decade of war, Taliban insurgents are still able to strike strategic military targets, and launch high-profile attacks in the capital, Kabul, and elsewhere.
Three years ago, an al Qaeda-linked Jordanian double-agent killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer in a suicide bombing at the same base in Khost, known as Forward Operating Base Chapman.
It was the second deadliest attack in CIA history.
Afghan police official General Abdul Qasim Baqizoy, the Khost police chief, said no CIA agents were hurt on Wednesday.
Afghan authorities are scrambling to improve security across the country before the U.S. combat mission ends in 2014.
Besides pressure from the Taliban, U.S.-led NATO forces also face a rising number of so-called insider attacks, in which Afghan forces turn their weapons on Western troops they are supposed to be working with.
On Monday, an Afghan policewoman killed a U.S. police adviser at the Kabul police headquarters, raising troubling questions about the direction of the war.
It appeared to be the first time that a woman member of Afghanistan's security forces carried out such an attack.
On Tuesday, Afghan officials said the woman has an Iranian passport and moved to Afghanistan 10 years ago. There was no suggestion that Iran was involved in the attack on the American.
Officials suspect she may have been recruited by al Qaeda or the Taliban, and had intended to also kill Afghan police officials.
(Reporting by Elyas Wahdat; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-afghan-city-khost-taliban-target-u-043617090.html
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Obtained The Home Owner Blues? Jazz Your Residence Using ...
Many individuals wonder if they can do home remodeling tasks. People also question if do-it-yourself venture can help to save them a lot of cash. It is possible to, but before the process weigh the options and select the right selection. This article will help you do it alone and when you should get in touch with the professionals.
Position your tv set about the walls. It could free up a considerable amount of place. The recommendations for mounting are quite basic and can be accomplished in under an hour or so.
One way to decrease the garbage you create is always to establish a garden compost pile. It?s easy to begin. Opt for an area with your garden to generate a garden compost heap, and initiate putting together your fruits peels, eggshells, coffee reasons and uneaten veggies in the stack. This keeps your volume of trash can to a minimum and may even lessen your trash expenses if you pay with the compartment or bag.
Your bath room might be redecorated very easily and then in a spending budget-pleasant way. The easiest way to liven up a bathroom is with a new group of shower towels, coordinating shower area curtain and bathtub pad, and also other small, and economical components. The process tends to make your bathroom look better immediately. Plants are an easy way to liven up a toilet, but make sure you choose types which will accept substantial humidity and reduced light requirements.
Take into account the installation of a shower if you have not one at home previously. A shower room is effective in reducing the volume of drinking water employed and is more readily available when compared to a bath tub. Showering for 5 minutes just uses 25 percent of your normal water a tub uses.
It?s crucial that you enjoy yourself when conducting any type of home improvement. Although you have to be cautious, you must also enjoy yourself. Should you aren?t experiencing and enjoying the process, errors are more likely. In these situations, it can be possibly advisable to take into account using the services of a real specialist.
Well before painting in your house, deal with every electrical socket with foil. It?s quicker to use lightweight aluminum foil to shield it from all those unintentional splatters. Clean-up is very easy! Be sure you eliminate and reuse the foil only once the painting has dried up.
If your new home is incorporated in the suburbs flanked by a wooded place, consider the installation of a chain-website link or wood made fencing alongside your backyard. This can always keep interested creatures like skunks, coyotes, and rabbits at bay ? especially if you plan to grow your backyard.
Liven up your home?s access by utilizing new painting and buying a brand new doormat. The entry to your residence helps make an important perception on visitors and guests. Added details such as an attractive welcome mat and a pretty potted vegetation by the front door can create a confident impact in your visitors.
When considering redesigning tasks, consider equipment enhancements that can save you cash. Updating older home appliances will pay will alone by producing vitality price savings after a while. Putting in appliances is rather simple and will make a wonderful home remodeling alternative.
When you are planning a residence enhancement undertaking, make sure to let adequate room for the resulting dirt to build-up. Demolition produces a massive clutter, and it will want a destination to go. Be sure you know how to proceed in regards to the dirt beforehand in order that you don?t end up having a huge stack while you are doing work.
Usually, refacing your units or replacing entrance doors and computer hardware will probably be just the thing your units need to have. Completely changing all of your current kitchen cabinets can cost a ton of money. However, the fee is significantly lowered if you choose to reface the drawer entry doors as an alternative. Your kitchen can look fresh and new so you won?t have to spend a fortune.
As you now have a far better comprehension of the delights of redesigning, you must truly feel more confident inside your capability to complete a venture. Boosting your home might be a great deal of entertaining. Now that you are furnished with the information using this write-up, you are well on your way turning into an old hands at the redecorating online game.
Should you desire additional points on air conditioning repair south jersey read Sal I. Sicari?s site there?s loads of details not detailed in this article, take a look at Author?s web blog to locate more.
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Oppo Find 5 to hit more international markets in Q1 2013, adds a $569 32GB model
Ho ho ho! Even on this special day, the folks at Oppo decided to drop a bomb on its "Ofans." According to a fresh teaser on its Facebook page, not only will Oppo be offering the $499 16GB version of the quad-core, five-inch 1080p Find 5 in the US (as we already knew), but there'll also be a 32GB flavor for $569. What's more, the image also lists many additional countries: Canada, UK, Spain, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium, Malaysia, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Greece, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Japan and Hong Kong. Just to be sure, we reached out to Oppo and were told that it's aiming to hit all these markets within Q1 next year; and better yet, it'll try to do that as close to the China launch as possible. Sounds like the company's pushing for a global online retail channel (the blurred out URL probably indicates that it'll be a centralized website), and it'll be interesting to compare its performance to Xiaomi's more humble attempt closer to home.
Update: We've been told that this is only a partial list, so fret not if your country isn't there.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: Oppo (Facebook)
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/25/oppo-find-5-international-markets/
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Friday, December 14, 2012
Feuerstein: 'Royal Pains' special a 'movie event'
By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor
You'd think filming "Royal Pains" in New York's Hamptons seaside community would be one of the easier jobs an actor could get, but appearances can be deceiving, as star Mark Feuerstein noted during his visit to the TODAY plaza Friday.
"We were shooting ... in the summer for winter, so it was 80 degrees and humid, but we were pretending it was freezing," he laughed. "A lot of sweat, a lot of snowflakes falling down your throat, but it looks great."
All in service of the two-hour holiday special edition of "Royal Pains, which airs on Sunday. Feuerstein stayed cagey about the plot, hinting there's "shady dealings" and the long-awaited wedding between his character's brother Evan and fiancee Paige.?
"It is a movie event!" he cried. "It's going to be awesome!
He also stuck around for TODAY's "Take 3" segment, and talked with the anchors about holiday travel madness, Golden Globes hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, unusual baby names and "airport elves."
So check out the videos, and tune into USA Network Sunday at 9 p.m. for the "awesome" movie event!
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Minister: Chavez may not be well by inauguration
People, one holding an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, gather to pray for him at Simon Bolivar square in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Doctors began operating on Chavez in Cuba, his government said, after his cancer reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
People, one holding an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, gather to pray for him at Simon Bolivar square in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Doctors began operating on Chavez in Cuba, his government said, after his cancer reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, center, addresses the nation on live television flanked by Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, left, and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Maduro said that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will face a "complex and hard" process after undergoing his fourth cancer-related operation in Cuba on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Chavez named Maduro as his chosen political heir. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office, Efrain Gonzalez)
A person holds up images of Venezuela's President Hugo, right, and Venezuela's independence hero Simon Bolivar as people gather to pray for Chavez at Simon Bolivar square in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Doctors began operating on Chavez in Cuba, his government said, after his cancer reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A student holds her teacher's hand at the start of the school day at the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela school where a poster of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hangs on the wall in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Chavez was recovering in Cuba on Tuesday after an operation targeting an aggressive cancer that has defied multiple treatments and has prompted the socialist leader to name a political successor. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
A person holds an image of the Venezuelan saint Jose Gregorio Hernadez as people gather to pray for Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at the Simon Bolivar square in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Doctors began operating on Chavez in Cuba, his government said, after his cancer reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? The government warned Venezuelans on Wednesday that ailing President Hugo Chavez may not be well enough after his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba to be inaugurated on Jan. 10.
Moving to prepare the public for the possibility of more bad news, Vice President Nicolas Maduro looked grim earlier in the day when he acknowledged that Chavez faced a "complex and hard" process after his latest surgery.
At the same time, officials strove to show a united front amid the growing worries about Chavez's health and the country's future. Key leaders of Chavez's party and military officers appearing together on television as Maduro took the lead in giving updates on Chavez's condition.
"We're more united than ever," said Maduro, who was flanked by National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, both key members of Chavez's inner circle. "We're united in loyalty to Chavez."
Analysts say Maduro could eventually face challenges in trying to hold together the president's diverse "Chavismo" movement, which includes groups from radical leftists to moderates, as well as military factions.
Tapped by the 58-year-old president over the weekend as his chosen political heir, Maduro is considered to be a member of radical left wing of Chavez's movement that is closely aligned with Cuba's communist government.
Cabello, a former military officer who also wields power within Chavez's movement, shared the spotlight with Maduro by speaking at a Mass for Chavez's health at a military base. Cabello, who had accompanied Chavez to Cuba for the operation, denied rumors of the president's demise.
"That man who is in Havana... is fighting a battle for his life, and he said it," Cabello said. He urged the audience to pray and said Chavez is "invincible."
Throughout the day, Venezuelan state television broadcast religious services in which Chavez's supporters prayed for his health, interspersed with campaign rallies for upcoming gubernatorial elections.
On the streets of Caracas, people on both sides of the country's deep political divide voiced concerns about Chavez's condition and what might happen if he died.
At campaign rallies ahead of Sunday's gubernatorial elections, Chavez's candidates urged Venezuelans to vote for pro-government candidates while they also called for the president to get well.
"Onward, Commander!" gubernatorial candidate Elias Jaua shouted to a crowd of supporters at a rally Wednesday. Many observers said it was likely that Chavez's candidates could get a boost from their supporters' outpouring of sympathy for Chavez.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in the October presidential election and is running for state office against Jaua, complained Wednesday that Chavez's allies are taking advantage of the president's health problems to try to rally support. He took issue with Jaua's statement to supporters that "we have to vote so that the president recovers."
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas expressed hope about the president returning, but said if Chavez isn't back for his scheduled swearing-in for a new six-year term, "our people should be prepared to understand it."
The constitution says presidents should be sworn in before the National Assembly, and if that's not possible then before the Supreme Court.
Former Supreme Court magistrate Roman Duque Corredor said a president cannot delegate the swearing-in to anyone else and cannot take the oath of office outside Venezuela. A president could still be sworn in even if temporarily incapacitated, but would need to be conscious and in Venezuela, Duque told The Associated Press.
If a president-elect is declared incapacitated by lawmakers and is unable to be sworn in, the National Assembly president would temporarily take charge of the government and a new presidential vote must be held within 30 days, Duque said.
Chavez said Saturday that if such new elections were held, Maduro should be elected president in his place.
Villegas said in a message on a government website that it would be irresponsible to hide news about the "delicateness of the current moment and the days to come." He asked Venezuelans to see any potential delay in Chavez's return as "when we have a sick father, in a delicate situation after four surgeries in a year and a half."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa also acknowledged the possibility of losing his close ally, while wishing him the best. "Chavez is very important for Latin America, but if he can't continue at the head of Venezuela, the processes of change have to continue," Correa said.
Maduro looked sad as he spoke on television, his voice hoarse and cracked at times after meeting in the pre-dawn hours with Cabello and Ramirez. The pair returned to Venezuela about 3 a.m. after accompanying Chavez to Cuba for his surgery.
"It was a complex, difficult, delicate operation," Maduro said. "The post-operative process is also going to be a complex and hard process."
Without giving details, Maduro reiterated Chavez's recent remarks that the surgery presented risks and that people should be prepared for any "difficult scenarios, which can be faced only with the unity of the people." Still, he expressed optimism Chavez would return home.
The vice president criticized the opposition, accusing it of using Chavez's illness to attack him. Many political adversaries have said the president should be more forthcoming about details of his pelvic cancer.
The dramatic events of this week, with Chavez suddenly taking a turn for the worse, had some Venezuelans wondering whether they were being told the truth because just a few months ago the president was running for his fourth presidential term and had said he was free of cancer.
Lawyer Maria Alicia Altuve, who was out in bustling crowds in a shopping district of downtown Caracas, said it seemed odd how Maduro wept at a political rally while talking about Chavez.
"He cries on television to set up a drama, so that people go vote for poor Chavez," Altuve said. "So we don't know if this illness is for that, or if it's that this man is truly sick."
Chavez announced over the weekend that he needed to have surgery again after tests showed "some malignant cells" had reappeared in the same area of his pelvic region where tumors were previously removed.
Throughout his nearly 14-year-old presidency, Chavez has been loved by some Venezuelans and reviled by others as he has nationalized companies, crusaded against U.S. influence and labeled his enemies "oligarchs" and "squalid ones."
Some Chavez supporters said they find it hard to think about losing the president and are worried about the future.
Others Venezuelans said that while they're sorry about Chavez's health and wish him the best, it isn't a particular concern for them. Many were out buying Christmas gifts and food as they prepared for the holiday season.
"The truth is that I have not paid much attention to the news. I just know the president is very sick and he went to Cuba for an operation," said Gabriela Hernandez, a nurse and opposition supporter. "I hope that he can get better. ... I don't wish for misfortune for anybody."
Omar Mendez, a shopkeeper who said he doesn't support Chavez or the opposition, was among several who worried about the possibility of political upheaval if Chavez doesn't survive.
"Many people don't dare to say it, but they want Chavez's death," Mendez said. "I would say something to those people: They should think hard about the consequences if Chavez does not survive this terrible illness because Chavez's death could bring about an unprecedented political crisis."
___
Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.
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Thursday, December 13, 2012
Green Blog: Energy Dept. to Underwrite 7 Wind Projects
The federal government is stepping up its efforts to kick-start the offshore wind industry by awarding $28 million in grants to seven projects that are developing varying kinds of power-generation technology.
The Department of Energy said Wednesday that each developer would receive up to $4 million to complete the engineering, design and permitting phases of their projects in six states. Three of the seven will then be selected to receive up to $47 million over four years, subject to Congressional appropriations, for construction and installation, with the aim of having them begin commercial operation by 2017. So far, no offshore wind farm is operating in American waters.
The projects are in Maine, New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, and Oregon. In New Jersey, one project plans to install as many as six direct-drive turbines in state waters three miles off Atlantic City, using a bottom-mounted design that is intended to minimize environmental impacts. In one Maine project, Statoil North America wants to build four three-megawatt turbines on floating structures in the Gulf of Maine near Boothbay Harbor.
The projects that go into commercial operation are expected to be preceded by proposed wind farms off Massachusetts and Rhode Island that have been approved but not yet built. The slow start in the United States contrasts with advances in Europe, where, by mid-2011, 49 wind farms with more than 1,200 turbines were producing 3,294 megawatts for nine national grids, according to the European Wind Energy Association.
The Fishermen?s Energy project in New Jersey is set to be the first demonstration project in the American wind industry, the company said in a statement welcoming the Energy Department?s announcement. It said it would now focus on the final selection of a contractor and hoped to begin construction onshore next year. 2013. By 2014, the company said, it aims to build the first American offshore wind farm connected to the grid.
?This project is the catalyst needed to jumpstart the offshore wind industry in New Jersey, and it sends the right signals to manufacturers that New Jersey is open for business,? said Rhonda Jackson, a spokeswoman for Fishermen?s Energy.
Jim Lanard, president of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, a trade group, called the awards a ?shot in the arm for the offshore wind industry., ?We fully expect all developers that receive the subsequent rounds of support to be able to get steel in the water,? he wrote in an e-mail.
.
In October the Department of the Interior awarded the first lease under its ?Smart From the Start? initiative to encourage offshore wind development. The lease, for some 96,000 acres of ocean off Delaware, gives NRG Bluewater Wind the exclusive right to submit plans for site assessment, construction, or operation, to federal officials.
Steven Chu, the secretary of energy, said the new awards reflected the Obama administration?s ?All of the Above? strategy to diversifying domestic energy sources.
The money ?paves the way to a cleaner, more sustainable and more diverse energy portfolio that develops every source of American energy,? he said in a statement.
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PFT: Valet joyrides with Wayne's car, gets busted
Getty ImagesTwo of the NFL?s eight division titles have already been clinched. By Sunday night, that number could grow to six.
The Texans, Ravens and Packers all clinch their divisions if they win on Sunday, while the 49ers will clinch the NFC West if they win and the Seahawks lose. The Colts can?t clinch their division on Sunday, but they will clinch a playoff berth if they beat the Texans.
Here are the full NFL playoff scenarios for Week 15:
Houston Texans clinch the AFC South with a win and clinch a first-round bye if they win and the Patriots and Broncos both lose.
Baltimore Ravens clinch the AFC North if they win, or if the Steelers and Bengals both lose.
Indianapolis Colts clinch a playoff spot if they win, or if the Jets and Bengals both lose.
Atlanta Falcons clinch a first-round playoff bye with a win and either a Packers loss or a 49ers loss, and the Falcons clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs if they win and both the Packers and 49ers lose.
San Francisco 49ers clinch the NFC West with a win and a Seahawks loss. They also clinch a playoff spot with a win, and they can even clinch a playoff spot with a loss if the Vikings, Cowboys, Redskins and Seahawks all lose.
Green Bay Packers clinch the NFC North with a win.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Ravi Shankar Dead: Indian Sitar Virtuoso Dies At 92
Over the course of the past year Shankar suffered from upper-respiratory and heart issues, according to Billboard. Last Thursday he underwent heart-valve replacement surgery, but was unable to recover from the procedure and passed away at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. Tuesday night.
This is a developing story...
NEW DELHI -- Ravi Shankar, the sitar virtuoso who became a hippie musical icon of the 1960s after hobnobbing with the Beatles and who introduced traditional Indian ragas to Western audiences over an eight-decade career, has died. He was 92.The prime minister's office confirmed his death and called him a "national treasure."
Labeled "the godfather of world music" by George Harrison, Shankar helped millions of classical, jazz and rock lovers discover the centuries-old traditions of Indian music.
He also pioneered the concept of the rock benefit with the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh. To later generations, he was known as the estranged father of popular American singer Norah Jones.
As early as the 1950s, Shankar began collaborating with and teaching some of the greats of Western music, including violinist Yehudi Menuhin and jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He played well-received shows in concert halls in Europe and the United States, but faced a constant struggle to bridge the musical gap between the West and the East.
Describing an early Shankar tour in 1957, Time magazine said "U.S. audiences were receptive but occasionally puzzled."
His close relationship with Harrison, the Beatles lead guitarist, shot Shankar to global stardom in the 1960s.
Harrison had grown fascinated with the sitar, a long necked, string instrument that uses a bulbous gourd for its resonating chamber and resembles a giant lute. He played the instrument, with a Western tuning, on the song "Norwegian Wood," but soon sought out Shankar, already a musical icon in India, to teach him to play it properly.
The pair spent weeks together, starting the lessons at Harrison's house in England and then moving to a houseboat in Kashmir and later to California.
Gaining confidence with the complex instrument, Harrison recorded the Indian-inspired song "Within You Without You" on the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," helping spark the raga-rock phase of 60s music and drawing increasing attention to Shankar and his work.
Shankar's popularity exploded, and he soon found himself playing on bills with some of the top rock musicians of the era. He played a four-hour set at the Monterey Pop Festival and the opening day of Woodstock.
Though the audience for his music had hugely expanded, Shankar, a serious, disciplined traditionalist who had played Carnegie Hall, chafed against the drug use and rebelliousness of the hippie culture.
"I was shocked to see people dressing so flamboyantly. They were all stoned. To me, it was a new world," Shankar told Rolling Stone of the Monterey festival.
While he enjoyed Otis Redding and the Mamas and the Papas at the festival, he was horrified when Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire.
"That was too much for me. In our culture, we have such respect for musical instruments, they are like part of God," he said.
In 1971, moved by the plight of millions of refugees fleeing into India to escape the war in Bangladesh, Shankar reached out to Harrison to see what they could do to help.
In what Shankar later described as "one of the most moving and intense musical experiences of the century," the pair organized two benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden that included Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr.
The concert, which spawned an album and a film, raised millions of dollars for UNICEF and inspired other rock benefits, including the 1985 Live Aid concert to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and the 2010 Hope For Haiti Now telethon.
Ravindra Shankar Chowdhury was born April 7, 1920, in the Indian city of Varanasi.
At the age of 10, he moved to Paris to join the world famous dance troupe of his brother Uday. Over the next eight years, Shankar traveled with the troupe across Europe, America and Asia, and later credited his early immersion in foreign cultures with making him such an effective ambassador for Indian music.
During one tour, renowned musician Baba Allaudin Khan joined the troupe, took Shankar under his wing and eventually became his teacher through 7 1/2 years of isolated, rigorous study of the sitar.
"Khan told me you have to leave everything else and do one thing properly," Shankar told The Associated Press.
In the 1950s, Shankar began gaining fame throughout India. He held the influential position of music director for All India Radio in New Delhi and wrote the scores for several popular films. He began writing compositions for orchestras, blending clarinets and other foreign instruments into traditional Indian music.
And he became a de facto tutor for Westerners fascinated by India's musical traditions.
He gave lessons to Coltrane, who named his son Ravi in Shankar's honor, and became close friends with Menuhin, recording the acclaimed "West Meets East" album with him. He also collaborated with flutist Jean Pierre Rampal, composer Philip Glass and conductors Andre Previn and Zubin Mehta.
"Any player on any instrument with any ears would be deeply moved by Ravi Shankar. If you love music, it would be impossible not to be," singer David Crosby, whose band The Byrds was inspired by Shankar's music, said in the book "The Dawn of Indian Music in the West: Bhairavi."
Shankar's personal life, however, was more complex.
His 1941 marriage to Baba Allaudin Khan's daughter, Annapurna Devi, ended in divorce. Though he had a decades-long relationship with dancer Kamala Shastri that ended in 1981, he had relationships with several other women in the 1970s.
In 1979, he fathered Norah Jones with New York concert promoter Sue Jones, and in 1981, Sukanya Rajan, who played the tanpura at his concerts, gave birth to his daughter Anoushka.
He grew estranged from Sue Jones in the 80s and didn't see Norah for a decade, though they later re-established contact.
He married Rajan in 1989 and trained young Anoushka as his heir on the sitar. In recent years, father and daughter toured the world together.
When Jones shot to stardom and won five Grammy awards in 2003, Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy of her own.
Shankar, himself, has won three Grammy awards and was nominated for an Oscar for his musical score for the movie "Gandhi."
Despite his fame, numerous albums and decades of world tours, Shankar's music remained a riddle to many Western ears.
Shankar was amused after he and colleague Ustad Ali Akbar Khan were greeted with admiring applause when they opened the Concert for Bangladesh by twanging their sitar and sarod for a minute and a half.
"If you like our tuning so much, I hope you will enjoy the playing more," he told the confused crowd, and then launched into his set.
___
Associated Press Writer Ravi Nessman in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/ravi-shankar-dead-dies-sitar-legend_n_2281885.html
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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Colorado students accused of sickening class with pot-laced brownies
BOULDER, Colo (Reuters) - Two University of Colorado at Boulder students are accused of bringing marijuana-laced brownies to a college class, sickening their unsuspecting professor and five classmates, police said on Sunday.
Thomas Cunningham, 21, and Mary Essa, 19, were arrested Saturday on suspicion of second-degree assault, fraudulently inducing the consumption of a controlled substance and conspiracy charges, university police spokesman Ryan Huff said.
Huff said three of those who ate the brownies were hospitalized, suffering from the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active property in marijuana.
"If someone views this as a prank, it's no laughing matter," Huff told Reuters. "These (charges) are all felonies which carry potential prison time."
According to Huff, police were summoned to a classroom building Friday morning on a report that a female professor was complaining of dizziness and was drifting in and out of consciousness. The instructor, who was not identified, was transported to a hospital.
Later Friday, the mother of a student in the class notified police that her daughter also was hospitalized after suffering "an anxiety attack."
The family of a third student also notified police that their daughter felt like she was going to black out after attending the class, and that they took her to a hospital.
All three have since been released from the hospital.
Huff said the students brought the brownies to class as part of a "bring food to class" day, and those who ate the brownies were unaware that they were laced with pot. Five students and the instructor fell ill after eating the brownies, police said.
Investigators questioned the instructor and 11 of the 12 students who attended the class and determined that Cunningham and Essa baked the brownies and served them to the unsuspecting class, Huff said. Both remain in the Boulder County jail pending a bond hearing.
Last month, Colorado voters approved the recreational use and possession of small amounts of marijuana.
In response to the legalization vote, University of Colorado president Bruce Benson sent a message to college alumni last week, saying that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and its use on the university's campuses could jeopardize research grant money.
"Marijuana threatens to cost the university nearly a billion dollars annually in federal revenue, money we can ill afford to lose," Benson said.
(Editing by Mary Slosson and Mary Wisniewski)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colorado-students-accused-sickening-class-pot-laced-brownies-010104636.html
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China's economy will be No. 1 in? 20 years: US study
7 hrs.
WASHINGTON - China's economy is likely to surpass the United States in less than two decades while Asia will overtake North America and Europe combined in global power by 2030, a U.S. intelligence report said on Monday.
"Meanwhile, the economies of Europe, Japan, and Russia are likely to continue their slow relative declines," it said.
The report, "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds," was issued by the National Intelligence Council, an analytical arm of the U.S. government's Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In addition to U.S. intelligence analysts, the report includes the views of foreign and private experts.
It is the fifth report of a series - the previous one was released in 2008 - that aims to stimulate "strategic thinking" among decision makers and not to predict the future.
The health of the global economy increasingly will be linked to progress in the developing world rather than the traditional West, the report said.
"As the world's largest economic power, China is expected to remain ahead of India, but the gap could begin to close by 2030," it said.
"India's rate of economic growth is likely to rise while China's slows. In 2030 India could be the rising economic powerhouse that China is seen to be today. China's current economic growth rate - 8 to 10 percent - will probably be a distant memory by 2030."
Technology innovation
Economic growth in emerging markets was expected to drive technological innovation and flows of companies, ideas, entrepreneurs and capital to developing countries will increase, the report said.
"During the next 15-20 years, more technological activity is likely to move to the developing world as multinationals focus on the fastest-growing emerging markets and as Chinese, Indian, Brazilian, and other emerging-economy corporations rapidly become internationally competitive."
Technology will help shift power away from any one country and toward "multifaceted and amorphous networks" to influence global policies, it said.
"Technology will continue to be the great leveler. The future Internet 'moguls' - as with today's Google or Facebook -sit on mountains of data and have more real-time information at their fingertips than most governments."
That data will enable private companies to influence behavior on as large a scale as government entities.
The widespread use of new communications technologies will mean social networking will enable citizens to join together and challenge governments, as seen in Middle East, but will also provide governments "an unprecedented ability to monitor their citizens," the report said.
Post Arab Spring
In the Middle East, the youth who drove the Arab Spring will give way to a gradually aging population and with new technologies starting to provide the world with other sources of oil and gas, the Middle East economy will need to increasingly diversify, the report said.
"But the Middle East's trajectory will depend on its political landscape.
"On the one hand, if the Islamic Republic maintains power in Iran and is able to develop nuclear weapons, the Middle East will face a highly unstable future. On the other hand, the emergence of moderate, democratic governments or a breakthrough agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could have enormously positive consequences."
Islamist terrorism might end by 2030, but terrorism is unlikely to disappear completely because states may use such groups due to a "strong sense of insecurity," the report said.
"With more widespread access to lethal and disruptive technologies, individuals who are experts in such niche areas as cyber systems might sell their services to the highest bidder, including terrorists, who would focus less on causing mass casualties and more on creating widespread economic and financial disruptions."
Spread of lethal technologies
The next two decades will see a spread of lethal technologies and a "wider spectrum of more accessible instruments of war" especially precision-strike, cyber and bioterror weapons, the report said.
"A cyber arms race is likely to occur" as states seek to defend infrastructure against cyber attacks and to incorporate cyber weapons in their arsenals.
"The degree to which cyber instruments will shape the future of warfare is unclear, however," it said.
War historians believe cyber power may end up similar to early 20th century projections of air power, which played a significant role but did not turn out to be the war-winning capability that some enthusiasts had predicted, the report said.
"The potential opened up by information technology is for future 'do-it-yourself' revolutions conducted by networked social movements that employ information technologies which communicate and collaborate with like-minded individuals," it said.?
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/chinas-economy-will-be-no-1-less-20-years-us-1C7511557
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