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রবিবার, ৩ মার্চ, ২০১৩

HBT: Simmons' big day pushes Dutch past Korea

After defending champion Japan barely survived Brazil?s upset bid, South Korea was dealt quite a blow in its attempt to return to the World Baseball Classic finals, losing to The Netherlands 5-0 in Pool B play.

Diegomar Markwell, Orlando Yntema, Leon Boyd and Mark Pawelek combined on the shutout for the Dutch. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons went 3-for-5 with two doubled from the leadoff spot, and Andrew Jones went 2-for-4 with a double as the DH.

Korea played an uncharacteristically sloppy game, committing four errors. The team also collected just four hits, all of them singles.

While The Netherlands has a nice lineup ? the team also features Nationals outfielder Roger Bernadina, Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien and top Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaerts ? pitching figured to be its undoing. Korea, though, could get no handle on today?s journeymen, none of whom are employed by major league clubs. The 32-year-old Markwell pitched in the Blue Jays system from 1997-2003, going 5-7 with a 7.04 ERA in Double-A his final season. Pawelek was a 2005 first-round pick of the Cubs, but he never made it past A ball in the Cubs or Reds systems.

Korea will now likely have to come back and beat both Chinese Taipei and Australia in order to advance in the WBC. The Netherlands will be aiming to go to the second round for the second straight tournament. In 2009, the Dutch advanced on a tiebreaker as one of three Pool D teams to go 1-2.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/02/andrelton-simmons-goes-3-for-5-as-dutch-shut-out-korea/related/

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শনিবার, ২ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Mich. governor declares Detroit fiscal emergency

NBC News staff and wire reports ? ? ? 6 hrs.

Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan on Friday declared a fiscal state of emergency in Detroit in a move that could lead to the appointment of a financial manager who could file for the largest municipal bankruptcy ever.

Snyder's decision allows the city a 10-day grace period to formulate a plan to fix its finances before the governor reconsiders appointing an emergency manager who would likely drastically reduce services.

The Republican governor said he had identified a top candidate for the position, but he declined to name the person.

"I believe it's appropriate to declare the city of Detroit in financial emergency," Snyder said at a forum in Detroit.

Snyder said he agreed with a Feb. 19 report by a six-member team of experts that concluded Michigan's largest city is in dire financial shape and a plan put in place last April to aid Detroit was not sufficiently working.

The expert team Snyder assembled in December did not officially recommend the appointment of an emergency financial manager, leaving that decision up to the governor.

Detroit officials now have 10 days to request a hearing with the governor about his determination.

After the hearing or the expiration of the 10 days in the case of no hearing, the governor confirms or revokes his determination. A confirmation will assign management of Detroit's fiscal emergency to a Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board composed of three state officials, including the treasurer, who are all Snyder appointees. That board would also appoint a manager for the city, under the current state law.

Detroit officials also will have the ability to appeal the fiscal emergency determination in state court. But that move would likely not delay the appointment of a manager, who could ultimately recommend the city file for bankruptcy. A Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy by Detroit would be the largest ever in the United States.

Detroit has faced the steepest population decline of any American city in recent decades. Once the fifth largest U.S. city that shone as the birthplace of the U.S. automotive industry and Motown music, it now ranks 18th with about 700,000 people - after suffering a 25 percent decline in population between 2000 and 2010.

With the exodus of residents and jobs as the auto industry contracted, the city has suffered from declining tax revenue and rising crime while saddled with the infrastructure and labor costs of a bygone era.

An emergency financial manager for Detroit would have the power to develop a financial plan, revise or reject budgets, consolidate departments, enter into service contracts with other local governments, reduce or eliminate the salaries of elected officials, sell eligible city assets, lay off workers and renegotiate labor contracts. The manager cannot abrogate labor contracts or impose taxes without voter approval under the state's 1990 law.

A new Michigan law that takes effect March 28 will allow existing emergency financial managers to remain in place and will give them additional powers, including the ability to revise or terminate collective bargaining agreements.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/michigans-governor-declares-detroit-state-financial-emergency-1C8638601

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Justin Bieber Birthday Pics: The Shirtless Stroll!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/justin-bieber-birthday-pics-the-shirtless-stroll/

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Actress Bonnie Franklin Dead At Age 69

Actress Bonnie Franklin has died at the age of 69. The fiery red-head best known for her role on the sitcom ‘One Day at a Time’ passed away earlier today. A family member of Franklin’s has revealed that she died of? complications due to suffering from pancreatic cancer. Her death comes less than six months after it was revealed that Bonnie had been diagnosed with the terminal disease. She is survived by her mother Claire Franklin, and stepchildren Jed and Julie Minoff. Franklin became one of TV’s most iconic mothers when she took on the role of Ann Romano back in 1974. The hit show ran from 1975 to 1984 and launched all of is stars into fame.? Today Valerie Bertinelli released a statement about Boonie and their time working together on the show, you can read her statement here. Recently the two ladies were reunited on Valerie’s show Hot In Cleveland. The show was groundbreaking in its own right as the character of Ann was single mother, something that was not discussed back in the 70′s.? Serious issues were not shied away from on the sitcom and Bonnie was always one to bring her A game to the show. [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/zv-RxvW6q4o/

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Beam me up, Yoda: Obama flubs 'Star Trek' term

President Barack Obama pause as he speaks to reporters in the White House briefing room in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2013, following a meeting with congressional leaders regarding the automatic spending cuts. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? He's not a dictator and won't entertain the idea of a "Jedi mind-meld" with opponents. There's no "secret formula or special sauce" he can slip foes to make them see things his way. And not to worry, he says, the situation may look dire but won't be an "apocalypse."

So who was the guy in a suit and tie who showed up Friday in the White House briefing room, mixing metaphors and references to "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"?

"I am not a dictator. I'm the president," Barack Obama declared as he rejected the idea of using Secret Service agents to keep lawmakers from leaving until everyone agreed on a budget. He answered reporters' questions shortly after an inconclusive, 52-minute meeting with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

"So ultimately, if (Senate Minority leader) Mitch McConnell or (House Speaker) John Boehner say, 'We need to go to catch a plane,' I can't have Secret Service block the doorway. Right?"

Even if he did bar his office ? the oval one ? Obama said he wouldn't do a "Jedi mind-meld" with Congress' top two Republicans to persuade them "to do what's right."

Yoda-quoting nerds, Beltway insiders and even Hollywood heroes were instantly abuzz. The presidential mishmash of sci-fi references went viral, turning off geeks who had considered Obama one of their own after a slip of the tongue that was almost as bad as confusing Klingons and Ewoks, or even Democrats and Republicans.

Jedi are from "Star Wars," while mind melds happened on "Star Trek."

Mister Spock of "Star Trek" weighed in.

"Only a Vulcan mind-meld would be effective on this Congress. LLAP," Leonard Nimoy emailed after The Associated Press sought his reaction. Nimoy signed off with the abbreviation for his "Live long and prosper."

Maybe it was the power of the Force or some kind of Starfleet prime directive, but the White House couldn't ignore comments like that, flashing in and out of time and space and mixed metaphors like a Tardis traveling at warp speed in social media. It later tweeted: "We must bring balance to the force," with a link to an Obama photo inside a border designed to look like outer space.

As for the situation that led Obama to the briefing room in the first place, he could have quoted Bobby McFerrin and just said: "Don't worry. Be happy."

Instead, the president went with: "This is not going to be a apocalypse."

___

AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein and Associated Press writer Caleb Jones in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-01-US-Obama-Jedi-Mindmeld/id-a9022e62e5bf4d16a0447fef3f7eb4ed

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Sequester would whack away at science funding

By Tanya Lewis
LiveScience

With the deadline for government-wide spending cuts just hours away, attempts to avert the cuts ? which would affect medical research, space exploration and defense spending ? have all but failed.

President Barack Obama must sign the $85 billion in cuts, known as "the sequester," into law by 11:59 p.m. Friday night. The White House Office of Management and Budget estimates an effective 9 percent cut to nondefense programs, including basic science research, and a 13 percent cut to defense programs. The blow to researchers and government workers will be felt widely, experts say.

The president met this morning with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., but no action to avert the cuts was taken. Obama supports a long-term budget deal that would include both spending cuts and tax increases.

Stinging cuts
The impact of the spending slash on research will be severe. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) estimates a total research and development cut of $8.6 billion in 2013. This includes a $5.4 billion cut to the Department of Defense, a $1.5 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a $283 million cut to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The sequester could also result in significant cuts to NASA.

Some effects will be immediate: "Federal agencies are going to be either restricting or completely eliminating training and travel for the remainder of 2013," Joanne Carney, director of government relations at AAAS, told LiveScience. "There's going to be an amazing increase in competition" for grants, Carney added, so "universities are going to have to start becoming a bit more strategic, not only in proposals to the federal government, but also in looking for sources of alternative funding." [How the Sequester Will Affect Science]

Other effects could take weeks or months to set in. Some agencies have warned that employees may face furloughs, or mandatory unpaid leave. But federal agencies are required to give employees 30 days' notice before furloughs can commence, so the soonest they could happen is April.

Young researchers will likely be some of the hardest hit by the cutbacks. Spencer Diamond is a doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego who is studying photosynthetic bacteria that could be used to produce green fuels and chemicals. Diamond's work is funded completely by the NSF and the NIH.

"A major loss of government research funding would severely impact most individuals at my university, and would significantly set back the basic scientific research we are doing to help develop alternative fuel sources," Diamond is quoted as saying in a letter Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS, wrote to Obama in December. "This is research on which we can build the foundations of U.S. energy independence," Diamond said.

The cuts come on top of significant cuts already put in place in the last couple of years, according to Mary Woolley, president of the not-for-profit advocacy group Research!America.

What happens now
All agencies will be funded through March 27 through what's known as a continuing resolution, but if Congress fails to pass budget legislation by that date, the government will be shut down, except for essential employees (such as emergency workers).?

The hope is that Congress might reapportion the cuts to provide flexibility, Carney said. "Some agencies may see more in funds, and some may see less," but it would be a more balanced approach than across-the-board reductions, she said.

The sequester was designed as a last-ditch measure in case Congress couldn't reach a deal to reduce the deficit. It was scheduled to take effect Jan. 2, 2013 ? the so-called "fiscal cliff" ? but was delayed until March 1.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook?and Google+.?

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/01/17150566-sequester-would-whack-away-at-science-funding?lite

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Despite ?child porn? remark by South Dakota legislator, MMA on its way to regulation there

It turns out comparing MMA to child porn is not the best lobbying technique. After a congressman in South Dakota rallied against a bill to regulate MMA by calling it "the child porn of sports," the bill still passed through the South Dakota House 50-20.

Steve Hickey, the representative who grabbed plenty of headlines by fighting against MMA's regulation in his state, tried to add an amendment to create a commission that would oversee different disciplines of martial arts but not MMA, because that makes a ton of sense. Wait, no, it doesn't. The South Dakotan House saw the lack of sense in that amendment and defeated it.

After the bill makes a quick stop in the Senate to review the amendments that were passed, the bill will head to the desk of South Dakota governor Dennis Daugaard. He has strongly opposed MMA in the past, but the South Dakota Argus Leader says it will still likely become a law:

Daugaard could sign the bill, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. Both houses of the Legislature passed the fight commission bill with margins sufficient to override any veto.

Hickey's remarks about MMA brought back memories of governments across the country banning "no-holds barred" fighting in the late 90s, and Senator John McCain calling MMA "human cockfighting." Since then, regulation and rules have turned MMA into the sport we know today. It's now regulated in 46 states, and in 2007, McCain even praised MMA's progress.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/despite-child-porn-remark-south-dakota-legislator-mma-152037898--mma.html

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