Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295696781?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Cell reprogramming during liver regeneration
Friday, March 29, 2013
During embryonic development, animals generate many different types of cells, each with a distinct function and identity.
"Although the identities of these cells remain stable under normal conditions, some cells can be persuaded to take on new identities, through reprogramming," says Ben Stanger, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
Researchers have been able to reprogram cells experimentally, but few have shown that cells can change their identities under normal physiological conditions in the body, particularly in mammals.
In the cover article of this month's issue of Genes and Development, Stanger, PhD candidate Kilangsungla Yanger, Yiwei Zong, PhD, and their colleagues, did just that in the liver of a mouse. Stanger is also an investigator in the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology.
The adult liver contains two major cell types ? hepatocytes and biliary cells ? that differ dramatically in appearance and function. Hepatocytes are the main cell type in the liver, where they synthesize proteins and other macromolecules, and detoxify toxic substances. Biliary cells, on the other hand, line the bile ducts, which carry bile from the liver to the small intestine to help digest fats.
Using a sensitive method to tag and track how cells develop and differentiate, the researchers found that conditional expression of an activated Notch1 gene converted hepatocytes into biliary cells. Notch is an important receptor for relaying signals to tell cells how to develop.
What's more, after the researchers injured liver cells with a variety of toxins to stimulate wound healing, they found that over two to three weeks hepatocytes activated a biliary cell program on their own, acquiring the shape and function of biliary cells. These changes were dependent on the activation of endogenous Notch signaling.
"This is direct evidence that cells can be converted from one mature cell type to another in a live animal, as part of a normal response to injury," says Stanger. "We think that augmenting pre-existing cell reprogramming relationships may be another way to engineer cells for the treatment of diseases in which there are not enough bile ducts, such as cholestasis."
###
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/
Thanks to University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127525/Cell_reprogramming_during_liver_regeneration
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PST: Ex-French star calls Beckham 'unprofessional'
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
Best Buy giving Samsung the Apple treatment with in-store mini-stores
Way back in the year 2011, the big box gadget retailer Best Buy surprised us with the launch of dedicated in-store miniature Apple stores, or if you prefer fancier Apple display sections with dedicated sales staff. The move has worked well for both Best Buy and Apple, offering prospective Apple customers and current Mac and iOS users more than one thousand new spots to go check out and pick up the latest gear from Cupertino.
Clearly no longer content playing second fiddle to Apple, Samsung's partnering with Best Buy to do the same, launching before the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 at the end of April. According to Geek.com, Best Buy's high traffic stores will be getting the Samsung mini-stores, with staff being told to start clearing out two aisles worth of space next to the popular in-store mobile departments.
Apparently there will be "large Samsung signage" and demonstration stations to show off the features of Samsung products. And like the Apple mini-stores, Best Buy employees will receive special training, though it appears that the entire mobile department staff will be receiving this training instead of select individuals like the Apple sections. If all goes according to plan, Samsung and Best Buy plan to eventually roll the mini-store expansion out to all of Best Buy's locations.
The move signals both Samsung's desire to push forward with their newfound swagger and the acceptance of the largest brick-and-mortar electronics retailer in the United States of the aforementioned swagger. It's worth giving some consideration to how Samsung's store will be adjacent to and staffed by the Best Buy mobile department, where the sales emphasis is almost exclusively on smartphones, with a handful of cellular tablets thrown in for good measure.
Samsung's success in the mobile market has been almost exclusively thanks to their Galaxy S line. Where consumers see Apple as a company that makes desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, they see Samsung as televisions and smartphones. Setting up their store inside Best Buy is obviously a step to expand consumer recognition of what Samsung does, but by pairing it with Best Buy's powerful mobile presence they're also acknowledging what customers know and expect of Samsung.
It's also worth considering the benefits in the move for Best Buy. While they'll be losing significant floor space to the Samsung sections, this is a chain that's in the midst of an upheaval of sorts, faltering through a botched bid to take the company private and closing numerous stores over the past year to save costs. No doubt Samsung has paid well for the privilege of getting the same treatment as Apple, and that's money Best Buy desperately needs.
Source: Geek.com
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/JK_Oi59W0Mg/story01.htm
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Friday, March 29, 2013
After 40 years, Vietnam memories still strong
The last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago Friday, and the date holds great meaning for many who fought the war, protested it or otherwise lived it.
While the fall of Saigon two years later is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, many had already seen their involvement in the war finished ? and their lives altered ? by March 29, 1973.
U.S. soldiers leaving the country feared angry protesters at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future.
Many veterans are encouraged by changes they see. The U.S. has a volunteer military these days, not a draft, and the troops coming home aren't derided for their service. People know what PTSD stands for, and they're insisting that the government takes care of soldiers suffering from it and other injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Below are the stories of a few of the people who experienced a part of the Vietnam War firsthand.
___
'MORE INTERESTED IN GETTING BACK'
Dave Simmons of West Virginia was a corporal in the U.S. Army who came back from Vietnam in the summer of 1970. He said he didn't have specific memories about the final days of the war because it was something he was trying to put behind him.
"We were more interested in getting back, getting settled into the community, getting married and getting jobs," Simmons said.
He said he was proud to serve and would again if asked. But rather than proudly proclaim his service when he returned from Vietnam, the Army ordered him to get into civilian clothes as soon as he arrived in the U.S. The idea was to avoid confrontations with protestors.
"When we landed, they told us to get some civilian clothes, which you had to realize we didn't have, so we had to go in airport gift shops and buy what we could find," Simmons said.
Simmons noted that when the troops return today, they are often greeted with great fanfare in their local communities, and he's glad to see it.
"I think that's what the general public has learned ? not to treat our troops the way they treated us," Simmons said.
Simmons is now helping organize a Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day in Charleston that will take place Saturday.
"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another. We stick with that," said Simmons, president of the state council of the Vietnam Veterans of America. "We go to the airport. ... We're there when they leave. We're there when they come home. We support their families when they're gone. I'm not saying that did not happen to the Vietnam vet, but it wasn't as much. There was really no support for us."
___
A RISING PANIC
Tony Lam was 36 on the day the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. He was a young husband and father, but most importantly, he was a businessman and U.S. contractor furnishing dehydrated rice to South Vietnamese troops. He also ran a fish meal plant and a refrigerated shipping business that exported shrimp.
As Lam, now 76, watched American forces dwindle and then disappear, he felt a rising panic. His close association with the Americans was well-known and he needed to get out ? and get his family out ? or risk being tagged as a spy and thrown into a Communist prison. He watched as South Vietnamese commanders fled, leaving whole battalions without a leader.
"We had no chance of surviving under the Communist invasion there. We were very much worried about the safety of our family, the safety of other people," he said this week from his adopted home in Westminster, Calif.
But Lam wouldn't leave for nearly two more years after the last U.S. combat troops, driven to stay by his love of his country and his belief that Vietnam and its economy would recover.
When Lam did leave, on April 21, 1975, it was aboard a packed C-130 that departed just as Saigon was about to fall. He had already worked for 24 hours at the airport to get others out after seeing his wife and two young children off to safety in the Philippines.
"My associate told me, 'You'd better go. It's critical. You don't want to end up as a Communist prisoner.' He pushed me on the flight out. I got tears in my eyes once the flight took off and I looked down from the plane for the last time," Lam recalled. "No one talked to each other about how critical it was, but we all knew it."
Now, Lam lives in Southern California's Little Saigon, the largest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.
In 1992, Lam made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American to elected to public office in the U.S. and he went on to serve on the Westminster City Council for 10 years.
Looking back over four decades, Lam says he doesn't regret being forced out of his country and forging a new, American, life.
"I went from being an industrialist to pumping gas at a service station," said Lam, who now works as a consultant and owns a Lee's Sandwich franchise, a well-known Vietnamese chain.
"But thank God I am safe and sound and settled here with my six children and 15 grandchildren," he said. "I'm a happy man."
___
ANNIVERSARY NIGHTMARES
Wayne Reynolds' nightmares got worse this week with the approach of the anniversary of the U.S. troop withdrawal.
Reynolds, 66, spent a year working as an Army medic on an evacuation helicopter in 1968 and 1969. On days when the fighting was worst, his chopper would make four or five landings in combat zones to rush wounded troops to emergency hospitals.
The terror of those missions comes back to him at night, along with images of the blood that was everywhere. The dreams are worst when he spends the most time thinking about Vietnam, like around anniversaries.
"I saw a lot of people die," Reynolds said.
Today, Reynolds lives in Athens, Ala., after a career that included stints as a public school superintendent and, most recently, a registered nurse. He is serving his 13th year as the Alabama president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and he also has served on the group's national board as treasurer.
Like many who came home from the war, Reynolds is haunted by the fact he survived Vietnam when thousands more didn't. Encountering war protesters after returning home made the readjustment to civilian life more difficult.
"I was literally spat on in Chicago in the airport," he said. "No one spoke out in my favor."
Reynolds said the lingering survivor's guilt and the rude reception back home are the main reasons he spends much of his time now working with veteran's groups to help others obtain medical benefits. He also acts as an advocate on veterans' issues, a role that landed him a spot on the program at a 40th anniversary ceremony planned for Friday in Huntsville, Ala.
It took a long time for Reynolds to acknowledge his past, though. For years after the war, Reynolds said, he didn't include his Vietnam service on his resume and rarely discussed it with anyone.
"A lot of that I blocked out of my memory. I almost never talk about my Vietnam experience other than to say, 'I was there,' even to my family," he said.
___
NO ILL WILL
A former North Vietnamese soldier, Ho Van Minh heard about the American combat troop withdrawal during a weekly meeting with his commanders in the battlefields of southern Vietnam.
The news gave the northern forces fresh hope of victory, but the worst of the war was still to come for Minh: The 77-year-old lost his right leg to a land mine while advancing on Saigon, just a month before that city fell.
"The news of the withdrawal gave us more strength to fight," Minh said Thursday, after touring a museum in the capital, Hanoi, devoted to the Vietnamese victory and home to captured American tanks and destroyed aircraft.
"The U.S. left behind a weak South Vietnam army. Our spirits was so high and we all believed that Saigon would be liberated soon," he said.
Minh, who was on a two-week tour of northern Vietnam with other veterans, said he bears no ill will to the American soldiers even though much of the country was destroyed and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese died.
If he met an American veteran now he says, "I would not feel angry; instead I would extend my sympathy to them because they were sent to fight in Vietnam against their will."
But on his actions, he has no regrets. "If someone comes to destroy your house, you have to stand up to fight."
___
A POW'S REFLECTION
Two weeks before the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, Marine Corps Capt. James H. Warner was freed from North Vietnamese confinement after nearly 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He said those years of forced labor and interrogation reinforced his conviction that the United States was right to confront the spread of communism.
The past 40 years have proven that free enterprise is the key to prosperity, Warner said in an interview Thursday at a coffee shop near his home in Rohrersville, Md., about 60 miles from Washington. He said American ideals ultimately prevailed, even if the methods weren't as effective as they could have been.
"China has ditched socialism and gone in favor of improving their economy, and the same with Vietnam. The Berlin Wall is gone. So essentially, we won," he said. "We could have won faster if we had been a little more aggressive about pushing our ideas instead of just fighting."
Warner, 72, was the avionics officer in a Marine Corps attack squadron when his fighter plane was shot down north of the Demilitarized Zone in October 1967.
He said the communist-made goods he was issued as a prisoner, including razor blades and East German-made shovels, were inferior products that bolstered his resolve.
"It was worth it," he said.
A native of Ypsilanti, Mich., Warner went on to a career in law in government service. He is a member of the Republican Central Committee of Washington County, Md.
___
A DIFFERENT RESPONSE
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Duane Johnson, who served in Afghanistan and is a full-time logistics and ordnance specialist with the South Carolina National Guard, said many Vietnam veterans became his mentors when he donned a uniform 35 years ago.
"I often took the time, when I heard that they served in Vietnam, to thank them for their service. And I remember them telling me that was the first time anyone said that to them," said Johnson, of Gaston, S.C.
"My biggest wish is that those veterans could have gotten a better welcome home," the 56-year-old said Thursday.
Johnson said he's taken aback by the outpouring of support expressed for military members today, compared to those who served in Vietnam.
"It's a bit embarrassing, really," said Johnson. "Many of those guys were drafted. They didn't skip the country, they went and they served. That should be honored."
___
ANTI-WAR ACTIVISM
John Sinclair said he felt "great relief" when he heard about the U.S. troop pull-out. Protesting the war was a passion for the counter-culture figure who inspired the John Lennon song, "John Sinclair." The Michigan native drew a 10-year prison sentence after a small-time pot bust but was released after 2 ? years ? a few days after Lennon, Stevie Wonder and others performed at a 1971 concert to free him.
"There wasn't any truth about Vietnam ? from the very beginning," said Sinclair by phone from New Orleans, where he spends time when he isn't in Detroit or his home base of Amsterdam.
"In those times we considered ourselves revolutionaries," said Sinclair, a co-founder of the White Panther Party who is a poet, performance artist runs an Amsterdam-based online radio station. "We wanted equal distribution of wealth. We didn't want 1 percent of the rich running everything. Of course, we lost."
The Vietnam War also shaped the life of retired Vermont businessman John Snell, 64, by helping to instill a lifetime commitment to anti-war activism. He is now a regular at a weekly anti-war protest in front of the Montpelier federal building that has been going on since long before the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Haslett, Mich., native graduated from high school in 1966 and later received conscientious objector status. He never had to do the required alternative service because a foot deformity led him to being listed as unfit to serve.
"They were pretty formative times in our lives and we saw incredible damage being done, it was the first war to really show up on television. I remember looking in the newspaper and seeing the names of people I went to school with as being dead and injured every single week," said Snell, who attended Michigan State University before moving to Vermont in 1977.
"Things were crazy. I remember sitting down in the student lounge watching the numbers being drawn on TV, there were probably 200 people sitting in this lounge watching as numbers came up, the guys were quite depressed by the numbers that were being drawn," he said. "There certainly were people who volunteered and went with some patriotic fervor, but by '67 or'68 there were a lot of people who just didn't want to have anything to do with it."
___
Dishneau reported from Hagerstown, Md., and Reeves reported from Birmingham, Ala. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Chris Brummitt in Hanoi, Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok, Gillian Flaccus in Tustin, Calif., Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati, Kevin Freking in Washington, Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt., Susanne M. Schafer in Columbia, S.C., and Jeff Karoub in Detroit.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/40-years-vietnam-memories-still-strong-082431483.html
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Credit Card Interest Rate Roundup | Bankrate.com
- 13.02% (all fixed)
- 15.12% (all variable)
The average annual percentage rate, or APR, for variable-rate credit cards fell 3 basis points to 15.12 percent from 15.15 percent, according to Bankrate's latest survey of interest rates. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The APR for fixed-rate cards remained at 13.02 percent.
The amounts that banks can charge before a credit card account is opened can't be capped, according to a final ruling Friday from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency said any fees incurred before an account's opening are not subject to a provision in the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 that says fees in the first year can't exceed 25 percent of the credit card's limit. The ruling from the CFPB reflected a federal court ruling last year.
Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/rate-roundup.aspx
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Optimism in UN over 1st global arms trade treaty
UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? The first global treaty on regulating the multimillion-dollar arms trade appeared to be nearing consensus, supporters said, though worries remained that Iran, India or other countries would back off an agreement that requires approval from all 193 United Nations member states.
Thursday is the deadline for reaching a deal. U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations have been private, said Wednesday the United States was virtually certain to go along with the latest text.
Hopes of reaching agreement on what would be a landmark treaty were dashed last July when the U.S. said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord ? a move quickly backed by Russia and China. In December, the U.N. General Assembly decided to hold a final conference and set Thursday as the deadline.
"We need a treaty," China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong told The Associated Press. "We hope for consensus."
Iran, Egypt, India and several other countries have had serious concerns about the text.
There has never been an international treaty regulating the estimated $60 billion global arms trade. For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organized crime.
"It's important for each and every country in the world that we have a regulation of the international arms trade," Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig told the AP. "There are still some divergencies of views, but I trust we can overcome them."
The draft treaty does not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms, parts and components and to regulate arms brokers. It would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons if they would violate arms embargoes or if they would promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
The final draft makes this human rights provision even stronger, adding that the export of conventional arms should be prohibited if they could be used in the commission of attacks on civilians or civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals.
In considering whether to authorize the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by terrorists or organized crime. The final draft would allow countries to determine whether the weapons transfer would contribute to or undermine peace and security.
Anna Macdonald, Oxfam's head of arms control, said the scope of the weapons covered in the latest draft is still too narrow.
"We need a treaty that covers all conventional weapons, not just some of them," she said. "We need a treaty that will make a difference to the lives of the people living in Congo, Mali, Syria and elsewhere who suffer each day from the impacts of armed violence."
Ammunition has been a key issue, with some countries pressing for the same controls on ammunition sales as arms, but the U.S. and others opposed such tough restrictions. The draft calls for each country that ratifies the treaty to establish regulations for the export of ammunition "fired, launched or delivered" by the weapons covered by the convention.
The Control Arms coalition, which represents about 100 organizations worldwide campaigning for a strong treaty, and diplomats from countries that support them, said this wouldn't cover hand grenades and mines.
India and other countries had insisted that the treaty have an opt-out for government arms transfers under defense cooperation agreements. The new text appears to keep that loophole, stating that implementation of the treaty "shall not prejudice obligations" under defense cooperation agreements by countries that ratify the treaty.
"Making this treaty was like making a sausage: Everyone has added an ingredient," said Ted Bromund, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"Unfortunately, that has produced a document that leans much too far towards satisfying the concerns of the Arab Group and Mexico. The former view it as a rebellion prevention plan, while the latter wants a text that edges towards its view that the domestic firearms market in the U.S. should be subject to treaty regulation," he said.
But Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Washington-based Arms Control Association, said, "The emerging treaty represents an important first step in dealing with the unregulated and illicit global trade in conventional weapons and ammunition, which fuels wars and human rights abuses worldwide."
He said the text could have been stronger and more comprehensive, but it can still make an important difference.
"The new treaty says to every United Nations member that you cannot simply 'export and forget,'" Kimball said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/optimism-un-over-1st-global-arms-trade-treaty-012555634.html
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Hands-on with MiiPC, the $99 kid-safe Android PC (video)
It was only two days ago that ZeroDesktop launched MiiPC, a $99 kid-safe Android PC, and the Kickstarter campaign's already surpassed its $50,000 goal. To jog your memory, MiiPC is an attractive 4.7 x 4.7 x 3.1-inch desktop computer running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It's powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Marvell New Armada SoC with 1GB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. The system features an SD card slot in front, a power button on top and a full array of ports in the back, including two USB 2.0, HDMI, analog audio I/O, Ethernet and power.
What makes this device so unique is the software, which is optimized for use with a large screen (up to 1080p), keyboard and mouse. It provides a desktop-class web browsing experience with Flash and runs standard Android apps. MiiPC supports multiple user accounts which can be controlled and monitored remotely in real-time using a companion app for iOS and Android. The idea is for parents to create a safe online environment for their kids by managing their access to the web and to apps. We got the chance to play with a prototype MiiPC yesterday -- read our impressions and watch out hands-on video after the break.
Filed under: Desktops
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/27/miipc-hands-on/
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eBay seller auctioning Jim Carrey autographed photo to buy gun
Jim Carrey is facing plenty of backlash for his anti-gun song??Cold Dead Hand,??but one Second Amendment enthusiast is expressing his or her disagreement in a unique way ???by selling an?autographed Jim Carrey photo on eBay?to buy a new gun.
The eBay description reads, ?I?m selling this Jim Carrey Autographed B&W 8X10 Photo (mint condition) in hopes that I sell it for enough to buy a GUN to protect my family.?
This is probably not the response Carrey had in mind when he released his song on Monday, attacking gun owners and singing lyrics such as ?the psychos win no matter what you do because they?ll always buy more guns than you.?
The picture seller, astrobuzz, hopes to net at least $640 to buy a ?Glock G30S .45 ACP Pistol.? If the photo goes for more than the price of the gun, the seller promises to spend the extra cash on a laser for the gun along with gun safety classes and a concealed carry permit.
It looks like the seller will be toting around a new Glock in no time, as the bidding was already up to $860 on Wednesday, with 5 days left to bid.
In case there was any doubt, the seller said the choice to sell the item was in response to Carrey?s extremely offensive, anti-Second Amendment song.
?I lost all respect for Mr. Carrey after he released his ?Cold Dead Hands? video mocking responsible gun owners and Charlton Heston,? the seller wrote in the eBay description. ?I believe in the 2nd Amendment and my rights shall not be infringed! From MY cold dead hands Mr. Carrey!?
The picture itself is a portrait of Carrey along with his John Hancock and the message ?Spank you very much!? ? to which the future Glock owner says, ?And spank u. Jim.?
Yee haw!
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
Oklahoma earthquake: How oil extraction shifts the ground beneath us
Oklahoma's largest recorded earthquake is the latest epicenter of a debate over the connection between fossil fuel recovery and seismic activity. To what extent does oil and gas production cause earthquakes? In the case of the 2011 Oklahoma earthquake, a new study suggests the connection is strong.
Joe Reneau displays the damage his home received in two earthquakes in less than 24 hours in Sparks, Okla. The 5.7 magnitude earthquake in November 2011 may have been the result of wastewater injection from oil production, according to a new study.
Sue Ogrocki/AP/File
EnlargeOklahoma's largest recorded earthquake may have been the result of injection wells?used for disposing wastewater from oil extraction, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Oklahoma, Columbia University and the US Geological Survey. Their findings challenge the state's own geological survey, which concluded the 5.7 magnitude earthquake was likely "the result of natural causes."
Skip to next paragraphWhy It Matters
Energy: The increase in US oil production can help reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.?
Environment: Wastewater injection techniques used in conventional and unconventional fossil-fuel extraction are linked to seismic activity.
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It's the latest back-and-forth in a decades-long debate over the connection between fossil fuel recovery and seismic activity. To what extent does oil and gas production shift the ground beneath us? When does the risk of seismic activity outweigh the benefit of increased energy resources??
The 2011 event in Oklahoma is the largest earthquake linked to wastewater injection, according to the study, published Tuesday in the journal Geology.
?There?s something important about getting unexpectedly large earthquakes out of small systems that we have discovered here,? said study co-author Geoffrey Abers, a seismologist at Columbia University, in a press release. His conclusion is that ?the risk of humans inducing large earthquakes from even small injection activities is probably higher? than previously thought.?
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sony Xperia ZL goes on pre-order for US customers, off-contract: $720 for HSPA, $760 for LTE
Remember the Xperia ZL? While it lingered in the shadow of the waterproof Xperia Z back at CES, the phone does still exist and has now gone on preorder at Sony's own webstore. Withc the same 5-inch 1080p display, 13-megapixel camera and Snapdragon S4 Pro of the omnibalanced Z model, the Xperia ZL packs it into a smaller footprint and adds the courtesy of a physical camera button. Sony's NFC skills remain onboard and that lead camera is capable of HDR video capture, alongside recent improvements to the Xperia range's automatic shooting mode. While its own retail site is currently down (and there's no concrete date for when you'll get your hands on the phone), Sony says that it will be available from other online stores soon, pricing the Xperia ZL, contract- and carrier-less, at a hefty $720 on HSPA, or $760 for the 4G variant. That pricier option includes LTE Bands 2, 4 5, and 17, which means it should connect with AT&T's 4G network -- with or without any carrier branding.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
Source: Sony Store
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/25/sony-xperia-zl-goes-on-pre-order-for-us-customers-off-contract/
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Syrian activists say senior rebel leader wounded
FILE - In this undated file photo, Syrian Commander Riad al-Asaad, who heads a group of Syrian army defectors appears on a video posted on the group's Facebook page. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday March 25, 2013 a bomb stuck to his car targeted Col. Riad al-Asaad during a visit to the town of Mayadeen in eastern Syria. The Observatory cited conflicting reports on al-Asaad's fate, with some saying he had been killed and others saying he lost a leg. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/Free Syrian Army) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS NO WAY OF INDEPENDENTLY VERIFYING THE CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS VIDEO IMAGE.
FILE - In this undated file photo, Syrian Commander Riad al-Asaad, who heads a group of Syrian army defectors appears on a video posted on the group's Facebook page. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday March 25, 2013 a bomb stuck to his car targeted Col. Riad al-Asaad during a visit to the town of Mayadeen in eastern Syria. The Observatory cited conflicting reports on al-Asaad's fate, with some saying he had been killed and others saying he lost a leg. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. (AP Photo/Free Syrian Army) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAS NO WAY OF INDEPENDENTLY VERIFYING THE CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS VIDEO IMAGE.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? A rebel military leader who was among the first to call openly for armed insurrection against President Bashar Assad was wounded by a bomb planted in his car in eastern Syria, anti-regime activists said Monday.
Col. Riad al-Asaad, leader of a now-sidelined rebel umbrella group known as the Free Syrian Army, had his right foot amputated following the blast late on Sunday, according to an activist in the town of Mayadeen where the attack took place.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the attack, saying some said al-Asaad had been killed while others said he lost a leg.
Calls to al-Asaad's cell phone went unanswered, and one of his aides reached in Turkey said he had no details.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Al-Asaad, a former colonel in the Syrian air force who defected and fled to Turkey in 2011, became the head of the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors who were among the first to declare armed struggle the only way to topple the regime.
"They will soon discover that armed rebellion is the only way to break the Syrian regime," al-Asaad told The Associated Press in October 2011, soon after his group was formed.
At the time, most Syrian activists were inspired by the uprisings that had successfully toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt and thought popular protests would bring about the same result in Syria. But the Syrian government's vast, violent crackdown on opposition caused many to resort to arms.
Today, hundreds of independent rebel groups are fighting a civil war against Assad's forces across the country and many activists no longer bother to stage unarmed protests. The U.N. says more than 70,000 people have been killed since the first protests in March, 2011.
During that transition, al-Asaad, who spent most of his time in a refugee camp in Turkey, never managed to build effective links with most rebel groups or provide the support that would have made them recognize him as their leader. While most fighters in Syria refer to themselves as part of the "Free Army," those who say they follow al-Asaad are rare.
More recently, al-Asaad's group has been superseded by the Office of the Chiefs of Staff, which is associated with the opposition Syrian National Coalition and led by Gen. Salim Idris. That body, too, has failed to project widespread authority inside Syria, where most groups still cobble together their own funding and arms.
The Mayadeen activist said via Skype that a bomb planted in the seat of the car al-Asaad was riding in blew up as he toured the town.
The activist said rebels now control the town and most of the surrounding areas, although President Assad still has supporters, whom the activist blamed for the attack. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety.
Al-Asaad was traveling with an aide and a local activist, Barakat al-Haweish, both of whom were slightly injured, the activist said. Al-Asaad was taken to a local field hospital, where doctors amputated his right foot before transporting him to Turkey.
Also Monday, the opposition's exile political leadership, the Syrian National Coalition, said a delegation was heading to Doha, where the Gulf state of Qatar will host a two-day Arab League summit starting Tuesday.
Foreign ministers of the League's member states decided Monday to grant Syria's seat in the body to the opposition. The Syria government's membership was suspended earlier in the uprising.
Heading the delegation is Mouaz al-Khatib, the Coalition said in a statement on its Facebook page. He is going despite having resigned his position as Coalition leader on Sunday, citing restriction on his work inside the group and frustration with the level of international aid for the opposition.
Al-Khatib, a respected Muslim preacher before being chosen last year to head the Coalition, said in a post on his own Facebook page that he would address the summit "in the name of the Syrian people." He said the move had nothing to do with his resignation, "which will be discussed later."
The Coalition refused his resignation and has asked him to keep his job.
Also in the delegation is Ghassan Hitto, whom the coalition elected last week to head a planned interim government to govern rebel-held areas.
In Damascus, a series of mortar strikes near a downtown traffic circle on Monday killed one person and wounded several others, the government-run Ikhbariyeh TV station reported.
Umayyad Square, at the center of a large intersection west of downtown, sits near the government TV headquarters, the Sheraton hotel and a number of faculties of the University of Damascus.
Syria's state news agency reported no dead and at least six wounded in the strikes, which it said hit near the Opera House.
It was unclear who was behind that attack as well, reflecting the often chaotic nature of Syria's two-year-old civil war pitting hundreds of independent rebel groups against the forces of Assad. The U.N. says more than 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict began with political protests in March, 2011.
Such sporadic strikes on Damascus have grown more common in recent weeks and often appear to target government buildings. Most cause only material damage, but spread fear in Damascus that the capital, which has so far managed to avoid the widespread clashes that have destroyed other cities, could soon face the same fate.
Damascus residents reported hearing intensive shelling on Monday, though it was hard to tell where it was coming from.
____
Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed reporting from Damascus, Syria.
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Sunday, March 24, 2013
Push for Assad's Ouster in Syria Weakened
Foes of Syrian President Bashar Assad are distracted by fragmentation within their ranks, foreign meddling and new finger-pointing over chemical weapons as the regime more firmly entrenches itself, giving no sign of stepping down any time soon.
With the two-year civil war slogging on, the United States appears closer than ever to sending military support to Syrian rebels in hopes of breaking the bloody impasse that has left more than 70,000 dead and forced more than 1 million refugees to flee their homes. Beyond at least the threat of military intervention, there is growing consensus among the U.S. and its allies that little can be done to put new pressure on Assad to go.
New allegations this week ? almost as quickly debunked ? that chemical weapons may have been used against neighborhoods outside Damascus and in Syria's north spooked the White House and Congress and ratcheted up demands for the U.S. to hamper what one Democratic lawmaker described as Assad's "killing spree."
On his first foreign trip of his second term, President Barack Obama this week maintained his long-standing view that "Assad must go, and I believe he will go." He repeated his caution about sending military assistance to Syrian opposition forces, which could prolong the fighting and unintentionally put U.S. weapons in the hands of Islamic extremists.
But Obama also held firm to his stance that Assad would cross a red line if he were to use his suspected stockpile of chemical weapons ? including nerve agents and mustard gas ? against the Syrian people.
"It's tragic, it's heartbreaking, and the sight of children and women being slaughtered that we've seen so much I think has to compel all of us to say, 'What more can we do?'" Obama said Friday during a news conference in Amman, Jordan. "And that's a question that I'm asking as president every single day."
Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Paris on Wednesday to meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for talks expected to focus on arming Syrian rebels. The discussion also is expected to touch on the suspected use of chemical weapons in Syria, according to French officials.
On Thursday, a U.S. official cited strong indications that chemical weapons were not used in an attack Tuesday in northern Aleppo province, but could not rule out the possibility. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter involved intelligence-gathering. At the same time, the U.N. said it would investigate whether chemical weapons were used and specifically is looking at the regime's claim that rebel forces launched the deadly agents.
But U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the investigation "will not happen overnight" ? meaning that the debate over whether the deadly agents were used almost certainly will drag out. And State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Friday acknowledged difficulties of the U.S. launching its own probe, largely because American investigators cannot visit the sites of the alleged attacks.
The chemical weapons quandary is the newest of several issues that have distracted the Syrian opposition and international community, while Assad digs in even deeper against disjointed plans on how to oust him.
Assad "has not yet decided that his days are numbered and that he's going to have to leave," Ambassador Robert Ford, Obama's envoy to Syria, told a House Foreign Affairs hearing this week.
Ford also told the panel that the Obama administration is reviewing U.S. policy against giving military aid to the Free Syrian Army's leadership. "We do regularly review this ? I'll be very clear about that," he said.
The Assad regime is receiving arms and other military assistance from Iran, Russia and Lebanese Hezbollah. Ford also cited indirect help from Iraq and Iraqi fighters that "is absolutely prolonging the conflict," although Baghdad denies being involved on either side of the Syrian war.
House delegate Eni Faleomavaega, a nonvoting Democrat from American Samoa, described the foreign aid to the regime more bluntly. "It's all military hardware that Assad needs to continue his killing spree," Faleomavaega said.
France and Britain are lobbying the European Union to lift an arms embargo on Syria to raise the possibility of sending weapons to rebel fighters as early as May. So far, the U.S. has joined Germany and other EU nations in resisting supplying arms to opposition forces. But Kerry said this week that the U.S. would not stand in the way of other nations that decide to arm the rebels.
Congress increasingly is pushing the White House to send military aid to anti-regime fighters. On Thursday, Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and the panel's top Republican, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, asked Obama to deploy Patriot missiles near the Syrian border in southern Turkey to deter Assad's air forces and destroy regime aircraft. The senators stopped short of asking for arms for rebels, but they encouraged stronger aid to vetted groups, including intelligence, communications equipment and humanitarian assistance, like food and medical care.
"Over the past two years that the horrific conflict in Syria has pressed on, both Syrians on the ground and key allies across the region have made clear their hope for stronger American support," wrote Levin and McCain. "We urge you to take steps to ease the suffering of the Syrian people and protect U.S. national security interests."
Disarray within the opposition forces also has stymied the move to unseat Assad, although rebels control territory in Syria's north and east. Ford described the opposition as divided into political and military wings, and "both are not entirely unified."
This week, the Syrian National Coalition elected American-educated Ghassan Hitto as its prime minister but almost immediately witnessed a walkout by about a dozen of its members, who protested they were sidelined from the decision. The coalition is recognized by the U.S. as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people, but some of its members complain it is dominated by fundamentalists from the Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative Islamist movement.
Additionally, the rebels have been joined by what Ford described as a small minority of fighters known as Jabhat al-Nusra, a powerful offshoot of al-Qaida in Iraq. Al-Nusra has claimed responsibility for most of the deadliest suicide bombings against regime and military facilities and, as a result, has gained popularity among some rebels. However, the group has alienated secular-minded fighters, which is one reason the U.S. has not equipped the rebels with weapons. The Obama administration designated al-Nusra as a terrorist organization last December.
Western nations worry that al-Nusra or other rebels will get their hands on Syria's chemical weapons stockpile ? but are as concerned that Assad will use them against his people, although he has vowed not to. Ford declined to discuss how the White House would retaliate if Assad crosses Obama's red line and deploys the deadly chemicals, but he said the regime might be more tempted to do so as it loses ground.
Ban said he was aware of charges that Assad's military used chemical weapons against the rebels in the Aleppo attack. But the secretary-general did not make clear whether the rebels' claim also would be part of the new U.N. probe. Obama, meanwhile, has said he is "deeply skeptical" that opposition forces used the chemical weapons.
Because of the risks getting investigators to the war zone, it likely will be difficult to prove whether chemical weapons were used, said Ralf Trapp, a chemical and biological weapons scientist formerly at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He said evidence is best collected at least within several miles from the site at the time of the attack.
"You really have to be on the ground," Trapp said in a telephone interview from France. "You need to be where the event occurred and you need to speak with the victims. In a civil war, that's not easy."
Ford said the rebels have begun to outmatch the regime's military and captured key cities and officials while controlling Syria's land borders with Turkey and Iraq. Heavy fighting near Assad's palaces in Damascus recently "would have been rattling his windows," Ford said.
But Assad could remain in power at least through the end of the year. For one, there are few places he could flee to without fearing prosecution or assassination. "Assad has very little impetus to do anything but stay there," said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.
Without more foreign pressure and aid, it's unlikely Assad would leave for months or even years, said Ken Pollack, a Mideast expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a member of the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.
"The situation has degenerated into a bloody, but potentially very durable stalemate," Pollack said.
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Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper in Washington and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
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Art world shivers at sale of Henry Moore statue
This undated photo made available on Friday March 22, 2013 by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park shows the Henry Moore "Draped Seated Woman" statue, on loan to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park by the London borough of Tower Hamlets, in Wakefield, England. The cash-strapped London borough of Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest communities in Britain, plans to sell the statue, estimated to be worth as much as 20 million pounds ($30 million). (AP Photo/Jonty Wilde, Yorkshire Sculpture Park) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
This undated photo made available on Friday March 22, 2013 by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park shows the Henry Moore "Draped Seated Woman" statue, on loan to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park by the London borough of Tower Hamlets, in Wakefield, England. The cash-strapped London borough of Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest communities in Britain, plans to sell the statue, estimated to be worth as much as 20 million pounds ($30 million). (AP Photo/Jonty Wilde, Yorkshire Sculpture Park) EDITORIAL USE ONLY
LONDON (AP) ? The massive bronze sculpture is formally known as "Draped Seated Woman," a Henry Moore creation that evoked Londoners huddled in air raid shelters during the Blitz.
To the East Enders who lived nearby, the artwork was known as "Old Flo," a stalwart symbol of people facing oppression with dignity and grace.
But now, Old Flo may have to go.
The cash-strapped London borough of Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest communities in Britain, plans to sell the statue ? estimated to be worth as much as 20 million pounds ($30 million).
Art lovers fear the sale of such a famous sculpture would set a worrisome precedent, triggering the sell-off of hundreds of lesser works housed in parks, public buildings and little local museums as communities throughout Britain struggle to balance their budgets amid the longest and deepest economic slowdown since the Great Depression.
"If the sale of Old Flo goes through, it can open the flood gates," said Sally Wrampling, head of policy at the Art Fund, the national fundraising charity for art and one of the groups campaigning to block the sale.
The proposal embodies a dilemma faced by many struggling households: Do you sell the family silver to get through tough times?
Tower Hamlets, where a recent study found that 42 percent of children live in poverty, is 100 million pounds in the red.
The sculpture hasn't even been in the borough for 15 years. It was moved to a sculpture park in the north of England when authorities tore down the housing project where it had been placed. The council says just the insurance alone for the massive bronze would be a burden to taxpayers.
"We make this decision with a heavy heart," said Rania Khan, a local councilor who focuses on culture issues. "We have to make tough decisions."
Local authorities throughout the country are being hit by funding cuts as the central government seeks to balance the budget and reduce borrowing. Funding for local government will fall 33 percent in real terms between April 2011 and March 2015, according to the Local Government Association. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the cuts tend to hit poor, urban areas like Tower Hamlets hardest, because their spending was higher to begin with.
Some 2,000 museums in Britain are local affairs. Bury Council sold a painting by L.S. Lowry in 2006, and Southampton City Council backed down from plans to sell an Auguste Rodin bronze in the face of public protest. The Museums Association has advised the Northampton council to hold off on the sale of an Egyptian funerary monument estimated to be worth 2 million pounds until more consultation can be done.
The depth of the recession and the lack of hope that things will improve soon are fueling the debate.
The latest figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent agency created in 2010 to advise the government, show the economy is growing more slowly than previously forecast, reducing tax revenue and prolonging the government's austerity program.
One thing is certain: Tower Hamlets, a community of 254,000 people, desperately needs the money.
Khan says she believes Moore, the son of a coal miner and lifelong socialist who died in 1986, would be moved by the plight of her constituents. She knows women who will be hard hit by proposed limits on benefit payments ? people for whom as little as five pounds can make a huge difference ? and families living in housing with mold growing on the walls.
"If he thought the sale of the sculpture would benefit the lives of thousands in Tower Hamlets ... I think he would be in favor," Khan said.
Moore attended art school on a scholarship for ex-servicemen. He became fascinated with the human form, creating works with undulating curves that reflect rolling hills and other features of nature. His most beloved motif was the reclining female figure, like that of Old Flo.
The statue features the graceful draping that Moore traced to his observation of people huddled in the Underground during the Blitz. In a 1966 interview with the BBC, Moore talked about the fear and exhilaration of Londoners sheltering against the Nazi barrage. He had concern for those he was drawing: He never sat sketching but waited until the following day and drew from memory ? rather than capturing people in their makeshift bedrooms.
Alan Wilkinson, one of the foremost Moore scholars, said the artist would have been sympathetic about the hard times in Tower Hamlets, but would want his sculptures seen the way they were intended to be seen ? in public spaces.
"Public sculpture was incredibly important for him," Wilkinson said. "He was very fussy about where it was placed."
Moore sold Old Flo at discount to the London County Council, a forerunner of the city's current administration, in 1962 on condition the statue would be displayed publicly. It was placed at a public housing project.
The East End was one of the areas hardest hit by Nazi bombs, and its residents were directly connected to the work.
Now war memories have faded. The median age of people in Tower Hamlets is 29, the lowest in London, and 43 percent of the population was born outside the U.K., according to the latest census figures.
Old Flo's story hasn't been told to the current generation, said Patrick Brill, an artist who uses the pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith.
"If we don't cherish these things, we lose a bit of our history," he said. "If you lose your history, you lose a bit of yourself, really."
Still, Old Flo has a fan club. Danny Boyle, director of films such as "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Trainspotting," signed an open letter asking the council to reverse its decision. A flash mob of people dressed as Old Flo appeared at the Tower Hamlets offices in November to protest the sale. Another London borough has laid claim to the statue.
Critics believe money raised by the sale would quickly vanish? and Old Flo would disappear into the private collection of a foreign hedge fund owner or Russian oligarch, taking Moore's message into hiding
Rushanara Ali, a member of Parliament who represents part of Tower Hamlets, raised the issue during a December debate, suggesting the proposal was more the result of "profligacy and extraordinary waste," than tough economic times.
"This bonfire of public art is not the answer," Ali said. "One has to ask, where does this end? What precedents will be set for other areas that may wish to make such sales to deal with financial challenges?"
Noting Moore's interest in the work of Pablo Picasso, Brill said Old Flo was influenced by "Guernica," the 1937 painting that shows the suffering inflicted by war. As such, she still has resonance for the people of Tower Hamlets, an area that has been home to generations of immigrants, including the Bangladeshis who today account for 32 percent of the population.
"Old Flo ... is a very British 'keep calm carry on' image of the same thing as 'Guernica,'" he said. "Old Flo is East London's monument to people seeking sanctuary. She is our 'Guernica.'"
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Iraq War at 10: for families of wounded, a mounting cost
Some 32,000 wounded Iraq War veterans face long delays for care at the Veterans Administration, and even less is known about the strains on some 1 million family caregivers.?
Family, friends, and fellow veterans release red, white, and blue balloons at a memorial service in Sayre, Pa., for Army Cpl. Josh Perry, who died a year ago after tours as an MP in Korea and Iraq. He struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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EnlargeThe 10-year anniversary of America?s war in Iraq came and went with little fanfare this week, but in homes across the country, veterans ? and the family members who care for them ? continue to struggle mightily with the wounds of battle.
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Two new studies highlight their plight. On a Friday afternoon this month, the Army quietly released?a Pentagon Inspector General?s report which found ?non-compliance? on the part of the Army in processing soldiers? disability claims.
The report issued a further rebuke, noting that the method for filing disability claims is ?increasing the workload and confusion for all participants and leaders concerned.??
That navigating the veterans? disabilities claims process is confusing has long been known. The problem, veterans advocates say, is that it is not appreciably improving for the 32,000 troops who were wounded in the war.?
A report released this month from the Center for Investigative Reporting, ?The War Comes Home: Washington?s Battle Against America?s Veterans,? finds that some 600,000 claims of wounded veterans from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam are backlogged as service members await an answer from the Department of Veterans Affairs.?
By way of illustration, the ?excessive? stacks of paper and claims folders piled around the offices of a VA regional office in Winston-Salem, N.C., for example, were so great that it ?appeared to have the potential to compromise the [structural] integrity of the building,? according to an August 2012 report from the VA?s Office of the Inspector General.
Indeed, these heaps of paper ??an estimated 37,000 claims folders stored on top of file cabinets ??not only led to a predictable ?increased risk of loss or misfiling,? but they also exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the building by 39 pounds per square foot, according to the IG report.?
Many of these claims awaiting response are made by family members and spouses requesting help caring for some of these wounded returning from war, says Terri Tanielian, lead author of a RAND Corp. report on military caregivers released earlier this month.?
Indeed, these spouses and ??in the case of unmarried troops ??parents who care for troops returning from war ?often toil long hours with little support, putting them at risk for physical, emotional, and financial harm,? according to the report, which estimates that there are as many as one million such caregivers throughout the United States.
?These are the people that give the help with dressing, feeding, bathing, toileting these returning veterans,? says Ms. Tanielian says.?
The role that these military caregivers play ?can place stress and burdens on individual caregivers so much that they experience deteriorations of their own,? often in the form of ?higher rates of emotional stress and anxiety,? Tanielian adds.
They grapple with concerns about income loss, since many of them have to reduce the number of hours that they can work outside the home, or leave the workforce altogether, she notes. ?The set of burdens caregivers take on as a result of spending time in their caregiving role can accumulate and cascade.?
The problem, the RAND report warns, is that there is ?no national strategy? for supporting these ad hoc caregivers, who are often younger women with small children at home.?
What?s more, beyond those two key details, she adds, ?little is known about them.?
That needs to change, she adds. ?If we?re going to make sure that veterans can have a successful reintegration after they return from war, we need to tend to the needs of the caregivers, too.?
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Domestic drones ?scary,? but inevitable, Bloomberg says
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)NEW YORK?Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the idea of law enforcement officials using drones and other controversial methods like face recognition technology to monitor Americans is ?scary,? but he suggested the practice is inevitable.
In a radio interview on Friday, Bloomberg acknowledged there are privacy concerns when asked about the use of drones by the New York Police Department or other entities. He suggested, however, that there?s little people can do to stop the ?tides from coming in.?
The mayor said, ?We're going into a different world, unchartered. And, like it or not, what people can do or governments can do is different, and you can to some extent control, but you can't keep the tides from coming in. We're going to have more visibility and less privacy. I don't see how you stop that. And it's not a question of whether I think it's good or bad. I just don't see how you could stop that because we're going to have them.?
While he acknowledged the practice is ?scary,? Bloomberg said that ?intellectually? he sees little difference between drones and security cameras mounted around cities. And he appeared to dismiss legislation that would limit how the drones are used to protect people?s privacy.
"It's a different world. And, you know, everybody wants their privacy, but I don't know how you're going to maintain it," he said. "I mean, this is something that society really has to think about, and not by writing a quick piece of legislation. These are long-term, serious problems. And whether we have the discipline to approach problems that way, I don't know. You know, I mean, everybody demagogues on all these things, and there's some serious issues before you write legislation.?
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