Wildlife News Roundup (June 8-14, 2013) | The Wildlife Society News

A female Great Plains gray wolf (Canis lupus nubilus) at Seney National Wildlife Refuge, Michigan. All three U.S. gray wolf subspecies would lose protection under the Endangered Species Act if the gray wolf is delisted, as proposed. (Credit: Seney Natural History Association)

Delisting of Gray Wolf? Proposed as Numbers Rise
(The Washington Post)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has formally proposed removing the gray wolf from the list of threatened and endangered species, noting that 6,100 wolves now roam the contiguous United States, the vast majority of them in the northern Rockies and western Great Lakes regions. Protections were removed for wolves in those areas in 2011 and 2012; the new rule would end protection everywhere else. More

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NEWS FROM NORTH AMERICA

British Columbia Rejects Northern Gateway Pipeline Over Environmental Concerns
(CTV News)
The Canadian province filed its final written statement to the federal Northern Gateway Pipeline Joint Review Panel and concluded that it will not support the $6 billion proposal, as it stands, due mainly to environmental concerns. More

Pesticide Industry to Benefit from New Farm Bill
(Philly.com)
Tucked within the 1,234-page House farm bill expected to come up for debate next week are two controversial provisions benefitting the pesticide industry by reversing court-ordered federal agency policies designed to protect water and wildlife. More

Vermont Fish & Wildlife Works to Recover Timber Rattlesnakes
(VTDigger)
The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has been working with researchers at The Nature Conservancy and the Orianne Society to conserve a piece of Vermont?s unique natural heritage: The timber rattlesnake. They have captured rattlesnakes from the wild and implanted radio transmitters under their skin as part of a two-year study of timber rattlesnake habitat and movements in western Rutland County. More

Ontario Simplifies Rules for Protection of Species at Risk
(NorthumberlandView.ca)
Ontario is simplifying rules for landowners, municipalities and businesses under its Endangered Species Act, while maintaining its position as a North American leader in species protection. These changes include implementing standardized rules and an online registry for select ?low-risk? activities. More

Elk Calves Tagged for Survival Research in Montana
(Missoulian)
In the mountain meadows on the southern edge of the Bitterroot Valley, Mont., wildlife researchers were all about being efficient as they stalked tiny elk calves hidden away by their mothers. Using skills they?ve perfected over the past two years, they managed to sneak up on more calves than ever this spring. More

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Endangered Listing for Captive Chimpanzees
(The Washington Post)
The federal government has moved to declare all chimpanzees endangered, an act that would provide stronger protections and potentially end nearly a century of using great apes as test subjects for invasive medical research. More

Wildlife Management Areas Restrict Camping for Second Season in North Dakota
(The Bismark Tribune)
For the second consecutive year, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is clamping down on camping on some wildlife management areas in the state. Jeb Williams, assistant wildlife chief for the Game and Fish Department, said squatters in these areas have always been an issue to some degree. More

Increased Human, Coyote Conflicts in Metro Denver Prompts Study
(Denver iJournal)
After an increase in reports of negative encounters with coyotes in metro Denver, scientists from Colorado State University?s Warner College of Natural Resources are conducting research to understand how human thoughts and behavior affect coyote conflict in urban areas. More

WILDLIFE HEALTH AND DISEASE NEWS

U.K. Honey Bee Losses Double in a Year Due to Poor Winter
(BBC News)
This winter?s losses of honey bee colonies were the worst since records began six years ago, according to a survey carried out by the British Beekeepers Association. It says more than a third of hives did not survive the cold, wet conditions. More

Asian Tigers at Risk from Domestic Dog Distemper Virus
(BBC News)
John Lewis, director of Wildlife Vets International, said there was evidence that Indonesian tigers were at risk. Canine distemper virus has evolved in from infecting only dogs to affecting other animal groups. ?In the intervening years, the virus has evolved and has changed its pattern of animals it can infect to include marine mammals (such as seals) and big cats,? said Lewis. More

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Illegal Wildlife Trade Still Rising in Malaysia
(AsiaOne)
Greedy traffickers who gain huge profits from the cruel and unethical trade are focusing on Malaysia as it is among the few countries which still has tigers, elephants, sun bears, pangolins and other sought-after species. More

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/featured/wildlife-news-roundup-june-8-14-2013/

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Unsecured Personal Loans for People with Bad Credit Ratings ...

To get majority of loans approved, you need to place something as security. Now, what if you do not own any property for the purpose? And what if you have been tagged a poor creditor? There is an option though, in the guise of unsecured personal loans for people with bad credit ratings.
These demand no security or collateral against the loan amount issued. In spite of the non involvement of collateral you can secure amount between ?5000 and ?25000.

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As there is no security for unsecured personal loan, it involves small repayment duration stretching up to 10 years and higher rate of interest compared with other loans of the same category. The high rates are nothing but a risk shielding measure to install confidence among lenders. These loans provide complete freedom to borrowers with the expenditure of the amount and lenders hardly interfere in this domain justifying the personal nature of such loans.

You need to furnish your salary slips, your residence proof and your recent bank statements. These are the criteria which check your eligibility for these loans. You need to be a UK citizen above 18 years of age. Also you are required to have lived at the concerned address for not less than one year.

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Source: http://whereareyougoingwherehaveyoubeen84.blogspot.com/2013/06/unsecured-personal-loans-for-people.html

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Laurence J. Kotlikoff: Why the Government Needs to Budget Over the Infinite Horizon

How far into the future should governments budget?

Economic theory has a clear and rigid answer. But it's not one economists like to give -- for two reasons. First, it's not one people easily comprehend. Second, it's not one that politicians, whose attention most economists covet, like to hear.

The answer is that governments need to budget out to infinity.

Infinity is a very long time. But economic theory also tells us that in budgeting out to infinity, we should place less weight on distant government expenditures and tax receipts. Specifically, we should include in our budgeting, not actual future expenditures and taxes, but their present values.

Present value stands for the value right now -- in the present. And the value right now of getting one dollar in the future is smaller the longer you have to wait for it. The reason is simple. You can put aside less than a dollar today, earn interest on that saving and end up with a dollar in the future. If you can invest at 3 percent, you only need to put aside 41? today to end up with $1 in 30 years. So 41? is what $1 in 30 years is worth today.

The fact that economics tell us to discount, as in make less of, each dollar a government owes and receives in the distant future doesn't mean we can ignore those obligations and receipts, especially if there are loads of future obligations relative to receipts to be discounted.

Take the just-released 2013 Trustees Report on Social Security's long-run finances. Table IVB6 shows an infinite horizon fiscal gap of $23.1 trillion separating the system's projected costs and taxes net of its trust fund. This massive shortfall, which grew a whopping 8 percent last year, is 50 percent larger than U.S. GDP and almost twice the federal debt held by the public.

Table IVB6 also reports Social Security's 75-year fiscal gap. It's only $9.6 trillion or 41 percent of $23.1 trillion. Thus, the 75-year fiscal gap hides three fifths of the system's true long-term shortfall.

Eliminating the infinite horizon fiscal gap requires an immediate and permanent 4 cents on the dollar hike in Social Security's current 12.4 percent FICA tax rate. That's a 32 percent increase, implying that Social Security is 32 percent underfunded! Alternatively, we could cut all Social Security benefits immediately and permanently by 22 percent.

Social Security began reporting its infinite horizon fiscal gap 2003. Back then it was $10.5 trillion. On an inflation-adjusted basis, the gap's risen 74 percent leaving the system in far worse shape than when the 1983 Greenspan Commission "fixed" it.

The Commission, like the current Trustees, looked out only 75 years. In so doing, it ignored not just the 30 years between 2057 and 2087 now in the current 75-year window, but all the years after 2087, when today's and tomorrow's children will be alive.

Ignoring the distant future when our kids' welfare is at stake is morally repugnant. But it's also forbidden by economic theory. Here's why. Economic theory doesn't tell us whether to call any given dollar the government takes from us "taxes" or "borrowing." Nor does it tell us whether to call any given dollar the government hands to us a "transfer payment" or "repayment of principal plus interest."

Economics is about real policy, not the language used to describe policy. But the government's choice of words, not its actual fiscal deeds, will dictate its cash flow projections and the fiscal gap it reports over any finite budgeting horizon, be it the 10-year horizon Congress uses or the 75-year horizon the Social Security Trustees favor.

Indeed, Social Security's $23.1 trillion fiscal gap is off-the-books because politicians from both parties chose to call our FICA contributions "taxes," rather than "borrowing," even though they simultaneously made promises to repay our "taxes" with future "benefits" that could just as well be called "repayment of principal plus interest."

This is the real reason that politicians and their "trustees" budget over short-term horizons. Doing so let's them label their policies in ways that leave most obligations outside the budgeting horizon.

But, here's the catch. Any internally consistent set of labels will produce the same infinite horizon fiscal gap. But each will produce a different fiscal gap over any finite horizon, including 75 years. In short, then, the 75-year fiscal gap of Social Security is not pinned down by economic theory. It can be any size anyone wants to report based on her own internally consistent labeling choice. So 10-year, 25-year, 50-year, and 75-year fiscal gaps literally have no economic meaning because they measure our labels - our words, not our policy.

For the U.S. government as a whole, the infinite horizon fiscal gap is a whopping $222 trillion! It's elimination requires not a 32 percent immediate and permanent tax hike in Social Security FICA taxes or a 22 percent immediate and permanent cut in Social Security benefits, but either a 64 percent immediate and permanent tax hike in all federal taxes or a 40 percent immediate and permanent cut in all expenditures apart from servicing official debt. So, Social Security's enormous fiscal problem is just a molehill in front of a mountain of horrendous obligations our politicians and their "trustees" are ignoring with their careful choice of words and their finite budgeting horizons.

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Follow Laurence J. Kotlikoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kotlikoff

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurence-j-kotlikoff/government-budgets_b_3450778.html

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Pavement: The Sutcliffe Catering Song

The days are getting longer, the weather's getting warmer. It's this time of year that anyone and everyone could use some killer strollin' music to strut to. Might I suggest the hidden Pavement not-exactly-a-classic-but-damn-well-should-be "The Sutcliffe Catering Song"? You just have to like it.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/rT_O_6zeUsw/pavement-the-sutcliffe-catering-song-513602502

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Russia: U.S. claims of Syrian chemical arms use unconvincing

By Alexei Anishchuk

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Information that the United States has given Russia about suspected use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces "does not look convincing", President Vladimir Putin's senior foreign policy adviser said on Friday.

Yuri Ushakov said more U.S. military support for Assad's opponents would undermine joint efforts to bring together Syrian government and opposition representatives for peace talks.

But he said Russia was "not yet" considering sending Assad advanced missiles in response and voiced hope for constructive talks between Putin and Western leaders at a G8 summit next week, saying Moscow and Washington do not "compete" over Syria.

A U.S. official said on Thursday that President Barack Obama had authorized sending U.S. weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, after the White House said it had proof the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces.

U.S. officials briefed Russia on the information they had, Ushakov said. "But I will say frankly that what was presented by the Americans does not look convincing to us."

Syria's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of lying about chemical weapons use to give it an excuse to intervene, saying it relied on "fabricated information".

Ushakov made clear that Russia suspects there could be a repeat of the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, when false intelligence was used to justify military action.

"I would not like to draw parallels with the well-known investigations by (then U.S.) Secretary of State (Colin) Powell, but the information and facts that were presented do not look convincing," he said of the latest U.S. information.

"It would be hard even to call them facts," Ushakov said at a briefing before the June 17-18 G8 summit in Northern Ireland, where Putin will meet Obama and other Western leaders.

SIDES STRIVE TO CONVENE PEACE TALKS

States are trying to convene to bring together those fighting in a two-year-old civil war that has killed 93,000 people.

"If the Americans ... carry out more wide-scale aid to the rebels and opposition, it will not make organizing the international conference easier," Ushakov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that the U.S. plans caused "serious concern" and suggested the United States was turning toward military aid because its efforts to bring Assad's foes to the conference were "stalling".

In a statement, Lukashevich expressed concern about calls for the creation of a no-fly zone, which Russia has opposed.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone conversation that military support for Syrian rebels risked escalating violence in the Middle East.

Lavrov and Kerry agreed to increase efforts to organize a peace conference in Geneva involving both Syrian sides as well as regional and global powers, a ministry statement said. No date has been set for the peace meeting.

Russia has been Assad's most powerful protector during the conflict, opposing sanctions and, with China, vetoing three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Assad's government or pushing him from power.

Moscow has rejected Western and Israeli pressure to scrap a deal to send Assad advanced S-300 air-defense missile systems, saying they would deter "hotheads" eager to intervene, but Putin said last week that the equipment had not yet been delivered.

Asked whether Moscow might send S300s to Syria as a response to increased U.S. military support for the rebels, Ushakov said: "We are not talking about that yet."

"We are not competing over Syria," Ushakov said. "We are not talking about competition at all. I think Putin and Obama will discuss the further development of Russian-American initiatives when they meet (in Northern Ireland)."

Moscow has been a major supplier of weapons to Syria since the Soviet era but says it is no longer delivering arms that can be used in the civil war.

(Writing by Thomas Grove and; Steve Gutterman; Editing by Louise Ireland and Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-u-claims-syrian-chemical-arms-unconvincing-190850775.html

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The Old-School Tech from the NSA's Past

The NSA's high-tech, new school surveillance system has been getting a whole lot of attention lately, but their old-school digs are worth a look as well. The agency has been around since the 1950s, originally tasked with cracking wartime codes, the NSA's gear has always been cutting edge, and the old stuff is amazing and funny to look at now.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6bO4_pX3uuM/the-old-school-tech-from-the-nsas-past-513606856

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Iran's voters show fervor in showdown atmosphere

In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot in the presidential election without publicly endorsing a candidate, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 14, 2013. On Friday, Khamenei delivered a salty rebuke to U.S. questions over the openness of the presidential contest , telling Washington "the hell with you" after casting his ballot in a race widely criticized in the West as pre-rigged in favor of Tehran's ruling system. (AP Photo/Office of the Supreme Leader)

In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot in the presidential election without publicly endorsing a candidate, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 14, 2013. On Friday, Khamenei delivered a salty rebuke to U.S. questions over the openness of the presidential contest , telling Washington "the hell with you" after casting his ballot in a race widely criticized in the West as pre-rigged in favor of Tehran's ruling system. (AP Photo/Office of the Supreme Leader)

Iranian women attend a polling station to vote for the presidential and municipal councils elections in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian citizens wait to get ballots for the Iranian presidential election at a polling station inside the Sadr Mosque in the Kazimiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 14, 2013. Iranian voters appeared to heed calls to cast ballots Friday in a presidential election that has suddenly become a showdown across Iran's political divide: Hard-liners looking to cement their control and re-energized reformists backing the lone moderate left in the race. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

Iranian nationals queue to vote in the Iran presidential election at the Iranian Consulate in London, Friday, June 14, 2013. Iran holds presidential elections on Friday, June 14, to choose a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who cannot run for a third consecutive term in office. Six candidates remain in the race, a moderate, four conservatives and a hard-liner. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Iranian presidential candidate Hasan Rowhani, a former Iran's top nuclear negotiator, casts his ballot during presidential elections at a polling station in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's supreme leader delivered a salty rebuke to the U.S. Friday as Iranians lined up to vote in a presidential election that has suddenly become a showdown across the Islamic Republic's political divide: hard-liners looking to cement their control and re-energized reformists backing the lone moderate.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded to U.S. questions over the openness of the balloting, telling Washington "the hell with you" after voting in a race widely criticized in the West as pre-rigged in favor of Tehran's ruling system.

Long lines snaked outside some voting stations in Tehran and elsewhere. Iran's interior ministry extended the voting time by four hours. The enthusiasm suggested an election once viewed as a pre-engineered victory for Iran's ruling establishment has become a chance for reform-minded voters to re-exert their voices after years of withering crackdowns.

There is no clear front-runner among the six candidates trying to succeed the combative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose eight-year era is coming to an end because of rules blocking a run for a third consecutive term. But influential figures on all sides have appealed for a strong turnout, indicating both the worries and hopes across an election that has been transformed in recent days.

Iran's loose coalition of liberals, reformists and opposition activists ? battered and fragmented by relentless pressures ? have found last-minute inspiration in former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani, the only relative moderate left in the race.

A victory by Rowhani would be seen as a small setback for Iran's hard-liners, but not the type of overwhelming challenge posed four years ago by the reformist Green Movement, which was brutally crushed after mass protests claiming Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election was the result of systematic fraud in the vote counting.

Iran's president has no direct say in key decisions ? such as the nuclear program, defense and foreign relations ? but sets an important tone on the world stage and as the country's main envoy.

If no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff pitting the two top finishers would take place June 21, so even a strong showing by Rowhani in Friday's voting could face another test. Results are expected early Saturday.

Rowhani's backers, such as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ? who was blocked from running by Iran's ruling system ? have urged reformists and others to cast ballots and abandon plans to boycott the election in protest over years of arrests and intimidation.

"Both I and my mother voted for Rowhani," said Saeed Joorabchi, a university student in geography, after casting his ballot at a mosque in west Tehran.

In the Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbas, local journalist Ali Reza Khorshidzadeh said many polling stations have significant lines and many voters appear to back Rowhani.

But fervor also was strong for other presumed leading candidates: hardline nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Tehran's mayor, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who is boosted by a reputation as a steady hand for Iran's sanctions-wracked economy.

"We should resist the West," said Tehran taxi driver Hasan Ghasemi, who backed Jalili.

Outside Iran, votes were casts by the country's huge diaspora including Dubai, London and points across the United States.

Khamenei, who has not publicly endorsed a successor for Ahmadinejad following their falling out over the president's attempts to challenge the supreme leader's near-absolute powers, remained mum on his choice Friday.

Instead, he blasted the U.S. for its repeated criticism of Iran's clampdowns on the opposition and the rejection of Rafsanjani and other moderate voices from the ballot.

"Recently I have heard that a U.S. security official has said they do not accept this election," Khamenei was quoted by state TV after casting his vote. "OK, the hell with you."

In Washington on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that while the U.S. does not think the Iranian election process is transparent, it is not discouraging the Iranian people from voting.

"We certainly encourage them to," Psaki said. "But certainly the history here and what happened just four years ago gives all of us pause."

Iran's election overseers allowed eight candidates on the ballot out of more than 680 registered. Two candidates later dropped out in bids to consolidate votes with rivals. Journalists were under wide-ranging restrictions such as requiring permission to travel around the country. Iran does not allow outside election observers.

Iran's security networks, meanwhile, have displayed their near-blanket control, ranging from swift crackdowns on any public dissent to cyberpolice blocking opposition Internet websites and social media.

Yet other cracks are evident.

Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear program have pummeled the economy by shrinking vital oil sales and leaving the country isolated from international banking systems. New U.S. measures taking effect July 1 further target the country's currency, the rial, which has lost half its foreign exchange value in the past year, driving prices of food and consumer goods sharply higher.

Such concerns could have a direct effect on the outcome of the election. Qalibaf is widely viewed as a capable fiscal manager and could draw in votes, since economic affairs are among the direct responsibilities of Iran's president.

All other major issues are fully controlled by the Khamenei, his inner circle and its protectors, led by the powerful Revolutionary Guard. The other candidates permitted on the ballot by election overseers are seen as loyalists, including Jalili and Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati.

Such insiders in the presidency would give Iran's leadership a seamless front with significant challenges ahead, such as the possible resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers and the increasing showdown in Syria between rebels and the Iranian-backed regime of Bashar Assad.

Recent comments by Khamenei were interpreted as leaning toward Jalili, whose reputation is further enhanced by a battlefield injury during the 1980-88 war with Iraq that cost him the lower part of his right leg.

But the election also could leave Iran further divided. Rowhani's rapid rise from longshot to reformist hopeful ? aided by endorsements from artists and activists ? has shown the resilience of Iran's opposition despite relentless crackdowns. A defeat could leave them even more embittered and alienated.

At final rallies, Rowhani's supporters waved his campaign's signature purple ? a clear nod to the single-color identity of the now-crushed Green Movement and its leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest for more than two years. On Wednesday, thousands of supporters welcomed Rowhani yelling: "Long live reforms."

Some Rowhani backers also have used the campaign events to chant for the release of Mousavi and other political prisoners, including former parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi, leading to some arrests and scuffles with police.

Rowhani is far from a radical outsider, though. He led the influential Supreme National Security Council and was given the highly sensitive nuclear envoy role in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old atomic program was revealed.

But he is believed to favor a less confrontational approach with the West and would give a forum for now-sidelined officials such as Rafsanjani and former President Mohammad Khatami, whose reformist terms from 1997-2005 opened unprecedented social and political freedoms that have since been largely rolled back.

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-14-Iran-Election/id-3361f47574254a558b32c140daf156c7

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Florida Georgia Line?s meteoric rise continues

By Chris Talbott June 13, 2013 1:40PM

Brian Kelley (left) and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line perform June 5 in Nashville, Tenn. The duo is on the bill June 15 at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. | GETTY IMAGES

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Luke Bryan, Flordia Georgia Line, 7 p.m. June 15, First Midwest Bank Aphitheatre, 19100 S. Ridgeland, Tinley Park $29.50-$54.25. (800) 745-3000; ticketmaster.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Florida Georgia Line already had a chart-topping country hit with Cruise when rapper Nelly got hold of it and helped transform it into a crossover smash. The two acts teamed up to close the CMT Music Awards last week with a pyro-filled production, placing themselves firmly in a long, proud line of cross-cultural collaborations that traces all the way back to Jimmie Rodgers recording with Louis Armstrong in 1930.

FGL?s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley have discovered ? like Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and a few other country acts over the years ? that there?s nothing like the ride of a crossover hit.

?I think it?s kind of like pouring gas on a fire,? Hubbard said. ?It?s been wild.?

A year ago, ?Cruise? went No. 1 on the country charts, they won the Academy of Country Music?s best new artist award, scored coveted opening slots on tour with country?s hottest acts Swift and Luke Bryan, and met Nelly. Their remix is currently No. 5 on Billboard?s Hot 100 songs chart. Because of it, they got their starring role at this year?s CMT Music Awards, where they were up for three trophies (including video of the year for ?Cruise?); they won for Duo Video and Breakthrough Video.

Few artists have risen so quickly in the fairly stagnant world of country music. Fans are loyal, but they aren?t always quick to adapt. Top stars like Jason Aldean and Eric Church, for instance, were at it for a decade before hitting the top reaches of country music.

Hubbard and Kelley started playing the game in earnest in 2009 after meeting at Belmont University, the private school near Music Row that?s been the starting point for many musicians and music business employees in town. Unlike that legion of aspiring artists, managers and publicists, neither Hubbard nor Kelley came to town with designs on the spotlight.

Kelley ? a hunky 27-year-old blond with short-cropped hair from Ormond Beach, Fla. ? was a college baseball player with a guitar hobby on the side who?d bounced around a bit before landing at Belmont. Hubbard ? a hunky 26-year-old with longer hair and an edgier vibe from Monroe, Ga. ? wanted a business degree and liked Nashville. He also played guitar and figured he?d go for a music business degree.

A friend introduced them and they found they had similar backgrounds and interests. More important, they meshed perfectly when they picked up their guitars to write together that first time.

?We wrote our song and thought, ?This is pretty cool,?? Kelley said. ??We?ve got something special here.??

Nelly heard that something special from his labelmates when the duo?s management pointed out the then-countrified version of ?Cruise.? Asked why he got involved, he smiled and said, ?I love hits.?

?They?re great kids,? he said later. ?They?re great guys. They?re young. They have energy. They?re excited. I told them, ?Enjoy being the new guys because you only get to be the new guy once.??

They?re trying to take that message to heart while ensuring they progress past that ?new guy? phase. But every once in a while, the distance they?ve traveled at light speed over the past few years catches up with them. Not so long ago they lived together frat-style with three other people. They awoke in the morning and wrote songs, then would head off to paint houses or wash cars before returning to the house to write more.

?We?ve definitely been blessed the last few years,? Hubbard said.

AP

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/20701337-421/florida-georgia-lines-meteoric-rise-continues.html

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Airbus A350 completes maiden flight

14 June 2013 Last updated at 08:33 ET

The Airbus A350 lands in Toulouse after its maiden test flight

The newest aircraft from European planemaker Airbus has successfully completed its maiden test flight.

The Airbus A350 is designed to be more fuel-efficient, and a direct competitor to US rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

It is seen as vital to the future of Airbus, which competes with Boeing to supply the majority of the world's airlines with new planes.

It took off from Blagnac airstrip in the French city of Toulouse, where the A350 is assembled, on Friday morning.

The plane made a four-hour trip and landed back at Toulouse shortly after 1pm.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

Airbus's caution over the A350's development may help to explain why the aircraft will not be making its public bow at this year's aerospace industry showcase, the Paris Air Show?

End Quote

Boeing's Dreamliner has proved popular since its first flight in 2009, despite recently being grounded by regulators over safety fears relating to its batteries.

Major milestone

Airlines are being squeezed by high fuel costs and falling passenger numbers, and are looking for more fuel-efficient aircraft.

Airbus claims the A350, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, will use about 25% less fuel than previous generation wide-bodied aircraft.

Like the Dreamliner, the A350 is made largely of advanced materials, particularly carbon composites, in order to save weight.

David Shukman takes an exclusive close-up look at how the plane was built

Airbus has already taken more than 600 orders for the new plane, whereas there have been 890 Dreamliner orders so far.

The company hopes to start delivering the first A350s to customers by the end of 2014.

Analysts say a successful test flight would be a major milestone for Airbus in the A350 project, with major aircraft manufacturing projects frequently beset by delays.

"All recent programmes before it, both by Airbus, Boeing and others, have had reasonably horrendous technical problems and delays," said Nick Cunningham, an aviation analyst at the London-based Agency Partners, speaking to French agency AFP.

"So every time you hit a milestone (such as a test flight), it's good news because it means that you've missed an opportunity to have another big delay."

The plane's wings were designed at an Airbus facility in Filton near Bristol, and are manufactured at Broughton in Wales.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22899952#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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The Olsen Twins Turn 27! See How They Have Changed

When Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen stepped into the Hollywood scene at the young age of 9 months, they quickly became America's favorite darling duo. From TV shows and movies to books and fashion lines, the Olsen twins grew up right before our eyes -- building an empire that made them household names.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/mary-kate-ashley-olsen-pictures-through-years/1-a-538627?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Amary-kate-ashley-olsen-pictures-through-years-538627

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Leaks detail PC Mobile postpaid contract pricing, launch delays

June 5th came and went, without the introduction of PC Mobile's new postpaid plans and smartphone line-up. MobileSyrup heard the launch had been pushed back to today, but is now reporting the MVNO is delaying it further. A few more details of what the Canadian carrier is expected to offer when it eventually follows through have emerged, however, including the all-important price points. Three contract tiers will be available, costing $35, $50 or $65 per month, with the number of any-use minutes and data allowance increasing with the spend. You'll also be able to purchase "stacks" that give you extra chatter time or megabytes for the month. Full details of the plans are available at the source link, but when PC Mobile will begin promoting them alongside a refreshed handset selection is anyone's guess.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: MobileSyrup

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/12/pc-mobile-postpaid-delay-pricing-leak/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Aniston puts wedding on hold

REUTERS

Actress Jennifer Aniston and her fiance Justin Theroux arrive at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood. Photo: Reuters

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London - Jennifer Aniston has reportedly put her wedding on hold.

The 'Friends' actress and fianc? Justin Theroux were deep into planning a rumoured summer wedding, but are said to have postponed their nuptials due to increasingly busy work schedules and the ongoing renovation of their Bel Air mansion.

A source told People magazine: "Wedding bands were designed and Jen was deciding on a dress."

However, "wedding talk has stopped" in recent weeks as the busy couple overseeing the $6 million overhaul of their 8,500-square-foot home, which Jennifer purchased for $21 million last year.

Another insider said: "There are other priorities [besides marriage]."

Despite pushing their wedding back and their conflicting schedules, Jennifer, 44, and Justin, 41, are still committed to each other, but "they need to figure out a way to create a life that makes them both happy."

The source adds: "Jennifer can't wait to be [Justin's] wife."

The 'We Are the Millers' actress - who got engaged to Justin last summer - reportedly wants to tie the knot at her palatial new home in Los Angeles and is "freaking out" as renovations have yet to be completed.

A source said: "Jennifer is totally freaking out about the wedding. The ceremony is supposed to happen at the new house, but she is becoming more and more convinced that none of the preparations will be finished in time and the event will be a disaster. It's a total nightmare." - Bang Showbiz

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Source: http://www.iol.co.za/aniston-puts-wedding-on-hold-1.1531560

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The Top 10 Countries Who Request Data from Tech Companies

Spoiler alert: the country that requests the most data from tech companies is the US. We're number one! We're number one! This should really be no surprise for anyone who's been following the news lately but our dominance is actually pretty admirable. Take that you Frenchies! Try to catch us Aussies!

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4OPDst-tphQ/the-top-10-countries-who-request-data-from-tech-compani-513056340

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How did John Oliver do as host on 'Daily Show'?

TV

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

20 hours ago

Neilson Barnard / Getty Images

John Oliver takes over as summer guest host of "The Daily Show."

Jon Stewart is a tough act to follow, but not too tough for one "Daily Show" correspondent. On Monday night, John Oliver took over for Stewart, who's now on a summer hiatus to direct his first film -- or according to Oliver, "He's gone to a small Italian village to learn how to cobble shoes." And the good news for faithful fans of the show? There was no lack of laughs (or stinging commentary) under Oliver's watch.

"Let's all just acknowledge for a moment that this is weird," he said at the top of the show. "This looks weird; it feels weird; it even sounds weird -- it sounds weird to me, and this my actual voice."

But the Brit said that Stewart assured him it would all go well.

"No big news stories ever break out over the summer," Oliver read from a letter allegedly written by Stewart.

Of course, the no-doubt fake note was penned before the big NSA phone-snooping (and more) controversy broke.

"Jon Stewart is barely out the door, and it turns out that not only is the government tracking everyone's phone calls, but that's just the tip of the sh--berg," Oliver said in the midst of a Stewart-worthy rant.

Eventually, the news of the day took a lighter turn when Oliver welcomed his first guest.

"Seth Rogen is here," he beamed. "I look forward to explaining to him exactly who the [expletive] I am."

Oliver claimed that was only "about 30 percent a joke," but as it turned out, Rogen had no problem with the host switcheroo.

"John? John. It's nice they got a guy with the same name, so I don't have to learn a new one," Rogen joked about the smooth transition.

What did you think of the changing of the guard on "The Daily Show?" Tell us below.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/how-did-john-oliver-do-his-first-night-helm-daily-6C10280035

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Tea Partiers Don't Have a Good Legal Case Against the IRS ...

The improper targeting of tea party groups and other conservative nonprofits by the Internal Revenue Service has inspired a wave of lawsuits against the agency. The suits have provided an opportunity for grandstanding?"Americans are not going to be bullied and intimidated by our government," declared the American Center for Law and Justice's?Jay Sekulow, who is representing?25 conservative groups?suing the IRS?but legal experts say those cases may yield little more than publicity.

There are at least three pending lawsuits against the IRS and its employees, with most of the plaintiffs?alleging the agency violated their free speech and equal protection rights by singling them out for additional scrutiny. All of the plaintiffs seek monetary damages from the IRS or?key employees. Some are also seeking the nonprofit status they've still not received, along with a permanent injunction against the agency barring it from meddling in their affairs again.?But outraged tea partiers are in for an uphill battle.?

For all the speechifying about free speech, First Amendment rights don't apply to the issue at the heart of those?suits: tax-exempt status. Such arguments "are unlikely to persuade courts because tax exemption has not been thought to be a First Amendment issue, because the organizations have the right to speak even if they're taxable,"?explains Frances Hill, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law. "The idea that their status may be delayed or denied doesn't mean that their First Amendment rights have been denied or imperiled."

Beyond the First Amendment issues, legal experts who have?reviewed the lawsuits think they have a?limited chance of success, largely because the courts have very narrow authority to do what lawyers like Sekulow are asking them?to do?that is,?to?award damages for alleged constitutional violations or order the IRS to recognize their nonprofit status.?

Matthew Journy and Jeff Tenenbaum, tax lawyers at the DC firm Venable, analyzed Sekulow's complaint?and concluded that the court is?likely to dismiss 23 of the 25 plaintiffs straight away. Here's why: In one part of his case,?Sekulow is suing under a section of the Internal Revenue code that allows a nonprofit to ask a judge to order the Treasury Department to recognize its nonprofit status if the IRS has either refused to do so?or improperly delayed a determination. But that part of the code applies only to nonprofits seeking 501(c)(3) status, a tax-exempt designation that has tight restrictions on political activity and that allows donors to deduct their contributions from their taxes. Only 2 of the 25 plaintiffs in the case sought such a designation. The rest applied for 501(c)(4) status, which allows limited political activity but not tax-deductible contributions. These nonprofit entities are not covered by the statute Sekulow is suing under. Even if they were, 13 of the plaintiffs have already won the only real remedy available under that particular provision: tax-exempt status. (Sekulow didn't return a call for comment.)

The remaining two plaintiffs who might be allowed to proceed with legal action?will still face major hurdles, particularly because their complaint, as it's currently written, isn't specific enough to meet the high bar the court requires, according to?Journy and?Tenenbaum.

All of the pending suits?are asking a court to award punitive damages?even though the law of sovereign immunity expressly prevents the award of such?damages against the government in most cases.?In?tax-exempt cases, punitive damages are?only available under very limited circumstances that may not apply to many of the tea party plaintiffs.

One of the highly publicized cases is a class action?spearheaded by Mark Meckler, a cofounder of the national umbrella group Tea Party Patriots. Meckler largely disappeared from the tea party scene in early 2012, not long after getting arrested at New York City's LaGuardia Airport for trying to bring a gun through security. He recently resurfaced with a new group called Citizens for Self-Governance, which has been trying to sign up class members for a suit against the IRS. The aggregated claims of many?plaintiffs could potentially add up to a significant award in a class action.?

The named plaintiff in the suit is Meckler's hometown tea party group, the NorCal Tea Party Patriots. Their suit?attempts to circumvent the many impediments to winning big damages from the IRS by targeting Lois Lerner, the embattled director of the exempt organization division, and other IRS employees, in the hopes of holding them individually liable for constitutional violations. (Meckler did not return a call for comment.)

But the bar is high for winning a lawsuit against a government employee. To do so, the plaintiffs must prove not only that the IRS employees violated their constitutional rights, but also that "a reasonable person would have known that the employees'?actions violated a clearly established constitutional right,"?explains Lloyd Mayer, a law professor and associate dean at the University of Notre Dame law school.

Before Meckler's?legal team?could make that argument, though, it would first have to succeed in getting a judge to certify the case?as a class action, meaning they could pursue claims on behalf of every tea party group targeted, regardless of whether those groups signed on as plaintiffs. That's become increasingly difficult to do. Legislation passed in 2005 creates strict rules about how class action?cases can be brought, and the Supreme Court has been very hostile to class actions under Chief Justice John Roberts.

Sekulow?and a group called True the Vote, which filed a separate lawsuit,?are attempting to find a source for damages by arguing that the IRS is guilty of violating a law barring the agency?from disclosing private tax return information. The law allows taxpayers to win up to $1,000 per disclosure, plus attorneys fees. Historically, it has been invoked when IRS employees have taken?unauthorized peeks at the tax returns of the rich and famous. But the tea partiers are arguing that the IRS violated this law by subjecting them to additional scrutiny and forcing them to divulge more private information than they needed to. Hill, for one, doesn't think this argument will fly. "It's not the same as employees who were sorting through Hollywood stars filings during their lunch hours just for fun,"?she says.

Mayer agrees:?"What is odd about these claims?is that normally this type of action is based on a claim that the IRS disclosed to other parties the protected information.?Here, instead, the plaintiffs are asserting that the IRS forced them to disclose such information to the IRS unnecessarily through overbroad inquiries. It is not clear that such an overbroad inquiry by the IRS can be the basis for this type of damages action."

Despite all of these obstacles, Hill thinks that at least one or two of the pending lawsuits could make it to the discovery phase of litigation, which she suspects may be one of the motivating factors for filing them. Discovery will compel the production of internal IRS documents and perhaps the depositions of Lerner and other IRS employees?in other words, plenty of opportunity for dirt-digging that could?embarrass?the government.

But discovery works both ways. It would also?give the?IRS the opportunity to show that it was justified in holding up the applications of certain?tea party groups.?Such discovery might not be especially flattering to at least one of the groups that's currently suing the IRS. In a separate case decided last year, a?Texas judge?ruled that True the Vote, a 501(c)(3) established to police the polls during the 2010?elections supposedly to root out alleged voter fraud, was operating like a political action committee and improperly?aiding the GOP. The group has also come under fire?for?donating?$5,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee?during the 2012 election. Nonprofits are barred from making political donations. But Cleta Mitchell, the attorney for True the Vote, says, "I've reviewed all these allegations and the facts in each?and I'm not worried about them. We have a strong case."

True the Vote is asking a judge to award financial damages because of the agency's?requests for additional information in connection with its nonprofit application. But its lawsuit, if successful, almost guarantees that even more information about the group will?be disclosed?and not just to IRS officials, but to the broader public. Hill observes that at the moment, "I think the IRS at this point is far less interested in conducting discovery of these groups than the groups are in conducting discovery of the IRS."

If the IRS does want to head off all that tea party scrutiny,?it has an easy out in the case of True the Vote and two of Sekulow's?501(c)(3) clients. It can just recognize their nonprofit status. The cases will likely go away. The complaints, no doubt,?won't.

Source: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/tea-partiers-dont-have-case-against-irs

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Yahoo Acquires Advanced iOS Photography App Maker GhostBird Software

Yahoo has just quietly announced that they've acquired GhostBird Software, the creators of advanced iOS photography apps, KitCam and PhotoForge2. Though details of the deal are still underwraps, Yahoo is explicitly saying that they acquired GhostBird for the sake of advancing Flickr.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/MGHBqWsBMPQ/

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Oculus Rift HD prototype VR headset appears at E3, we go hands (and eyes) on

We've been impressed with Oculus Rift from the start, and have been following the VR headset closely ever since. The developer edition has been in the hands of devs for a couple months now, and while Palmer Luckey and Nate Mitchell have certainly received rave reviews of the headset from many, they've also heard lots of feedback about ways to improve it. The number one request from users and devs? A higher-resolution screen than the 1,280 x 800 panel in the dev device. Well, after months of research and tinkering to find the right hardware combination, team Oculus is finally ready to show off a Rift with a 1,080 x 1920 display, and we got to demo the thing.

Before heading into the land of 1080p, we got to explore a demo built with Unreal Engine 4 in the existing dev headset. After looking around a snowy mountain stronghold inhabited by a fire lord in low res, we switched to the exact same demo running at 60 fps on the HD prototype device -- and the difference was immediately apparent. Surface textures could be seen in much higher fidelity, colors were brighter and less muddied and the general detail of the entire environment was greatly improved.

Gallery: Oculus Rift HD prototype VR headset hands-on

Filed under: Gaming, HD

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/vbfxFUaBVSg/

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