Microsoft has confirmed that it will start shipping the online orders for the sold-out 128 GB Surface Pro within two to three weeks. US customers can place an order through the online Microsoft Store and expect to receive the device early next month.
The announcement came via a 15 February blog post, in which the company also provided more information for those wanting to 'reserve' forthcoming stocks of the tablet/PC hybrid. Prior to this, the company refused to make any statement regarding whether or not buyers would have that option.
"Inventory levels are increasing and many Best Buy stores have Surface Pro units for sale in store. If the store does not have stock, you can reserve a Surface Pro (64GB and 128GB)," the Surface Team wrote, adding that US customers can also order the tablet from Best Buy and Staples.
As for Canadian buyers, only the 64GB variant of the device is available so far, though Microsoft has said it will soon provide details about the availability of the 128GB version in Canada. The company has yet to give any indication as to when customers in other parts of the world can expect to get their hands on the Surface Pro.
"[We] continue to work around the clock to meet that demand with production and get new inventory into retail," Microsoft said.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL, February 15, 2013 --( PR.com )-- INDUSA Technical Corp. has planned to attend the annual 4-day Microsoft Convergence event this year. The glittering event is expected to be attended by more than 10,000 people and...
Oakbrook Terrace, IL, February 15, 2013 --(PR.com)-- INDUSA Technical Corp. has planned to attend the annual 4-day Microsoft Convergence event this year. The glittering event is expected to be attended by more than 10,000 people and will be held at New Orleans, LA. As the premier event for the Microsoft Dynamics community, the event lets partners and prospects make the most of the opportunity and innovation on display. One can create key business connections and leverage the full potential of Microsoft Dynamics solutions.
The premier Convergence event will be having a huge number of general and keynote sessions which would spell out the future path of the Microsoft Dynamics practice. The event will house several booths and vendors who would deliver knowledge for each of the solutions and insights to make optimum use of the Dynamics family of products. It has been disclosed recently that one of the keynote speakers for the event will be Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Microsoft partners and prospects get a great chance to network and collaborate with the top-of-the-line product experts from Microsoft. One can get to experience the latest solution innovations, and new products are expected to be launched, with Dynamics GP 2013 already up for release. Getting to know the extended solutions of the Dynamics family of products helps improve processes, remove inefficiencies and use the solution optimally.
The four-day event will have sessions organized concurrently with interactive discussions, user group sessions and deep dive sessions for the uninitiated. Each session, forum and discussion will have tracks covering each of the practice areas including AX, NAV, GP, CRM and SL. There will be cross-product discussions too which would include solutions and services that span multiple Microsoft products and their integration with each other. And what?s more, this year?s Business Leadership track would be hosted and organized by the famous Dale Carnegie Training Institute.
Along with the live event, partner companies can showcase their products and services to the visiting customers and partners from around the world. By promoting the services and products, one can expect to create a decent wave of curiosity about their own offerings. One can even advertise on the Dynamics community page or sponsor a booth and exhibit the offerings. An outreach program is organized with the event every year for community service too.
Event: Microsoft Convergence 2013 Where: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA When: March 18-21, 2013
MBL, WOODS HOLE, MADr. Bruce J. Peterson, a senior scholar at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) has been selected by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) to receive the 2013 Alfred C. Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors the career achievements of an aquatic scientist whose work is recognized for its importance and long-term influence. Dr. Peterson is being honored for "innovative and transformative studies of carbon, nutrient, and water cycles at process, ecosystem, and global scales." He will receive the award at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting in New Orleans on February 17.
Dr. Peterson has made seminal contributions in fields ranging from oceanography to limnology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and hydrology. Among these are his use of new methods of analysis, his excellence as a synthesizer, and numerous scientific publications.
"I'm surprised and very excited," said Dr. Peterson, who began his career at the MBL nearly 40 years ago. "This honor puts a capstone on my career and gives me an opportunity to reflect and put things in context, which is something I never would have done unless I received this award."
"This is the premier ASLO award and it could have not been presented to a finer scientist," said ASLO President John Downing.
Throughout his career, Dr. Peterson has studied the cycles that influence ecosystem behavior. His work is relevant to the management and prediction of ecosystem properties in Arctic streams and rivers, nitrogen cycling in headwater streams and estuaries, and the impacts of climate change on the freshwater cycle of the Arctic.
Much of Dr. Peterson's research has been based at Alaska's Toolik Field Station, where, for the last 30 years, he and his colleagues have conducted a nutrient enrichment experiment in the Kuparuk River. The experiment has revealed a general principle of how streams respond to disturbance and is being used as a prototype in the National Ecological Observatory Network, a National Science Foundation-funded observation system that will gather ecological and climate data over the next 30 years at more than 60 terrestrial and aquatic observatory sites across the U.S.
"Bruce has been, from the beginning, a wonderfully creative thinker about how ecosystems work," said Christopher Neill, Director of the MBL Ecosystems Center. "He thinks big and then engages others to think big with him. He's demonstrated that over and over again in his career."
Dr. Peterson also pioneered the tracer approach to investigation of the nitrogen cycle of streams. The technique, first developed for an experiment in the Kuparuk River, has transformed the study of streams and is now used worldwide. "That one experiment has led to many experiments around the world that use this approach," says Dr. Peterson. "I've been really fortunate in that regard, some of the experiments that I have developed with MBL colleagues and others have spawned whole networks of researchit's a real joy."
According to Dr. Peterson, a particularly rewarding part of his career has been working with Russian collaborators to study the freshwater cycle of the Arctic. "I lived during the Cold War and drills at school had us preparing for a nuclear attack," said Dr. Peterson, "My dad was an expert in anti-submarine warfare and spent his career tracking Russian submarines. So, it was particularly gratifying to travel to the great rivers of northern Russia and find that Russian scientists were willing to share information and help us understand global change in the Arctic." Now known as the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory, the NSF-funded project has made fundamental advances in the understanding of land-ocean interactions in the Arctic and has set the baseline against which to judge future changes in the Arctic.
Dr. Peterson received a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He performed postdoctoral research on the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study and at North Carolina State University. He joined the MBL's Ecosystems Center in 1976, rising up the ranks from postdoctoral associate to senior scientist. Dr. Peterson is a member of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Estuarine Research Federation, and the MBL Corporation. In 2008, Dr. Peterson shared ASLO's John Martin Award with Richard Eppley of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
###
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery and improving the human condition through research and education in biology, biomedicine, and environmental science. Founded in 1888 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the MBL is an independent, nonprofit corporation.
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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.
MBL, WOODS HOLE, MADr. Bruce J. Peterson, a senior scholar at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) has been selected by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) to receive the 2013 Alfred C. Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors the career achievements of an aquatic scientist whose work is recognized for its importance and long-term influence. Dr. Peterson is being honored for "innovative and transformative studies of carbon, nutrient, and water cycles at process, ecosystem, and global scales." He will receive the award at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting in New Orleans on February 17.
Dr. Peterson has made seminal contributions in fields ranging from oceanography to limnology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and hydrology. Among these are his use of new methods of analysis, his excellence as a synthesizer, and numerous scientific publications.
"I'm surprised and very excited," said Dr. Peterson, who began his career at the MBL nearly 40 years ago. "This honor puts a capstone on my career and gives me an opportunity to reflect and put things in context, which is something I never would have done unless I received this award."
"This is the premier ASLO award and it could have not been presented to a finer scientist," said ASLO President John Downing.
Throughout his career, Dr. Peterson has studied the cycles that influence ecosystem behavior. His work is relevant to the management and prediction of ecosystem properties in Arctic streams and rivers, nitrogen cycling in headwater streams and estuaries, and the impacts of climate change on the freshwater cycle of the Arctic.
Much of Dr. Peterson's research has been based at Alaska's Toolik Field Station, where, for the last 30 years, he and his colleagues have conducted a nutrient enrichment experiment in the Kuparuk River. The experiment has revealed a general principle of how streams respond to disturbance and is being used as a prototype in the National Ecological Observatory Network, a National Science Foundation-funded observation system that will gather ecological and climate data over the next 30 years at more than 60 terrestrial and aquatic observatory sites across the U.S.
"Bruce has been, from the beginning, a wonderfully creative thinker about how ecosystems work," said Christopher Neill, Director of the MBL Ecosystems Center. "He thinks big and then engages others to think big with him. He's demonstrated that over and over again in his career."
Dr. Peterson also pioneered the tracer approach to investigation of the nitrogen cycle of streams. The technique, first developed for an experiment in the Kuparuk River, has transformed the study of streams and is now used worldwide. "That one experiment has led to many experiments around the world that use this approach," says Dr. Peterson. "I've been really fortunate in that regard, some of the experiments that I have developed with MBL colleagues and others have spawned whole networks of researchit's a real joy."
According to Dr. Peterson, a particularly rewarding part of his career has been working with Russian collaborators to study the freshwater cycle of the Arctic. "I lived during the Cold War and drills at school had us preparing for a nuclear attack," said Dr. Peterson, "My dad was an expert in anti-submarine warfare and spent his career tracking Russian submarines. So, it was particularly gratifying to travel to the great rivers of northern Russia and find that Russian scientists were willing to share information and help us understand global change in the Arctic." Now known as the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory, the NSF-funded project has made fundamental advances in the understanding of land-ocean interactions in the Arctic and has set the baseline against which to judge future changes in the Arctic.
Dr. Peterson received a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He performed postdoctoral research on the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study and at North Carolina State University. He joined the MBL's Ecosystems Center in 1976, rising up the ranks from postdoctoral associate to senior scientist. Dr. Peterson is a member of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Estuarine Research Federation, and the MBL Corporation. In 2008, Dr. Peterson shared ASLO's John Martin Award with Richard Eppley of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
###
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery and improving the human condition through research and education in biology, biomedicine, and environmental science. Founded in 1888 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the MBL is an independent, nonprofit corporation.
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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.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Cardinal Kurt Koch, a close aide of Pope Benedict who will cast his vote for the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church, says there is no reason why the new pontiff cannot be African or Latin American.
Koch, head of the Vatican department that deals with Christian unity and relations with Jews, also said he had had no doubt that Pope Benedict would resign rather than rule for life, and said that future popes would be free to do the same.
"The challenges of the Church in the world are very different on different continents: in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America. The question is 'where will the challenges be greater, on which continent, should it be a pope for, above all, Latin America, for Africa ... ," Koch told Reuters in an interview.
"I can imagine taking a step towards a black pope, an African pope or a Latin American pope. I can imagine this."
Koch, 62, a soft-spoken Swiss, will be one of the 117 cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to enter a secretive conclave to elect the next pope that is expected to start in mid-March.
There has been much speculation in the Church on whether the man to succeed Benedict should be a non-European, which would be a first in more than a millennium.
While the Church in Europe is polarized and has dwindling congregations, the Church in Africa is growing and in Latin America it remains large and vibrant despite inroads by Protestant evangelical groups.
THRIVING
There are several leading candidates from outside the Old Continent.
Latin Americans include Brazilian Odilo Scherer, archbishop of the huge diocese of Sao Paulo and Argentine Leonardo Sandri, who works in the Vatican and whose parents are of Italian origin.
Peter Turkson from Ghana, head of the Vatican's justice and peace department, is often tipped as Africa's front runner.
There is a thriving Church in the Philippines, the largest Catholic country in Asia, birthplace of one cardinal who is often mentioned as a candidate, Luis Antonio Tagle.
Asked to provide a job description for the next pope, Koch paused for few seconds and said: "I think each pope has to have four qualities: First of all, deep faith, then, sound doctrine, charisma and a capacity to govern."
The next pope, whatever his age, could rule for life if he wanted to, like most of his predecessors, or resign for health reasons, Koch said.
Still, he acknowledged that the cardinals were navigating in uncharted waters.
The last pope to leave office willingly was Celestine V, a saintly hermit whose served only a few months before abdicating in 1294 and was imprisoned by his successor in a castle south of Rome. Another pope, Gregory XII, reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute to a rival claimant to the papacy.
"It is clear that this is a situation that is totally new. The cardinals must choose the new pope with the presence of the living pope. We still don't know what effect it will have. It makes a great difference if the pope is dead or alive," Koch said.
Benedict has said he would be "hidden to the world" after his resignation on February 28 and the Vatican has said he will not try to influence the choice of his successor. He will move to the papal summer residence south of Rome and then in April, after the conclave, into a convent inside the Vatican.
VERY SECRET
Koch cautioned against making predictions on who the next pope could be.
"The election is very secret, even in the conclave, no one knows who the other person is voting for as we put our ballots in the chalice," he said.
Koch, who was in the room when Benedict announced his resignation to a small group of cardinals in Latin on Monday, said he was surprised only by the timing.
"I always said if any pope would resign it would be Benedict ... this move was very characteristic of his personality. He never wanted to put himself at the centre of things," Koch said.
"We now see that behind the ministry (of any pope) there is a human person ... these are decisions of individual conscience. John Paul decided not to come down from the cross, as he put it, and retained the ministry to his death," Koch said.
"John Paul reflected long and hard on that and came to his decision. Benedict is another person and he came to another decision and I think we have to accept this decision of conscience and not think about all the consequences that it could bring about."
The era of buying gaming discs could be a thing of the past with Sony. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the electronics manufacturer is planning on integrating technology into its new videogame console that will allow game to be streamed from the Internet. Said to be unveiled this Wednesday, this potential streaming service will be designed to use current PlayStation 3 titles and is expected to play new games stored on optical discs.
Streaming games online is becoming more popular in terms of usage. There are several companies providing this service, but for Sony, this is a new thing. The plans come after the company acquired Gaikai last year for $380 million.
Additionally, Sony is expected to have in its newest game console the ability for users to control their actions with ?higher fidelity cameras? that will work with its ?Move? motion-sensing technology and touch-sensing pads on new controllers.
The emergence of cloud-based gaming is something that industry executives believe will play a big part in the gaming industry in the next few years. Imagine being able to instantly download the latest Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto game right from the Internet instead of waiting in line. Or rather, think about how convenient it will be ?if you were able to receive game updates without needing to purchase another game.
Of course, as the Wall Street Journal notes, enabling a streaming service is not without its pitfalls. It cites the example of OnLive, a service that was sold in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy last year. However, as Sony is a larger company with deep pockets and a large portfolio of games, one would hope that it would have the necessary infrastructure to make it work for them.
Lexus hybrid are the most modern, full hybrid technology. Hybrid cars have two sources of power, the electric motor and the internal combustion engine, which can produce more efficient vehicles on the roads. These vehicles are also a noisy environment, with Lexus hybrid, while driving at low speeds, the vehicle produces no noise and the energy source is the electric motor, which means it produces no emissions CO2 and using no fuel.
Although constipation is still much to load on a vehicle every night when you hear the word hybrid, and determine what power source have thought to operate the vehicle, the power control unit automatically selects the Lexus hybrid best combination of engine and engine to achieve better fuel economy and emissions of concern. Even Lexus hybrid automatically recharges the batteries, so no need to connect the socket. It is a proven technology that will be implemented in all Lexus hybrid. There is no slow moving vehicle is slowing, which is fully functional vehicles and powerful on the road.
Lexus offers two types of hybrid micro and mild. The microphone is not really a hybrid is not activated when the vehicle battery to run, but the ?Start, stop? mode reduces CO2 emissions and achieves better energy efficiency.
Lightly Lexus hybrid has an electric motor which is powered by a separate battery for the motor to complete and provide additional energy during acceleration.
Hybrid advantages:
* Hybrid owners also have the advantage of a tax credit.
* Hybrids get anywhere from 35 to 50 miles per gallon.
* Execution.
* Economic.
Hybrid Disadvantages:
* The residual value is generally not as good.
* The battery is expensive to replace.
* Some hybrids have a lack of acceleration. It is not found in Lexus hybrid as Director
* Some drivers are nervous about planned maintenance. Although it may be a little weird, there is no reason to worry. An experienced mechanic or the dealer where you purchased the completion of the repair and maintenance without problem. Just like any vehicle scheduled maintenance, and you have the air filter, the battery system every 40,000 miles to keep the oil every 5000 miles to replace the batteries every six years to change, and so on.
Hybrid cars are no longer the wave of the future, they are present, and each year, the project to improve the car. For those who are environmentally conscious and are looking for energy efficiency, the cars are certainly an option. Lexus offers four styles in them that your beautiful CT include luxury compact hybrid module, the hybrid LS Performance GS executive luxury and high-performance hybrid luxury hybrid RX innovative. Each of them is really a good car and the cost of hybrid pricing models.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy could take a big hit from automatic government spending cuts even if Congress only leaves them in place for a month or two.
The cuts were meant to be so painful that they would force Congress to find a more thoughtful way to tighten the budget.
But many analysts assume they will take effect as scheduled, forcing federal offices to furlough some of their 2.8 million workers and trim spending on everything from paper clips to missiles.
It is anyone's guess, however, how long lawmakers will be able to stomach the economic pain. The duration of the austerity measures will determine the force of the blow to the economy. Some analysts think having the cuts in place for more than a few months could trigger a brief recession.
The Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday the cuts would translate into $42 billion less in federal spending between the beginning of March and the end of September.
If $6 billion in spending is cut in March - which would be the average decline over a seven-month period - economic growth would be stunted by roughly seven-tenths of a percent in the first quarter, said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
"You are going to feel the pain right away," Sharif said.
Expectations for growth during the first quarter are already lackluster. Analysts polled by Reuters last month said they expected the economy to grow at a 1.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter, though some have since raised forecasts.
If the cuts continued into the second quarter, the austerity could erase almost all the growth expected during that period, Sharif said. After the second quarter, the impact would lessen.
Sharif's calculation only takes into account the direct effect on growth from spending cuts. The loss of income at government contractors and among furloughed employees would also hurt the economy throughout the year by reducing consumer spending and business investment.
Pentagon officials have said up to 800,000 of the military's civilian employees would work one less day a week because of the cuts.
The Air Force said it would have to curtail orders for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet and delay a new version of the MQ-9 Reaper drone being built by privately held General Atomics.
Congress has been scrambling to find a way to postpone the budget cuts, but has shown little sign of progress.
In its report this week, the CBO projected that the economy would grow 1.4 percent this year if the austerity measures kick in. At that pace, the jobless rate would average 8 percent in the fourth quarter, just above the 7.9 percent reading from January.
Most Wall Street banks expect the cuts, known as the "sequester" in Washington parlance, to take effect at least briefly.
Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at HSBC in New York, does not. He acknowledges there is a good chance he is wrong and says the cuts could push the United States into a brief recession.
"The full implementation of the sequester over a short period of time could very well be the trigger," he said.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Stacey Joyce)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By waiving certain requirements in the education law known as No Child Left Behind, the U.S. government has been able to send some states an additional $2.8 billion in total for schools, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said at a Senate hearing on Thursday.
"We've tried to free almost $3 billion in ... money under No Child Left Behind that was prescribed by Washington," he told the Education Committee.
"We don't have the best ideas here. The best ideas come from the local level."
No Child Left Behind, the major federal schools law passed in 2001, tied funding to students' performance on standardized tests, and penalized schools for "failing" - measures that educators and lawmakers, including Duncan, have said were too restrictive.
The law nominally expired five years ago and states have operated under funding extensions, as well as President Barack Obama's smaller grants such as "Race to the Top."
In late 2011, Obama offered states waivers to some parts of No Child Left Behind, as long as they followed his requirements on college preparation, testing and boosting graduation rates.
"Providing waivers was always, always our 'Plan B,'" said Duncan about the lack of new legislation.
So far, 34 states and the District of Columbia have been able to waive out of No Child requirements. Duncan said his agency is still considering "seven to eight requests."
The committee passed a new version of the education law last year, but the legislation did not make it to the full chamber for a vote. Chairman Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, said he hoped a new bill will be approved by the full Congress for 2013.
"My team and I put in hundreds and hundreds of hours into what turned out to be a fruitless effort," Duncan said about helping draft the last bill. "And in all candor I would have liked to have gone to waivers earlier to give states more time to be thoughtful."
Republicans at the hearing said the waivers replaced one set of federal requirements with another, leaving states and school districts little autonomy.
"This simple waiver authority has turned into a conditional waiver, with the secretary basically grabbing - grabbing's not the right word - having more authority to make decisions that in my view should be made locally by the state and local government," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, of Tennessee, the most powerful Republican on the committee.
Duncan countered that criteria for the waivers were simply to keep schools accountable and ensure states "follow through" on their commitments.
State and local governments receive about 10 percent of their education funds from the federal government but public schools take up huge chunks of their budgets.
The 2007-09 recession drove down their revenues, particularly the property taxes that cities and school districts use for the bulk of education funding. The 2009 federal economic stimulus plan provided extra money for education, most of which was distributed by the end of 2010.
Recently, states have asked for greater flexibility in how they spend federal education dollars, saying waivers do not work for all states and are a temporary fix.
Senators from rural and small states took issue with Race to the Top, with Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders, an Independent, saying that "a relatively small amount of the states received the bulk of the money."
"New York state submitted an application for which they received $700 million. Their application was 450 pages long with an appendix of 1200 pages," he said. "The state of Vermont for example ... does not have the resources to put together an application like that for every federal education program."
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by David Gregorio)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? House Democrats will unveil 15 proposals for curbing gun violence that resemble President Barack Obama's plan and will include a call for banning assault weapons, people familiar with the package said Wednesday.
The Democrats' recommendations will also include barring high-capacity magazines carrying more than 10 rounds of ammunition, requiring background checks for all gun sales and prohibiting gun trafficking, all of which Obama proposed last month.
The proposals, to be released Thursday by top House Democrats, were described by people who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan publicly. They represent the initial House Democratic response to the horrific Dec. 14 shooting of 20 first-graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Even so, the Democrats' proposals are unlikely to go anywhere quickly in the Republican-controlled House. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said the House will wait to see what the Democratic-led Senate does.
Obama's gun control proposals have been opposed by the National Rifle Association, which is a potent lobbying force on Capitol Hill. In addition, some Democrats ? including many from rural or conservative areas ? have been reluctant to endorse the president's plan.
That hesitation was underscored Wednesday at a private retreat Senate Democrats staged in Annapolis, Md. At that session, Democrats largely embraced expanded background checks on gun sales, but some senators expressed a desire to avoid voting on an assault weapons ban, according to two people who described the closed-door session only on condition of anonymity.
The House Democrats' recommendations were proposed by the 12-member House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, led by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. Two-thirds of its members had to approve an item for it to be included in their plan, meaning there likely will be Democratic dissenters to some of the ideas.
Among the task force members was Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the House's longest serving member. Dingell has been a strong ally of the National Rifle Association, though he has clashed with them on some issues in the past.
There has been strong public support for expanding background checks beyond the current system, in which the checks only cover sales by federally licensed gun dealers. The checks are aimed at weeding out gun sales to criminals, people with mental health problems and some others.
That proposal has gotten the most initial backing from members of Congress and is widely expected to be the centerpiece of legislation the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to write as soon as this month. Anti-trafficking provisions ? making it a crime to sell guns to people who are prohibited from having them ? also is expected to be included.
The proposed ban on military-style assault weapons, while backed by about half the public in polls, has gotten tepid support so far on Capitol Hill and is given scant chance of becoming law. Limits on the size of ammunition magazines also face an uncertain fate in Congress.
House Democratic leaders were saying little about their task force's proposals Wednesday. An email describing a Thursday news conference at which the package will be announced said the principles were "geared toward reducing gun violence in America while also respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens."
One person said Democrats would use their announcement to call on Republicans to say what, if any, gun restrictions they support after the Newtown massacre.
On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told CNN that he favored some expansion of the background check system. He noted that his own state has increased the mental health information it makes available to the federal government on gun buyers, following the 2007 killings of 32 people at Virginia Tech by a student who then committed suicide.
Heads of state from across the Islamic world meet in Cairo Wednesday to tackle crises ranging from Syria?s civil war to the battle against Islamist militants in Mali, with their sharp differences expected to be laid bare.
Syria will not be represented at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit even though much of the debate is expected to be focused on the conflict that has ravaged that country for almost 23 months, leaving tens of thousands dead.
The meeting will gather leaders of 26 of the OIC?s 57 states, with Egypt?s first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, assuming the organisation?s rotating presidency.
The gathering will call for ?serious dialogue? between the Syrian opposition and government officials ?not directly involved in oppression? according to a draft resolution obtained by AFP.
The call for dialogue, drafted by foreign ministers after two days of preparatory meetings, will pile pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to respond to a surprise offer of talks by Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, leader of the opposition National Coalition.
The document stresses the need to maintain ?Syria?s territorial integrity and sovereignty?, while underlining that ?the main responsibility for the continued violence falls on the Syrian government?.
The United Nations says more than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began as an anti-regime uprising but deteriorated into civil war when Assad?s forces used violence to put down protests.
The attendance of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Iran?s 1979 Islamic revolution, could complicate debate.
Iran is the chief regional backer of Assad, while Egypt and Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia bitterly oppose the Syrian president and support rebels seeking his ouster.
A meeting is scheduled between Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia ? members of a quartet dealing with Syria ? on the sidelines of the summit.
The two-day meeting had been scheduled to take place in 2011 but was postponed due to the regional uprisings that overthrew four Arab dictators, including Egypt?s president Hosni Mubarak, the OIC?s secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said.
The summit ?will discuss the major conflicts in the Islamic world,? the former Turkish diplomat told AFP.
It will provide OIC members, with their differing foreign policies, a chance ?to coordinate positions and support the states? sovereignty and territorial integrity,? he said.
The Cairo summit will also discuss the conflict in Mali, where France is pursuing attacks against Islamist militants.
Egypt and Qatar have in the past said that the conflict in Mali needed to be resolved politically.
The Islamic leaders will also discuss the issue of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, a subject regularly brought up at OIC summits since the organisation?s creation in 1969.
The questions of Islamophobia, Muslim minorities in the world and economic cooperation in the Islamic world are also on the agenda.
Sectarian tensions between the Islamic world?s Sunnis and Shiites were brought to the surface on Tuesday during Ahmadinejad?s visit to Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam?s highest seat of learning.
Senior Al-Azhar clerics launched into a tirade against ?some Shiites? for insulting some of the Prophet Mohammed?s companions as the Iranian president listened with noticeable unease.
Ahmadinejad was also targeted by a shoe-throwing protester as he left a Cairo mosque. Four people have been detained over the incident, a security official said.
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? The nation's commuters are adapting to increasing traffic congestion by building delays into their schedules, but at a cost of $121 billion in wasted time and fuel, according to an annual study of national driving patterns released Tuesday.
The new report from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found that Americans wasted an average of $818 each sitting in traffic in 2011. That also meant more carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.
The worst commute in the country? Washington. Commuters in the nation's capital needed almost three hours for a trip that should take 30 minutes without traffic, according to the report. That compares to the least congested city ? Pensacola, Fla. ? where commuters needed only nine extra minutes.
On average, Americans allowed for an hour of driving time for a trip that would take 20 minutes without traffic. The total nationwide added up to 5.5 billion additional hours that Americans spent in their cars during 2011.
The institute, part of Texas A&M University, uses 30 years of traffic data, and its annual reports are one of the key tools used by experts to solve traffic problems. Researchers study how commuters adapt their travel plans when they have urgent appointments in highly congested areas based on data gathered from state transportation agencies, private companies and academic entities that monitor traffic issues.
When all costs are totaled, the cost of traffic congestion to Americans was up $1 billion over 2010 for a total of $121 billion. For commercial truck drivers alone, wasted time and diesel fuel amounted to $27 billion.
The latest study also found that after Washington, the most congested cities in 2011 were Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, New York-Newark, Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle.
New to the report this year is the amount of additional carbon dioxide that gets released into the atmosphere because of clogged roads. In 2011, that total was 56 billion pounds of additional carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of 380 pounds per commuter.
The statistic "points to the importance of implementing transportation improvements to reduce congestion," researcher and co-author David Schrank said.
The study also determined that Americans burned 2.9 billion gallons of gasoline while sitting in congestion, a slight improvement over the peak in 2005 when commuters wasted 3.2 billion gallons.
Researchers said 2005 remains the worst year recording for traffic congestion, but warn that recent improvement may be directly related to the recession. As the economy picks up again, the study's authors warn, so might road congestion.
The institute notes that every community is unique and requires different, multi-faceted approaches to solving congestion.
Feb. 4, 2013 ? A University of Alberta polar bear researcher and 11 international co-authors are urging governments to start planning for rapid Arctic ecosystem change to deal with a climate change catastrophe for the animals.
U of A professor Andrew Derocher co-wrote a policy perspective urging governments with polar bear populations to accept that just one unexpected jump in Arctic warming trends could send some polar bear populations into a precipitous decline.
"It's a fact that early sea ice breakup, late ice freeze-up and the overall reduction in ice pack are taking their toll," said Derocher. "We want governments to be ready with conservation and management plans for polar bears when a worst-case climate change scenario happens."
The effects of climate change on polar bears are clear from both observational and modelling studies in many areas where the bears are found. Earlier studies by Derocher and his colleagues show that one very bad ice year could leave hundreds of Hudson Bay polar bears stranded on land for an extended period. "Such an event could erase half of a population in a single year," Derocher noted.
"The management options for northern communities like Churchill would range from doing nothing, to feeding the bears, moving them somewhere else or euthanizing them," said Derocher.
The concerned researchers say they're not telling governments what to do. But they want policy makers and wildlife managers to start planning for both the predicted escalation of Arctic warming and for an off-the-charts, worst-case scenario.
"You're going to make better decisions if you have time to think about it in advance; it's a no-brainer," said Derocher, adding that "consultation with northern residents takes time and the worst time to ask for input is during a crisis."
The researchers say the options for polar bear management include what Derocher calls a "wild bear park model" -- feeding and releasing the bears when freeze-ups allow the animals to get to their hunting grounds. But the paper reports that the cost could run into the millions and could have ramifications for the animals' long-term behaviour.
The authors of the paper say governments should be aware of the fallout from climate change, and human safety in the North is going to be an increasing challenge.
"Around the world, polar bears are an iconic symbol, so any tragedy would produce massive attention," said Derocher. "If the warming trend around Hudson Bay took an upward spike, the population of 900 to 1,000 bears in western Hudson Bay would be on the line, so there has to be a plan."
The paper, titled "Rapid ecosystem change and polar bear conservation," was published online as an accepted article Jan. 25 in the journal Conservation Letters.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alberta. The original article was written by Brian Murphy.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Andrew E. Derocher, Jon Aars, Steven C. Amstrup, Amy Cutting, Nick J. Lunn, P?ter K. Moln?r, Martyn E. Obbard, Ian Stirling, Gregory W. Thiemann, Dag Vongraven, ?ystein Wiig, Geoffrey York. Rapid ecosystem change and polar bear conservation. Conservation Letters, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/conl.12009
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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A trio of respected biologists and zoologists concludes that Earth's sixth mass extinction may be unfolding slower than feared, giving time for the valuable work of cataloging the planet's species.
By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / January 25, 2013
This file photo shows two jaguar cubs born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in November. Jaguars are an endangered species.
Milwaukee County Zoo/AP
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For years, ecologists and biologists have warned that the planet is sliding into a mass extinction event comparable to the one that did in the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
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But Earth?s species may not be vanishing as fast as previously believed ? providing a fresh opportunity to catalog and conserve more of them before global warming and habitat loss take a higher toll on the planet?s biodiversity.
That's the conclusion a trio of respected biologists and zoologists has reached after reviewing recent studies on extinction, the pace at which new species are being reported, estimates of undiscovered species, and the human and technological capital available for building the catalog.
When it comes to discovering and preserving biodiversity, "things aren't hopeless," says Mark Costello, a University of Auckland marine zoologist and the lead author of the analysis, which appeared in this week?s issue of Science.
Three years ago, another, larger team of biologists and zoologists estimated that if collectively countries devoted $500 million to $1 billion a year to the project of cataloging nonbacterial life on Earth, the project could be complete within 50 years.
Dr. Costello and colleagues renew that call. And their lower estimate of the number of species and a higher estimate of the people available than many thought implies the job could be done more quickly.
The stakes are high, many researchers say. Human population growth and activities ? from altering landscapes and oceans to altering climate ? are widely seen as the drivers behind the current mass-extinction event, the planet?s sixth.
"We are the asteroid," says Michael Novacek, provost and curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, referring to the event widely held to have triggered the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
"This may be the most important century in our evolutionary history, where the environment is really transformed to a level where the nature of life on Earth is redefined," says Dr. Novacek, who was not part of the team performing the new analysis.
Getting a handle on the full range of nonbacterial species the planet hosts is important for a number of reasons, researchers say. A full listing of what lives where would provide important information for maintaining the health of ecosystems on which humans rely for food, clean water, and other so-called ecosystem services. And undiscovered species could represent new sources of compounds for pharmaceuticals or appear as novel structures human engineers could mimic for lighter, stronger materials.
At its broadest, the widespread loss of biodiversity before anyone has a chance to take the full measure of what's out there makes it difficult to fully grasp the ecological consequences of its loss.
Novacek and others say they are a bit surprised at the relatively low number of nonbacterial species the team estimates as living on the planet ? about half the 10 million that others estimate as realistic. And the trio's estimate for a global extinction rate ? less than 1 percent per decade ? is far below the worst-case scenario of 5 percent per decade some have estimated.
Still, Costello and colleagues acknowledge that if extinction rates are on the high side, say 5 percent per decade, half the 5 million nonbacterial species he and his colleagues estimate as currently inhabiting Earth will have vanished within 150 years.
Female entrepreneurs who?ve made their million in business have turned the tables on the gender pay gap. Those women earn on average 15% more than men in the same position, compared to the rest of the female population, who still lag around 15% behind men doing similar work.
Blow barriers of finance and the glass ceiling aside and the limits to female entrepreneurship largely fall away, according to new research from Barclays Wealth. In their new report ?Unlocking the Female Economy: The path to entrepreneurial success?, Barclays find that women in the top income bracket are just as likely to be business owners as men. Those women are also as likely to be self-made.
Those high-achieving women business owners pay themselves an average of ?382,000 a year, with male millionaire business owners awarding themselves ?327,000 on average. ?Other high net worth women in the Barclays survey, who don?t run their own business, are still stuck with the traditional pay gap. So why are the richest female entrepreneurs breaking the mould? Barclays says it?s because their pay is more directly tied to the performance of the company, rather than negotiated as it is in the corporate sector.
The trend is set to grow. Venture Capitalist, Gita Patel, an expert adviser to the Barclays report, says analysts predict that by 2020 there will be more female millionaires than men. At least a quarter of them will be female entrepreneurs.
Increasing the rate of female entrepreneurship
Overall the rate of female entrepreneurship is still very low. With some?reports?finding that virtually all new jobs are created by companies in their first five years of existence, getting more women-owned businesses to scale needs to be an economic and policy priority, say Barclays.
There also needs to be a practical focus on improving access to finance, negotiation skills and networking.
Access to finance is still a problem but new sources of funding are opening up opportunities for women. While women still access a small proportion of venture capital and business angel funds, new finance tools like crowdfunding are creating new options for women in business.
Women are more reluctant to negotiate. ?While traditional negotiation techniques can back-fire for women, it?s still an important area for skills development. Barclays came up with the following useful tips:
Get negotiation training ? practice is invaluable
Set ambitious goals before you enter a negotiation
Be confident. Take control of the negotiation rather than waiting for the other party to lead ? make an ambitious opening offer
Add value rather than reducing your fee
Ask questions to understand the other person?s point of view ? look for things that they value more than you. You can concede on those points in exchange for the points that are important to you
Have alternatives in hand, which allow you to walk away if you?re not happy. This will give you the confidence to push-up the stakes and take higher risks.
Networking for success
Entrepreneurs with wider, more diverse networks are more innovative and successful. Yet, women generally have tighter networks. The advice from Barclays experts is to start growing your network early, you never know when you?re going to need it. ?Be a strategic and engaged networker. And while women?s business networks can be an important launching pad and support, make sure that you break out of gender silos as well.
Unlocking the Female Economy: The Path to Entrepreneurial Success, was published by Barclays Wealth and Investment Management in January 2013. It is based on a survey of more than 2,000 wealthy people, drawn from 17 countries, all of whom had more than ?1 million in investable assets. More than 800 of the respondents identified themselves as entrepreneurs, including almost 200 women. ?Insights were provided by a distinguished panel of experts, including Prowess 2.0 contributor Lynne Franks, Gita Patel, founder of Stargate Capital and Dr Sally Ernst, Co-Founder and joint CEO of CloudStaff.
Photo:?cc Victor1558 via Flickr
About Erika Watson
Erika enables enterprise, as a consultant, trainer and accredited business adviser. A successful social entrepreneur, Erika has an MBA and an MBE for services to women's enterprise. She's also a business writer, with contributions to the FT and the Guardian.
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Female entrepreneurs who?ve made their million in business have turned the tables on the gender pay gap. Those women earn on average 15% more than men in the same position, compared to the rest of the female population, who still lag around 15% behind men doing similar work.