বৃহস্পতিবার, ১ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

Military watchdog: Intelligence leaker should not be in uniform

A military watchdog says convicted U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning should not have been allowed to enlist in the military based on the moral standards of the time.

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, says Manning was not eligible to be in the armed forces based on the 1993 law that has been mislabeled "Don't ask, don't tell," and wasn't repealed until after Manning enlisted.

Manning, a former intelligence analyst, faces up to 136 years in prison for convictions on multiple espionage, theft, and computer fraud charges. He was acquitted of the most serious charge ? aiding the enemy.

All of the counts involve Manning's leaking of Afghanistan and Iraq battlefield reports.

"He was not eligible because he engaged in homosexual conduct. This was known,? Donnelly tells OneNewsNow.

?So for the military to look the other way to retain him, not only for that reason even though he was ineligible, but they retained him despite bizarre behavior that indicated instability,? she adds.

Regarding the sentencing, Donnelly notes that Manning ??was not found innocent, he was found guilty of all the other charges, some of which he admitted to."

Donnelly says Manning's case can be compared to that of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, who also displayed unstable behavior before his murderous 2009 rampage at the Texas Army post.?

Source: http://www.onenewsnow.com/national-security/2013/08/01/military-watchdog-intelligence-leaker-should-not-be-in-uniform

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Randy Orton Attacked By Fan In South Africa, WWE Issues Statement and Posts Video of the Incident

Randy Orton Attacked By Fan In South Africa, WWE Issues Statement and Posts Video of the Incident

WWE superstar Randy Orton received an unsuspecting low blow by a fan in South Africa who rushed the ring while Orton was posing for fans on the top rope.

WWE issued a statement on the incident:

Orton should be OK as he was walking around afterwards. Meanwhile, Big E Langston, who faced Orton at the show, tweeted:

?That?s not exactly what we mean by ?intimate fan experience? #WWECapeTown?

Tags: randy orton, WWE

Source: ProWrestling.net

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.

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17 Hall of Famers ask Goodell for help

Seventeen Pro Football Hall of Famers and Dave Robinson, who will be inducted this weekend, have signed a letter telling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell they are concerned about medical care for former players and the league's "continued denial of the link between repeated head impacts and permanent brain damage."

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday and signed by NFL greats including Tony Dorsett, Floyd Little, Leroy Kelly and Paul Krause, comes just a few days ahead of the Hall of Fame festivities in Canton, Ohio.

The league is being sued by about 4,200 players who say they suffer from dementia, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions, which they believe stem from on-field concussions. Ten of the letter's signees are plaintiffs in the ongoing legal fight: Dorsett, Kelly, Krause, Lem Barney, Chris Doleman, Mel Renfro, Tommy McDonald, Randy White, Rayfield Wright and Joe DeLamielleure.

Goodell and the NFL insist that player safety has always been a top priority, and league spokesman Greg Aiello told the AP in an email Wednesday night that the players don't have their facts right.

"We have not seen the letter, but we make no such denial regarding concussions," Aiello said. "In fact, our concussion poster for players in every locker room, created in conjunction with the CDC a few years ago, states: 'Repetitive brain injury, when not managed promptly and properly, may cause permanent damage to your brain.'"

In the concussion legal dispute, a federal judge in Philadelphia has ordered the two sides into mediation over how the complaints will be litigated ? in court or in arbitration. U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody asked for a progress report by Sept. 3 and put a gag order on the lawyers involved.

Clearly, there was no silencing of the Hall of Famers, many of whom plan to be in Canton for the 50th anniversary of the football shrine.

"Legions of former players suffer short-term memory loss and other neurological issues, and many cannot even remember taking part in some of the NFL's greatest moments," they wrote to Goodell. "In the meantime, the NFL publicly touts the 'benefits' it provides to former players with brain injuries, while denying these players necessary medical monitoring, long-term care, and security.

"No one wants to see another generation of players suffer this fate. As former players, we refuse to stand by quietly and watch men who unknowingly sacrificed their health and future to the NFL go without the care they desperately need.

"Mr. Goodell, we ask you, as the commissioner of the league, to provide the security and care all former players and their families deserve."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-07-31-FBN-Hall-of-Famers-Health/id-9361e7bd4f17429e9a602d65d5d04ac9

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বুধবার, ৩১ জুলাই, ২০১৩

These Wild Hidden Pictures Could Protect the Money of the Future

We'd all be printing money if it were easy, and that's why government folks try so hard to make it hard. This crazy visual effect could be the latest trick up their anti-counterfeiting sleeves. And man is it awesome to watch.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/these-wild-hidden-pictures-could-protect-the-money-of-t-975207417

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Sony Honami Appears In Benchmarks

It looks like the new Sony Honami is the latest smartphone to appear in the GFX Bench, and the benchmarks confirm some of the specifications we have been hearing about the handset.

The Sony Honami will come with a 5 inch full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, the device will be powered by a quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.2GHz.

Sony Honami

The Honami will apparently come with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and will feature ?20 megapixel Sony Exmor RS camera on the back, plus a front facing 2 megapixel Sony Exmor R camera.

Other specifications on the Sony Honami will include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built in storage and a microSD card slot that can take up to 64GB cards.

Sony Honami

Sony are rumored to be announcing the Sony Honami at their IFA press event in Berlin in September, as soon as we get some more information about the device we will let you guys know.

Source RBMen

Image Credit Gadget Helpline

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/geeky-gadgets/~3/V56I31bSz9I/

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Analysis: Ford could close U.S. pension funding gap by end of 2014

By Deepa Seetharaman

DETROIT (Reuters) - Thanks to rising interest rates and an injection of cash, Ford Motor Co could be in a position that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago - with a fully funded U.S. pension fund.

Ford, which went through a searing restructuring in 2006, but avoided the bankruptcy route of its rivals General Motors and Chrysler , could cut its U.S. pension shortfall by half or even more by the end of this year from $9.7 billion at the end of 2012, according to securities analysts and Reuters calculations.

And the gap could be eliminated by the end of 2014 provided interest rates rise as economists expect and the stock market remains robust. That may give Ford added resources to pay down debt, invest in its businesses, or boost dividend payments, analysts said.

"It is a true obligation of the company right now and it's taking quite a bit of capital," Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said of the automaker's pension gap in an interview.

"Once we get it fully funded, de-risked and sort of put it in a box, it gives us the ability not to worry about it so much and take future cash flow and put it wherever we want," he said.

If Ford fully funds its U.S. pension plan by the end of next year that would be quicker than many analysts had expected. GM could be about one to two years behind Ford in closing its U.S. pension gap, said Guggenheim Securities LLC analyst Matt Stover.

But critical to this scenario is that interest rates used to calculate retiree pension obligations continue to rise. Ford would also have to be willing to contribute at least $1 billion in 2014 to close its U.S. pension gap, analysts said.

Eliminating the shortfall is "possible by the end of 2014 and it's going to be because interest rates climb," said Stover, who predicts Ford's U.S. pension plans will be underfunded by about $4 billion by the end of 2013.

Ford's U.S. pension obligation was $52 billion at the end of last year, while GM's was about $82 billion.

GM was the first of the U.S. automakers to establish a pension plan in 1950 as part of the "Treaty of Detroit," a contract negotiated by legendary United Auto Workers union leader Walter Reuther. Ford and Chrysler followed suit.

But by the mid-2000s, pensions and other retiree benefits became an ever-increasing liability that automakers said added as much as $2,000 to the cost of a vehicle and put them at a disadvantage against foreign rivals.

Since then, GM and Ford have both taken steps to "de-risk" their pension plans by closing off their plans to new participants, offering lump-sum buyouts and shifting to more conservative investments.

Last year, GM cut $29 billion, or one-fifth, of its global pension liability when it shifted management of white-collar pension plans for 118,000 salaried retirees to a unit of Prudential Financial Inc .

But underfunding remains an issue, partly because that shortfall is viewed by credit ratings agencies as debt.

Ford plans to inject $5 billion cash into its global pension plans this year to help reduce the underfunding - though some of that will go towards pension plans elsewhere in the world.

To put the underfunding and Ford's cash injection in context, the automaker spent $5.5 billion in 2012 on product development, building factories and other capital expenditures.

A $4 BILLION BOON

Companies calculate the present value of their future pension liabilities using a so-called discount rate, which is based on corporate bond rates. A higher rate means lower liabilities, meaning that a company doesn't have to set aside as much cash now to pay retirees in the future.

Based on the most optimistic scenario laid out by actuarial firm Milliman, higher rates alone could narrow Ford's pension gap by about $4 billion by the end of 2014. Stover said higher rates could close about half of Ford's U.S. pension shortfall.

"The auto companies have always been associated with having these big pension liabilities," Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said. "It becomes a frustration for investors to deal with more volatility on top of already volatile industry dynamics."

Closing the U.S. pension gap "takes an element that has arguably weighed on investor sentiment and just takes that issue away," Michaeli added.

The discount rate, which is based on corporate bond yields and is used to determine the present value of payments they make over the life of their plans, has risen this year to 4.74 percent in June from 3.96 percent in December, according to Milliman.

By the end of 2013, the discount rate could be as high as 5.04 percent, and by the end of 2014 it could be up to 5.64 percent, Milliman estimates.

A smaller pension gap would likely pave the way for Standard & Poor's to upgrade Ford's credit ratings upgrade to investment grade, Michaeli said. That would allow the automaker to fund the remaining U.S. pension gap with unsecured debt.

"By issuing debt, what you're doing is freeing up free cash flow," he said, adding that could be used to boost dividends, develop new vehicles or pay off debt.

For Ford, a one percentage point increase in the discount rate alone could lower its U.S. pension liability by $2.3 billion, Shanks said during Ford's second-quarter earnings call.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman and Dan Burns; Editing by Martin Howell and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-ford-could-close-u-pension-funding-gap-050332067.html

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Louis-Dreyfus praises Gandolfini's final film role

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) ? Julia Louis-Dreyfus says audiences will "really freak out" over James Gandolfini's performance in his final film.

Gandolfini plays her character's love interest in Nicole Holofcener's "Enough Said," set for release in September. The actress, who is promoting her role in Disney's "Planes," says she worked "intimately" with Gandolfini on the shoot just months before he died.

Gandolfini died in June of a heart attack at age 51 while vacationing in Italy. Louis-Dreyfus says it was a "dreamy experience" to act alongside him, adding that his character has no trace of Tony Soprano-style darkness.

The romantic comedy will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/louis-dreyfus-praises-gandolfinis-final-film-role-000615825.html

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