One of the more contentious rumors surrounding next-gen consoles has been potential changes to DRM and while Microsoft hasn't answered all our questions when it comes to the Xbox One, it took a few head on. The official FAQ starts off with the "always-on" DRM issue and also addresses used games, indicating that the box is designed "so you can play games and watch Blu-ray movies and live TV if you lose your connection," and that it does not have to always be connected. That said, it still "requires" a connection to the internet, promising cloud-based benefits for gameplay and more. Other questions answer things like whether the new console will require more power (no) and will our Xbox Live Gold subscriptions still work with the new and old hardware (yes).
When it comes to used games, the FAQ's response is also promising, stating "We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games." We can still find enough wiggle room in those responses to remain curious, but it appears we should be able to avoid a SimCity-style meltdown (with our new games, since the old ones won't work.)
Update: There have been many questions about a reported "small fee" for used games, but we've asked Microsoft and received no confirmation of that. Joystiq points out that the Wired article where the tidbit originated has been updated to mention Microsoft did not detail its plans for used games, while the Xbox Support Twitter account claims there are no fees and the article is incorrect.
With Samsung?s Galaxy Note 2 out for only about eight months and the GS4 launched less than 30 days ago, the chances of seeing a third-gen GNote ?phablet? released by the end of the summer are slim. Heck, it?s practically impossible.
But that can?t stop the rumor mill from already grinding like crazy on what Sammy might have up its sleeve for the Note 3, right?
Alleged specs of the device have been ?leaked? by supposedly trustworthy sources several times in the past weeks, with the latest word around the block being the ?next big thing? will sadly be ?more of the same? design-wise while only slightly stepping things up in the hardware department.
On that note, we should probably not be awfully surprised to see the Note 3 scoring a modest 28,000 points in an AnTuTu benchmark. Granted, there?s no way to know if the test result is legit and the score is still better than GS4?s performance, but after seeing Xiaomi?s next flagship, the Mi3, topping 80,000 points, 28k sounds basically low-end.
Again, we should stress the benchmark is to be taken with caution, being very easy to be faked in theory, so don?t jump to apocalyptic conclusions just yet. Assuming it?s the real deal, the thing seems to reveal some of the Note 3?s specific specs, including the running of the unreleased next version of Android, 4.3, and the packing of a processor clocked at 1.6 GHz.
The CPU?s make and model naturally remain an enigma, but if it is to come clocked at just 1.6 GHz, it?s likely an Exynos 5 Octa. You know, the same processor that was supposed to be inside the Galaxy S4, but only ended up in certain versions of the 5-incher.
As a quick reminder, previous rumors had the Galaxy Note 3 (aka GT-N7200) pegged as a 6-incher with a Full HD panel, 2 gigs of RAM, 13 MP rear snapper and plastic build. The thing is likely to be unveiled sometime in August 2013 and start selling by the end of September.
Smart watches are all the rage, and judging by the turnout and level of enthusiasm at the recently year one meetup for Pebble Kickstarter backers in San Francisco which I attended last week, there's at least a passionate niche audience for the things. So it isn't surprising to see them continue to pop up on Kickstarter. A new one called Agent has a few unique tricks, however, which its creators believe set it above the competition.
Square's not just for businesses apparently, as an invite-only page for a product called "Square Cash" has popped up. Not many details are known about it, but we've reached out to the company for comment.
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.
IRL is a column about stuff we're using in real life and yes, that sometimes includes neon-green charging cables. It also includes all manner of smartphones, as you know, and this week we've got a short-and-sweet write-up comparing the GS3 and GS4. Is the 4 worth an early upgrade? Not if you ask Jon Fingas, anyway, but that's mostly because he's happy with the camera, performance and LTE radio on last year's model.
ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) ? It could be an anxious wait of up to two months for people in a small Florida city to find out who won the highest Powerball jackpot in history: an estimated $590.5 million.
The lucky ticket was bought sometime Saturday or earlier at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a city of about 13,000 people best known around the state for its brand of spring water with the same name.
The winner has 60 days to claim the lump-sum cash option, estimated around $376.9 million, at the Florida Lottery's office in Tallahassee. No one had come forward as of Sunday afternoon.
"It never happens this quickly," lottery spokesman David Bishop said. "If they know they won, they're going to contact their attorney or an accountant first so they can get their affairs in order."
The winner wasn't Matthew Bogel. On Sunday, he loaded groceries into his car after shopping at the Publix. He shook his head when asked about the jackpot.
"It's crazy, isn't it?" he said. "That's so much money."
It's an amount too high for many to imagine. Compare it to the budget for the city of Zephyrhills: This year's figure is just more than $49 million. The winning Powerball jackpot is 12 times that.
Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said there are a lot of rumors about who won, but the store doesn't know. "We're excited for the winner or winners," she said.
Plenty of people in Zephyrhills are wondering whether it's someone they know.
Joan Albertson drove to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, in case the winner emerged. She said she bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.
"Oh, there's so much good that you could do with that amount of money." Albertson said. "I don't even know where to begin."
Zephyrhills is a small city in Pasco County, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it's now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and the water bottled from the natural springs that surround the area.
And now, one lucky lottery ticket.
"I'm getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, 'uh, did you win the lottery?'" Sandra Lewis said. "No, I didn't win, guys. Sorry."
Sara Jeltis said her parents in Michigan texted her with the news Sunday morning.
"Well, it didn't click until I came here," she said, gesturing to the half-dozen TV live trucks humming in the Publix parking lot. "And I'm like, 'Wow I can't believe it, it's shocking!' Out of the whole country, this Publix, in little Zephyrhills would be the winner."
With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said Saturday that someone was almost certain to win the game's highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars ? and that's after taxes.
The winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.
Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball's online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.
The world's largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012.
Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, initially confirmed that one Florida winning ticket had been sold. He told The Associated Press that following the Florida winner, the Powerball grand prize was being reset at an estimated jackpot of $40 million, or about $25.1 million cash value.
The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That's how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimated that about 80 percent of those possible combinations had been purchased recently.
The longshot odds didn't deter people across Powerball-playing states ? 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands ? from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday.
Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot ? people are interested in the easy investment.
"Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small," he said. "Two dollars gets you a chance."
Lewis, who went to the Publix on Sunday to buy water, said she didn't play ? and she isn't upset about it.
"Life goes on," she said, shrugging. "I'm good."
___
Rodriguez reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press Writer Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.
___
Follow Tamara Lush at http://twitter.com/tamaralush .
Follow Barbara Rodriguez at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez .
BOSTON (AP) ? Cardinal Sean O'Malley skipped Boston College's commencement Monday to protest its decision to honor Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who backs legislation to permit abortion, and O'Malley's views were echoed outside the ceremony by a few dozen anti-abortion activists.
The protesters gathered at an entrance to the stadium where Kenny gave the keynote address and received an honorary degree, with some holding signs saying it was a scandal that the Catholic school was hosting Kenny.
The bill Kenny supports allows abortion only if a doctor authorizes it to save a woman's life. But opponents say it would lead to widespread abortions because of a provision that permits it if a woman threatens suicide.
Protester C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League called that "the proverbial Mack truck loophole" and said Boston College's decision to honor Kenny undermines the church's anti-abortion teachings.
"What rational person can reasonably be expected to take seriously Catholic opposition to abortion when our own Catholic institutions honor someone who's trying to legalize abortion in his country?" he said.
Kenny didn't mention the controversy during his keynote address.
Afterward, Kenny told reporters the bill does nothing to change an 1861 Irish law that makes abortion a crime punishable by life in prison.
Instead, the bill "is setting out clarity and legal certainty, that is intended to save lives, not to end them," he said.
In 1992, Ireland's Supreme Court ruled abortion should be legal if doctors determine it's needed to save the woman's life. In 1992 and 2002, voters rejected two referendums to allow abortion to stop a physical threat to a woman's life, not including suicide.
The current bill is being debated following last year's death of a woman who was hospitalized at the start of a protracted miscarriage during her 17th week of pregnancy. Doctors refused her request for an abortion and she died of massive organ failure.
The bill permits a single doctor to authorize an abortion if the woman's life is in immediate danger. Two doctors must approve if a pregnancy poses a potentially lethal risk. The approval of three doctors is required if the woman is threatening suicide.
O'Malley announced he'd skip Boston College's graduation earlier this month, saying Irish bishops had concluded the bill "represents a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law," and noting that U.S. bishops have asked Catholic institutions not to honor officials who promote abortion.
Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said Monday that Kenny' s invitation was unrelated to the controversial legislation and was offered solely because of historical ties between his country and a school founded by an Irish Jesuit to serve Irish immigrants.
He said the invitation to Kenny in no way erodes the school's anti-abortion stance.
"Boston College as a Catholic institution fully supports the church's commitment to the unborn," he said.
It seems that someone still finds value in traveling to Austin (no matter what that Huffington Post article said). Travel + Leisure recently ranked Austin the No. 9 spot on its list of Best U.S. Cities for Affordable Getaways.
Though some have challenged Austin's worth as a weekend getaway due to "everyone ... here looking so stressed" (not true, David?Landsel!), Travel + Leisure finds plenty of redeeming reasons for a Capital City vacation, namely the bang for the buck. For the national magazine, that comes in the form of summertime favorites like food trucks and swimming holes.
Hungry? Hit a food truck. "Among the best food trucks, for instance, is Gourdough?s on South Lamar, which may finally legitimize the donut as a complete meal: its Boss Hog donut ($5.50) is topped with pulled pork, potato salad, and honey BBQ sauce," touts the publication.
If you want to cool off after your donut super meal, take a dip. "One of the most classic, all-ages Austin experiences costs just $3: taking a dip in Barton Springs in Zilker Park; it?s great for some free and colorful people-watching."
Kansas City took the top spot on the list, earning recognition for cheap hotel prices, "fun factory-style tours" of Hallmark and Boulevard Brewing Company and budget-friendly (read: burnt) barbecue.?San Antonio ranked No. 3 for its free historic attractions (Remember the Alamo!) and for the affordable option to B-Cycle along the Riverwalk for just $10 per day.?
At No. 7, Houston was recognized for "the city's old-school Tex-Mex [Ninfa's on Navigation]" and other deals like complimentary wine at art openings and free programming at Miller Outdoor Theatre.?Dallas/Fort Worth took No. 16, with a nod to the Dallas Museum of Art and $9?minor league baseball games with downtown Fort Worth views.
Leading researchers report on the elusive search for biomarkers in Huntington's diseasePublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Astrid Engelen a.engelen@iospress.nl 31-206-883-355 IOS Press
3 Journal of Huntington's Disease studies examine options
Amsterdam, NL, 20 May 2013 While Huntington's disease (HD) is currently incurable, the HD research community anticipates that new disease-modifying therapies in development may slow or minimize disease progression. The success of HD research depends upon the identification of reliable and sensitive biomarkers to track disease and evaluate therapies, and these biomarkers may eventually be used as outcome measures in clinical trials. Biomarkers could be especially helpful to monitor changes during the time prior to diagnosis and appearance of overt symptomatology. Three reports in the current issue of the Journal of Huntington's Disease explore the potential of neuroimaging, proteomic analysis of brain tissue, and plasma inflammatory markers as biomarkers for Huntington's disease.
"Characteristics of an ideal biomarker include quantification which is reliable, reproducible across sites, minimally invasive and widely available. The biomarker should show low variability in the normal population and change linearly with disease progression, ideally over short time intervals. Finally, the biomarker should respond predictably to an intervention which modifies the disease," says Elin Rees, researcher at UCL Institute of Neurology, London.
In the first report, Rees and colleagues explore the use of neuroimaging biomarkers. She says they are strong candidates as outcome measures in future clinical trials because of their clear relevance to the neuropathology of disease and their increased precision and sensitivity compared with some standard functional measures. This review looks at results from longitudinal imaging studies, focusing on the most widely available imaging modalities: structural MRI (volumetric and diffusion), functional MRI, and PET.
"All imaging modalities are logistically complicated and expensive compared with standard clinical or cognitive end-points and their sensitivity is generally reduced in individuals with later stage HD due to movement," says Rees. "Nevertheless, imaging has several advantages including the ability to track progression in the pre-manifest stage before any detectable clinical or cognitive change."
Current evidence suggests that the best neuroimaging biomarkers are structural MRI and PET using [11C] raclopride (RACLO-PET) as the tracer, in order to assess changes in the basal ganglia, especially the caudate.
A study led by Garth J.S. Cooper, PhD, professor of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry at the School of Biological Sciences and the Department of Medicine at the University of Auckland, used comparative proteome analysis to identify how protein expression might correlate with Huntington's neurodegeneration in two regions of human brain: the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and the visual cortex (VC). The investigators studied post mortem human brain tissue from seven HD brains and eight matched controls. They found that the MFG of HD brains differentially expressed 22 proteins compared to controls, while only seven were different in the VC. Several of these proteins had not been linked to HD previous. Investigators categorized these proteins into six general functional categories: stress response, apoptosis, glycolysis, vesicular trafficking, and endocytosis. They determined that there is a common thread in the degenerative processes associated with HD, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes.
The third report explores the possibility that inflammatory markers in plasma can be used to track HD, noting that immune changes are apparent even during the preclinical stage. "The innate immune system orchestrates an inflammatory response involving complex interactions between cytokines, chemokines and acute phase proteins and is thus a rich source of potential biomarkers," says Maria Bjrkqvist, PhD, head of the Brain Disease Biomarker Unit, Department of Experimental Science of Lund University, Sweden.
The authors compare plasma levels of several markers involved in inflammation and innate immunity of healthy controls and HD patients at different stages of disease. Two methods were used to analyze plasma: antibody-based technologies and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM).
None of the measures were significantly altered in both HD cohorts tested and none correlated with HD disease stage. Only one substance, C-reactive protein (CRP), was decreased in early HD but this was found in only one of the two cohorts, so the finding may not be reliable. The investigators were unable to confirm other studies that had found HD-related changes in other inflammatory markers, including components of the complement system.
Some markers correlated with clinical measures. For instance, ApoE was positively correlated with depression and irritability scores, suggesting an association between ApoE and mood changes.
Even though recent data suggest that the immune system is likely to be a modifier of HD disease, inflammatory proteins do not seem to be likely candidates to be biomarkers for HD. "Many proteomic studies designed to provide potential biomarkers of disease have generated significant findings, however, often these biomarkers fail to replicate during the validation process," says Bjrkqvist.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Leading researchers report on the elusive search for biomarkers in Huntington's diseasePublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Astrid Engelen a.engelen@iospress.nl 31-206-883-355 IOS Press
3 Journal of Huntington's Disease studies examine options
Amsterdam, NL, 20 May 2013 While Huntington's disease (HD) is currently incurable, the HD research community anticipates that new disease-modifying therapies in development may slow or minimize disease progression. The success of HD research depends upon the identification of reliable and sensitive biomarkers to track disease and evaluate therapies, and these biomarkers may eventually be used as outcome measures in clinical trials. Biomarkers could be especially helpful to monitor changes during the time prior to diagnosis and appearance of overt symptomatology. Three reports in the current issue of the Journal of Huntington's Disease explore the potential of neuroimaging, proteomic analysis of brain tissue, and plasma inflammatory markers as biomarkers for Huntington's disease.
"Characteristics of an ideal biomarker include quantification which is reliable, reproducible across sites, minimally invasive and widely available. The biomarker should show low variability in the normal population and change linearly with disease progression, ideally over short time intervals. Finally, the biomarker should respond predictably to an intervention which modifies the disease," says Elin Rees, researcher at UCL Institute of Neurology, London.
In the first report, Rees and colleagues explore the use of neuroimaging biomarkers. She says they are strong candidates as outcome measures in future clinical trials because of their clear relevance to the neuropathology of disease and their increased precision and sensitivity compared with some standard functional measures. This review looks at results from longitudinal imaging studies, focusing on the most widely available imaging modalities: structural MRI (volumetric and diffusion), functional MRI, and PET.
"All imaging modalities are logistically complicated and expensive compared with standard clinical or cognitive end-points and their sensitivity is generally reduced in individuals with later stage HD due to movement," says Rees. "Nevertheless, imaging has several advantages including the ability to track progression in the pre-manifest stage before any detectable clinical or cognitive change."
Current evidence suggests that the best neuroimaging biomarkers are structural MRI and PET using [11C] raclopride (RACLO-PET) as the tracer, in order to assess changes in the basal ganglia, especially the caudate.
A study led by Garth J.S. Cooper, PhD, professor of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry at the School of Biological Sciences and the Department of Medicine at the University of Auckland, used comparative proteome analysis to identify how protein expression might correlate with Huntington's neurodegeneration in two regions of human brain: the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and the visual cortex (VC). The investigators studied post mortem human brain tissue from seven HD brains and eight matched controls. They found that the MFG of HD brains differentially expressed 22 proteins compared to controls, while only seven were different in the VC. Several of these proteins had not been linked to HD previous. Investigators categorized these proteins into six general functional categories: stress response, apoptosis, glycolysis, vesicular trafficking, and endocytosis. They determined that there is a common thread in the degenerative processes associated with HD, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes.
The third report explores the possibility that inflammatory markers in plasma can be used to track HD, noting that immune changes are apparent even during the preclinical stage. "The innate immune system orchestrates an inflammatory response involving complex interactions between cytokines, chemokines and acute phase proteins and is thus a rich source of potential biomarkers," says Maria Bjrkqvist, PhD, head of the Brain Disease Biomarker Unit, Department of Experimental Science of Lund University, Sweden.
The authors compare plasma levels of several markers involved in inflammation and innate immunity of healthy controls and HD patients at different stages of disease. Two methods were used to analyze plasma: antibody-based technologies and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM).
None of the measures were significantly altered in both HD cohorts tested and none correlated with HD disease stage. Only one substance, C-reactive protein (CRP), was decreased in early HD but this was found in only one of the two cohorts, so the finding may not be reliable. The investigators were unable to confirm other studies that had found HD-related changes in other inflammatory markers, including components of the complement system.
Some markers correlated with clinical measures. For instance, ApoE was positively correlated with depression and irritability scores, suggesting an association between ApoE and mood changes.
Even though recent data suggest that the immune system is likely to be a modifier of HD disease, inflammatory proteins do not seem to be likely candidates to be biomarkers for HD. "Many proteomic studies designed to provide potential biomarkers of disease have generated significant findings, however, often these biomarkers fail to replicate during the validation process," says Bjrkqvist.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This map, from the United States Geological Survey, shows the age of bedrock in different regions of North America. Scientists found ancient water in bedrock north of Lake Superior. This region, colored red, was formed more than 2.5 billion years ago.
United States Geological Survey
This map, from the United States Geological Survey, shows the age of bedrock in different regions of North America. Scientists found ancient water in bedrock north of Lake Superior. This region, colored red, was formed more than 2.5 billion years ago.
United States Geological Survey
Scientists have discovered water that has been trapped in rock for more than a billion years. The water might contain microbes that evolved independently from the surface world, and it's a finding that gives new hope to the search for life on other planets.
The water samples came from holes drilled by gold miners near the small town of Timmins, Ontario, about 350 miles north of Toronto. Deep in the Canadian bedrock, miners drill holes and collect samples. Sometimes they hit pay dirt; sometimes they hit water, which seeps out from tiny crevices in the rock.
Recently, a team of scientists (who had been investigating water samples from other mines) approached the miners and asked them for fluid from newly-drilled boreholes.
Greg Holland, a geochemist at Lancaster University in England, and his colleagues wanted to know just how long that fluid had been trapped in the rock. So they looked at the decay of radioactive atoms found in the water and calculated that it had been bottled up for a long time ? at least 1.5 billion years.
"That is the lower limit for the age," Holland says. It could be a billion years older. That means the water was sealed in the rock before humans evolved, before pterosaurs flew, and before multicellular life.
As Holland announced this week in the journal Nature, this is the oldest cache of water ever found.
But how did it end up underneath that gold mine in northeastern Canada? Where did it come from?
"The fluids that we see now are actually preservations of ancient oceans," Holland says.
About 2.7 billion years ago, the landscape of small-town Timmins looked a bit different. Beneath prehistoric seas, tectonic plates were spreading and magma was welling up to form new rock. As the rock matured under heat and pressure, water was trapped inside tiny cracks.
The rock drifted around the globe for eons, helping form continents and mountain ranges, and all the while it kept its cargo of water sealed up tight inside.
"It's managed to stay isolated for almost half the lifetime of the Earth," Holland says. It's a time capsule. And it doesn't just hold water. "There's a lot of hydrogen in these samples."
That's significant because hydrogen is food for some microorganisms. Hydrogen-eating microbes have been found deep in the ocean and in South African mines where chemical reactions in the rock produce a steady supply of hydrogen.
Mars, seen in this composite image, has a lot of water in its polar ice caps. If water is also trapped in the planet's crust, experts say, it could house microbial life.
NASA/JPL
Mars, seen in this composite image, has a lot of water in its polar ice caps. If water is also trapped in the planet's crust, experts say, it could house microbial life.
NASA/JPL
And that hydrogen, says Holland, "could provide the energy for life to survive in isolation for 2 billion years."
Holland's colleagues are now testing the water samples for evidence of microbes. They hope to have results within a year. If life is found, it would have evolved distinctly from the surface world and might give a unique insight into the earliest forms of life on Earth. Its discovery would also give hope to people searching for life in places that are even more remote.
Carol Stoker, a research scientist with NASA, is focused on searching for life on Mars.
"If you go back to the very early history of Earth and Mars, sort of the first billion years after the surfaces cooled, Earth and Mars looked very similar," Stoker says.
Both planets had vast surface oceans and thick atmospheres ? they were good places for life to begin. On Earth, it did.
"The logic is if that If that happened on Earth, why shouldn't it have happened on Mars?" she says.
As Mars got colder and drier, surface life would have died off. But Martian microbes might still survive deep in the planet's crust ? preserved in isolated pockets of water, just like the ones found in Canadian bedrock.
Public safety is a major primary function of local government. ?Keeping residents and visitors safe while they go about their daily lives requires a police force that represents and understands the populations it serves. ?Unfortunately, police departments of all sizes come with a hefty price tag and are a major line item for city budgets. ? According to the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, local police department operating budgets totaled $55.4 million in 2007, across 12,575 local jurisdictions in the U.S. ?The average tax cost per resident is $260 annually?a number that shoots as high as $385 per resident in cities with over one million residents.
LAW ENFORCEMENT IN MINNESOTA
Within the state of Minnesota, there are 450 distinct law enforcement agencies, ranging from state agencies such as the State Patrol to tribal police to county sheriff?s offices and local police departments. Minneapolis is the most populous city in the state (387,753 residents in 2011, according to the US Census Bureau) and serves as the economic engine for the region. ?The city?s annual expenditure budget totaled $1.22 billion in 2012, with the majority of its $1.17 billion in revenues (77%) from four main sources: local property taxes, sales taxes, service fees and a general grant from the state called Local Government Aid. The Minneapolis Police Department?s (MPD) total budget in 2012 was $135.4 million, with salaries and benefits account for the majority of the budget--$105.3 million, or 78%. ?At the time of budget preparation (fall of 2011), the department projected to have 967.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, both sworn and civilian. ?According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the MPD?s budget exceeds the BJS 2007 average of $93 million for departments serving between 250,000-499,999 residents and also exceeds the per-employee average cost by 15%. This may be for several reasons, including the fact that Minneapolis is a strong pro-organized labor city and the vast majority of the MPD?s employees have union representation. ?Research from the BJS states that jurisdictions that are unionized start officers at a salary that is $10,900 higher than those departments that do not have organized labor. ?The MPD?s union, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis (?Federation?), is a strong union that has traditionally been able to negotiate competitive wages and benefits, although MPD officers are far from the highest paid in the state. ?In 2008, the Federation successfully negotiated wage increases to bring officer salaries into the top third of the highest paid departments among metro-area suburbs with 25,000+ residents and the city of St. Paul.
The table below compares similarly-sized jurisdictions and similarly-populated cities:
CITY
POPULATION (2011 estimate)
NUMBER OF FTE?s
2012 POLICE BUDGET (in millions)
PERCENT OF GENERAL FUND
Minneapolis
387,753
987
$135.4
37.8%
St. Paul
288,440
777
$77.8
36.5%
Madison, WI
236,901
579
$60.7
25.2%
Cleveland, OH
393,806
1736
$172
34%
Tulsa, OK
396,466
875
$78.1
32%
There are multiple factors that may influence the size of the police department and its budget, such as the amount of crime, other jurisdictions in the area (such as the University of Wisconsin Police Department that operates in Madison) and political and community circumstances. ?Ensuring public safety is essential, but also highly political--and highly scrutinized. ?For these reasons, the budgeting process for a police department is particularly difficult.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS:
2. ?Utilize Volunteers. ?While it is not uncommon for many police departments to have a police reserve unit comprised of unpaid volunteers, how departments utilize those services varies greatly. ?In Minneapolis, reserve officers are greatly underused--they are typically called to action for major special events such as parades and races. ?By contrast, the Ramsey County Sheriff?s Office has approximately 400 active volunteers that assist with water patrol, traffic control, and non-enforcement activity such as aiding officers on vehicle tows. ?Using volunteers in this manner saves the sheriff?s office money and frees up deputies to conduct other enforcement activities. ?In Minneapolis, reservists could be activated for traffic control for sporting events such as Twins baseball games, assisting on DWI?s by waiting for tow trucks while officers process the arrestee, and helping with crowd control at special events--tasks currently done by paid officers at considerable expense to the department.
A portion of pages of emails that the White House released Wednesday, May 15, 2013, that document how the Obama administration crafted its public talking points immediately following the Sept. 11, 2012, deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, are seen at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A portion of pages of emails that the White House released Wednesday, May 15, 2013, that document how the Obama administration crafted its public talking points immediately following the Sept. 11, 2012, deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, are seen at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A portion of a page of emails that the White House released Wednesday, May 15, 2013, that document how the Obama administration crafted its public talking points immediately following the Sept. 11, 2012, deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, is seen at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Then CIA-Director David Petraeus objected to the final talking points the Obama administration used after the deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, because he wanted to see more details revealed to the public, according to emails released Wednesday by the White House.
Under pressure in the investigation that continues eight months after the attacks, the White House on Wednesday released 99 pages of emails and a single page of hand-written notes made by Petraeus' deputy, Mike Morell, after a meeting at the White House on Saturday, Sept. 15. On that page, Morell scratched out from the CIA's early drafts of talking points mentions of al-Qaida, the experience of fighters in Libya, Islamic extremists and a warning to the Cairo embassy on the eve of the attacks of calls for a demonstration and break-in by jihadists.
Petraeus apparently was displeased by the removal of so much of the material his analysts initially had proposed for release. The talking points were sent to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to prepare her for an appearance on news shows on Sunday, Sept. 16, and also to members of the House Intelligence Committee.
"No mention of the cable to Cairo, either?" Petraeus wrote after receiving Morell's edited version, developed after an intense back-and-forth among Obama administration officials. "Frankly, I'd just as soon not use this, then."
Petreaus' email comes at the end of extensive back-and-forth between officials at the CIA, White House, State Department and other agencies weighing in on a public explanation for the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans
The emails were partially blacked out, including removal of names of senders and recipients who are career employees at the CIA and elsewhere.
The emails show only minor edits were requested by the White House, and most of the objections came from the State Department. "The White House cleared quickly, but State has major concerns," read an email that a CIA official sent to Petraeus on Friday, Sept. 14.
Critics have highlighted an email by then-State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland that expressed concern that any mention of prior warnings or the involvement of al-Qaida would give congressional Republicans ammunition to attack the administration in the weeks before the presidential election. Fighting terror was one of President Barack Obama's re-election strong points
That email was among those released by the White House, sent by Nuland on Sept. 14 at 7:39 p.m. to officials in the White House, State Department and CIA. She wrote she was concerned they could prejudice the investigation and be "abused by members to beat the State Department for not paying attention to agency warnings so why do we want to feed that either? Concerned."
After Nuland sent several more emails throughout that Friday evening expressing further concerns, Jake Sullivan, then-deputy chief of staff at the State Department, said the issues would be worked out at a meeting at the White House on Saturday morning.
A senior U.S. intelligence official told reporters Wednesday that Morell made the changes to the talking points after that meeting because of his own concerns that they could prejudge an FBI investigation into who was responsible for the attacks.
The official said Morell also didn't think it was fair to disclose the CIA's advance warning without giving the State Department a chance to explain how it responded. The official spoke on a condition of anonymity without authorization to speak about the emails on the record. Petraeus declined to be interviewed Wednesday.
The intelligence official said Morell was aware of Nuland's objections but did not make the changes under pressure from the State Department but because he independently shared the concerns.
That is contradicted in an email sent to Rice on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1:23 p.m. by a member of her staff whose name was blacked out. The email said Morell indicated he would work with Sullivan and Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser, to revise the talking points. The intelligence official disputed that assertion and insisted Morell acted alone.
An email from Morell also says he spoke to Petraeus "about State's deep concerns about mentioning the warnings and the other work done on this."
The emails were shared with Congress earlier this year as a condition for allowing the nomination of John Brennan for CIA director to move forward. An interim report last month from the Republicans on five House committees criticized the Obama administration and mentioned the emails, but the issue exploded last Friday when new details emerged.
Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee read some of the emails aloud last Wednesday at a hearing with State Department officials. The next day, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called on the White House to release the emails.
A Boehner spokesman said Wednesday the emails released by the White House only confirm the interim report.
"They contradict statements made by the White House that it and the State Department only changed one word in the talking points," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement. "The seemingly political nature of the State Department's concerns raises questions about the motivations behind these changes and who at the State Department was seeking them."
The White House released the full set of emails sent to Congress under the pressure in hopes of putting an end to the controversy that has dogged the administration for months. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Wednesday that "these e-mails have been selectively and inaccurately read out to the media."
"To make clear what is and is not in these e-mails, today the White House took the extraordinary step of releasing these e-mails," Schultz said in a statement. "You can now see what the Congress has seen ? collectively these e-mails make clear that the interagency process, including the White House's interactions, were focused on providing the facts as we knew them based on the best information available at the time and protecting an ongoing investigation."
An official with the CIA's office of congressional affairs whose name was blacked out sent the final version to Petraeus on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 12:51 p.m. Petraeus responded at 2:27 saying he'd prefer not to even use them in that form.
But he said the decision was up to the White House's national security staff.
"NSS's call, to be sure; however, this is certainly not what Vice Chairman (Dutch) Ruppersberger was hoping to get for unclas use. Regardless, thanks for the great work."
Ruppersberger is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
At a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said there has been "very, very substantial progress" in the investigation into who was responsible for the twin nighttime attacks in Benghazi. Earlier this month, the FBI said it was seeking information on three people who were on the grounds of the diplomatic mission when it was attacked. The FBI posted photographs of the three people and said they may be able to provide information to help in the investigation.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who sits on the Intelligence Committee, said, "I didn't find anything that looked like a smoking gun in terms of political cooking of the talking points. There is very little input from the White House."
But he added, "There are some things to criticize in here. The State Department looks like it is trying to avoid blame."
___
Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Adam Goldman contributed to this report.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? Turkey's prime minister vowed Sunday his country won't be drawn into Syria's civil war, despite twin car bombings the government believes were carried out by a group of Turks with close ties to pro-government groups in Syria.
The bombings left 46 people dead and marked the biggest incident of violence across the border since the start of Syria's bloody civil war, raising fears of Turkey being pulled deeper into a conflict that threatens to destabilize the region.
Syria has rejected allegations it was behind the attacks. But Turkish authorities said Sunday they had detained nine Turkish citizens with links to the Syrian intelligence agency in connection with the bombings in the border town of Reyhanli, a hub for Syrian refugees and rebels just across from Syria's Idlib province.
Harsh accusations have flown between Turkey and Syria, signaling a sharp escalation of already high tensions between the two former allies. But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Turkey would not be drawn militarily in retaliation.
He insisted Turkey would "maintain our extreme cool-headedness in the face of efforts and provocations to drag us into the bloody quagmire."
"Those who target Turkey will be held to account sooner or later," he said. "Great states retaliate more powerfully, but when the time is right... We are taking our steps in a coolheaded manner."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Berlin those detained were linked to a Marxist terrorist group.
Sabah, a Turkish newspaper close to the government, reported Sunday that authorities suspect the leader of a former Marxist group, Mirhac Ural, now believed to be based in Syria, may have revived his group and ordered the attack.
The group, Acilciler, was one of many Marxist groups active in Turkey through the 1970s and 1980s, and was long-rumored to have been formed by the Syrian intelligence agency. Many of its militants allegedly included ethnic Arab Turks belonging to a sect close to Syria's Alawites.
"Some believe that now that relations (with Turkey) have deteriorated again, Syria may have reactivated the group to cause turmoil in Turkey," said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a terrorism expert at the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey. ?
Guler said a ringleader was among those detained, and more arrests were expected.
"We have determined that some of them were involved in the planning, in the exploration and in the hiding of the vehicles," he said.
Saturday's twin bombings 15 minutes apart damaged some 735 businesses and 120 apartments, leaving smoking hulks of buildings and charred cars. It also wounded dozens of people, including 50 who remained hospitalized Sunday.
Syria and Turkey became adversaries early on during the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad that erupted in March 2011. Since then, Turkey has firmly sided with the Syrian opposition, hosting its leaders along with rebel commanders and providing refuge to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said the aim of the attack was to stoke tensions between Turks and Syrian refugees. The town is home to members of Turkey's Arab Alevi community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while many of the refugees who have fled Syria are Sunni.
On Sunday, hundreds of people marched in the city of Antakya, near Reyhanli, protesting the government for its Syria policies and support for the rebels ? which some believe has exacerbated the conflict in Syria. Turks in Hatay, the southern province where the town is located, complain that the rebels roam freely, disrupting calm in Turkey's border regions.
Witnesses said they saw Turks attacking Syrian registered cars in Reyhanli soon after Saturday's attack and some Syrians avoided going out in the streets. Erdogan asked citizens in Reyhanli to remain calm and not "fall for the provocations."
"The prime minister brought this on to us," said a business owner, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Mehmet. "We have no peace anymore. The Syrians are coming in and out, and we don't know if they are bringing in explosives, taking out arms."
Authorities had so far identified 35 of the dead, three of them as Syrians. Families began burying their loved ones in funerals on Sunday.
Earlier in Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi rejected Turkey's charges, saying that "Syria didn't and will never undertake such acts because our values don't allow us to do this."
He accused Turkey of destabilizing the border areas between the two countries by supporting the rebels, who the regime has labeled terrorists.
"They turned houses of civilian Turks, their farms, their property into a center and passageway for terrorist groups from all over the world," Al-Zoubi said. "They facilitated and still are the passage of weapons and explosives and money and murders to Syria."
Al-Zoubi also branded Erdogan a "killer and a butcher," adding that the Turkish leader "has no right to build his glory on the blood of the Turkish and Syrian people."
Tensions had earlier flared between the Syrian regime and Turkey after shells fired from Syria landed on the Turkish side, killing five Turks, and prompting Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. to send two batteries of Patriot air defense missiles each to protect their NATO ally.
Davutoglu said his country would hold those responsible for the bombings but had no immediate plans to involve its NATO allies.
The attacks come just a little over a week after Israel escalated its role in the Syria conflict by striking suspected shipments of advanced Iranian weapons in Syria.
Erdogan is flying to the U.S. for talks with President Barack Obama next week. In the wake of the car bombs, both men could come under greater pressure to take action.
"It comes down to an existential struggle," said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha center. "Those who oppose Assad really have to show that they mean it now."
The U.S. has provided humanitarian aid to the Syrian opposition, but has been reluctant to provide military aid, in part because al-Qaida-linked militants are becoming increasingly influential in the armed opposition.
Last week, Erdogan alleged that Syria has been using chemical weapons, delivering them on at least 200 missiles, though he provided no evidence. Syria has denied using chemical weapons.
Obama has portrayed the use of chemicals by the regime as a "red line" that would have harsh consequences, but has said he needs more time to investigate allegations.
In another potentially destabilizing element, Israel signaled last week that it will keep striking at shipments of advanced Iranian weapons that might be bound for Hezbollah. Syria has traditionally be a conduit for Iranian weapons to Hezbollah.
Earlier this month, Israel struck twice at what Israeli officials said were shipments of advanced Iranian missiles near Damascus. In response, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said this week that Syria is expected to deliver "game-changing" weapons to his militia. If more than empty rhetoric, this would likely provoke more Israeli strikes.
_____
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Karin Laub and Zeina Karam in Beirut and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.
Canada's envoy to Tehran at the time of the Islamic revolution and the US hostage crisis, says Argo disappointed him and that he's worried about where Iran's nuclear program might lead.
By Ariel Zirulnick,?Staff writer / April 26, 2013
Former Canadian Ambassador to Iran Ken Taylor and his wife Pat, pose for photographers at the premiere of the film Argo in Washington, Oct. 2012. Taylor, who protected Americans at great personal risk during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, has achieved some name recognition in the US since the 2012 movie 'Argo' swept theaters and the Academy Awards.
Cliff Owen/AP/File
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Former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor is neither the James Bond lookalike he hoped might portray him in the Hollywood blockbuster "Argo" nor is he quite the Austin Powers double he says might have been a more accurate choice.
Skip to next paragraph Ariel Zirulnick
Middle East Editor
Ariel Zirulnick is the Monitor's Middle East editor, overseeing regional coverage both for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She is also a contributor to the international desk's terrorism and security blog.?
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But he's achieved some name recognition in the US since the 2012 movie swept theaters and the Academy Awards, and he has plenty to say about Iran in 1979 and the country it has become since.?
Mr. Taylor was Canada's ambassador to Tehran in 1979 when the US embassy there was stormed and dozens of Americans were taken hostage. Six Americans escaped and spent months holed up with him, waiting for their extraction.
Those months are the premise of the Ben Affleck-directed movie, which Taylor mildly says took ?a bit of poetic license.?
Speaking before a gathering of the New England Canada Business Council in Boston yesterday, Taylor, who now lives in New York, joked that after friends saw "Argo" at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, they called him and said, ?I thought Canada was involved.?
According to Taylor, he replied, ?That?s odd, So did I.?
As the tense months of being trapped inside the embassy wore on, Taylor tried to reassure the Americans that they would be home by Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then the Super Bowl. He warned the US that ?they?re going to wonder if Washington forgot about them.?
Taylor revealed little about the actual operation that got the six men and women safely back to the United States. But, he joked, at least the movie showed that he ?opened the front door of the embassy with great dexterity.?
Iran then
When Taylor arrived in Tehran in 1977, ?the country was booming.?
There were rumors that Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi ? more commonly referred to as simply ?the Shah? ? was preparing to buy Pan American Airways. It did not seem like the ?stalwart of the West? was going anywhere.
For all the blame heaped on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for not predicting the Islamic Revolution, almost nobody saw it coming, he said. Afterward, the Ayatollah?s secular advisers told Taylor that even they didn?t expect the Shah?s government to fall like it did. ?
Revolutionary fervor did not sweep up the whole country the way it seemed to be portrayed in "Argo." And Taylor said a great disappointment for him was the way the movie portrayed Iranians, some of whom became ?marvelous friends? with him during his posting in Tehran.
?The movie was too heavy handed,? he said. ?It gave no idea that there is another side to the Iranian character. Everybody isn?t on the street. Everybody isn?t part of the revolution.?
Too many sanctions, too little talking
He is on board with the growing chorus of voices in Washington urging the Obama administration to ease up on its sanctions-heavy approach to negotiations with Iran although he acknowledges that Iran needs to give ground too.
Sometimes sanctions work, he says, citing South Africa during the apartheid era, but ?sometimes they strengthen resolve.?
When asked his opinion of whether Tehran has nuclear weapon ambitions, he cautions that ?Iran is an opaque society,? and there?s too little information to guess.
?I think they?ve got some military use in the back of their mind,? he says. ?But they don?t want to destroy themselves ? Maybe they are working at capabilities, but not necessarily producing [a nuclear weapon].?
That the military option for halting Iran?s nuclear development is ?on the table? worries Taylor, who points to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as cautionary for anyone considering going to war with Iran.
"A bombing mission would be a fatal error. It would solve nothing,? he says. ?It would postpone [Iran?s nuclear program] for two to three years,? but nothing more, because Iran?s nuclear facilities are too dispersed.
He says, ?I wake up every morning hoping [the military option] is still on the table? ? instead of being used.
Smart watches are all the rage, and judging by the turnout and level of enthusiasm at the recently year one meetup for Pebble Kickstarter backers in San Francisco which I attended last week, there's at least a passionate niche audience for the things. So it isn't surprising to see them continue to pop up on Kickstarter. A new one called Agent has a few unique tricks, however, which its creators believe set it above the competition.
Square's not just for businesses apparently, as an invite-only page for a product called "Square Cash" has popped up. Not many details are known about it, but we've reached out to the company for comment.
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Public release date: 20-May-2013
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