Colorful light at the end of the tunnel for radiation detection

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2012) ? A team of nanomaterials researchers at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new technique for radiation detection that could make radiation detection in cargo and baggage more effective and less costly for homeland security inspectors.

Known as spectral shape discrimination (SSD), the method takes advantage of a new class of nanoporous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Researchers discovered that adding a doping agent to an MOF leads to the emission of red and blue light when the MOF interacts with high-energy particles emanated from radiological or nuclear material, enabling more effective detection of neutrons. Neutron detection is currently a costly and technically challenging endeavor due to the difficulty in distinguishing neutrons from ubiquitous background gamma rays.

Initial work on the use of MOFs for radiation detection was internally funded by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program, but subsequent funding for the project has come from the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation research office.

"Improving our radiation detection capabilities is crucial to advancing NNSA's nonproliferation mission," said Anne Harrington, NNSA's deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. "Preventing the illicit movement of radiological and nuclear materials around the globe supports the president's nuclear security objectives and helps to mitigate the threat of a nuclear terror attack."

The new technology works with plastic scintillators, materials that fluoresce when struck by charged particles or high-energy photons, making it suitable for commercialization by companies who produce plastic and other organic scintillators used in radiation detection devices. Though work remains before it can move into the marketplace, Sandia is currently seeking commercial partners to license the technology.

(See a video clip at www.youtube.com/SandiaLabs that shows Sandia researchers demonstrating and explaining their work.)

Current radiation detection methods are limited in terms of speed and sensitivity, crucial elements for dynamic scenarios, such as border crossings, cargo screenings and nuclear treaty verification. This new technology monitors the color of light emissions, which have the potential to make the screening process easier and more reliable.

"We are approaching the problem from a materials-chemistry perspective," said Sandia materials scientist Mark Allendorf. "Fundamentally, it is easier to monitor the color of light emissions rather than the rate at which that light is emitted. That's the crux of this new approach." Current radiation detection methods use time to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays, requiring complex and costly electronics.

MOFs and dopants lead to more light

Allendorf and his team have been working with MOFs for more than five years. Early on, they discovered a fluorescent, porous MOF with superb scintillation properties, an important breakthrough and the first new class of scintillators found in decades. The MOF's porosity is a key feature because it allows researchers to add other materials to fine-tune the scintillation.

The MOF's nanoporosity triggered a new idea when team member Patrick Doty read about the use of dopants to increase the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). These dopants, usually compounds containing heavy metals such as iridium, dramatically increase OLED brightness by "scavenging" the excited-state energy in the device that was not converted to light. This energy represents as much as 75 percent of the possible light output.

Combining MOFs with OLED dopants led to a second breakthrough. By filling MOF pores with dopants, the team created a material that not only produces more light, but light of another color. Doty, a materials scientist working in Sandia's radiation/nuclear detection materials and analysis department, hypothesized that the discovery could be applied to radiation detection.

The trick, Doty said, is to add just the right amount of dopant so that both the scavenged light and fluorescence from the excited MOF itself are emitted. Then the ratio of the intensities at the two wavelengths is a function of the type of high-energy particle interacting with the material. "That's the critical thing," Doty said. "SSD allows one particle type to be distinguished from another on the basis of the color of the emitted light."

Because the ratio of neutrons to gamma rays is so low -- on the order of one neutron to 105 gamma rays -- the threshold at which current detectors can see neutrons is fairly high. Sandia calculations suggest that the threshold for detecting neutrons produced by fissionable material could be lowered substantially using SSD, perhaps improving the "figure of merit" by a factor of 10 compared to the current standards. "In principle, we could quadruple the sensitivity of the gold standard," said Allendorf.

SSD also addresses another radiation detection problem -- active interrogation. Using an active source to create a signal from special nuclear material is an effective means for detection, say Sandia researchers. But current detectors are often overwhelmed by the onslaught of gamma rays. The new materials developed at Sandia can be tuned for improved timing performance at high rates, and the new technology also could be used in radiation detectors for treaty verification.

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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9th6Ilz75NM/120629115657.htm

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Brigham Young University earns elite distinction for teaching cybersecurity

Education ? NSA designates school as a premier institution for developing professional IT experts.

When the nation?s ultimate collector and protector of classified information is impressed by a university?s cybersecurity curriculum, it?s no secret.

The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Brigham Young University as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, a distinction reserved for schools that excel in teaching how to protect networks and computer systems.

?

Online

For more information about BYU?s Information Technology program, visit

http://bit.ly/MeftrT

BYU?s Information Technology program "prepares students to be cybersecurity experts" in the public and private sectors, said Joseph Ekstrom, chair of the school?s IT program.

BYU is one of seven schools nationwide that recently received the designation, which stands until 2017, when the school can re-apply. BYU is the first school in Utah to earn the distinction.

According to an NSA press release, graduates of the designated schools often become guardians of national security information systems and commercial networks, "meeting the increasingly urgent needs of the U.S. government, industry, and academia."

That?s certainly true of BYU grads, said Ekstrom.

"We have graduates from two to four years ago on the lead security teams inside Boeing and Lockheed Martin," he said.

Until last year, the program had a 100 percent student placement rate for five years straight, according to Dale Rowe, who joined the faculty of BYU?s College of Engineering and Technology in 2010 after more than 17 years as a systems administrator and developer of cybersecurity infrastructure.

BYU grads, he said, often go on to work for such companies as Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Adobe and the Department of Defense, among others. With the new designation, the program?s approximately 170 students ? 60 to 70 percent of whom have a cybersecurity emphasis ? will stand out as strong candidates for the NSA and other government work. An NSA liaison will direct students to funding opportunities and job placement, he said.

And they may not have to go far: NSA is building a new data center in Bluffdale, although the agency has been tight-lipped about hiring for the facility.

story continues below

And there?s more good news: BYU and its IT students are now eligible for special grants and scholarships from the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation.

To receive the National Center for Academic Excellence designation, BYU underwent a rigorous evaluation of its curriculum, faculty and master theses ? every aspect of the program. And, the IT program had to demonstrate that the campus is serious about cybersecurity.

"We had to show that security was being used appropriately across the campus, from nursing to law and management," Rowe said in a news release. "After going through the certification process, it became clear that we definitely have excellent security coverage throughout all of our programs."

One key to the curriculum?s success is that security concepts are covered in multiple core classes, not just one or two specialty courses. Ekstrom began incorporating security into the curriculum in 2004.

More instruction on security is important, said Whitney Maxwell, of Iowa, who graduated from the program in April.

"When it comes to IT, there?s no area you can pursue without recognizing the security aspect of it," she said. For example, "it?s foolish to teach coding without teaching the security implications of it."

After completing her second cybersecurity internship, she will join Microsoft in August as a software developer and tester, poring over code to find vulnerabilities.

Next Page >

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54405135-78/byu-program-security-information.html.csp

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Ex-Citigroup VP gets eight years for stealing $22M

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Citigroup Inc vice president who admitted to embezzling more than $22 million was sentenced on Friday to 8 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Gary Foster, 35, pleaded guilty in September to siphoning the money from his employer between 2003 and 2010, transferring the funds to Citigroup's cash account before wiring it into his own personal account at a different bank.

He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano in Brooklyn federal court to 97 months on the bank fraud charge.

An attorney for Foster was not immediately available for comment. A spokesman for Citigroup declined comment.

Federal prosecutors said Foster "steadily and repeatedly enriched himself for many years at his employer's expense," according to a pre-sentencing court filing.

Foster was able to evade detection for years by making false accounting entries that made it seem like the wire transfers were in support of existing Citigroup contracts, when they were actually being transferred to his account, according to the complaint. He used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury automobiles including a Ferrari and Maserati, and properties in Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey, prosecutors said.

The fraud was uncovered during an internal audit of Citigroup's treasury department. Citigroup immediately informed the authorities and cooperated with the federal investigation, according to an affidavit from Thomas D'Amico, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The government said it had seized cars and property from Foster worth approximately $14 million, which he forfeited pursuant to a plea agreement.

Foster, who worked for Citigroup for 10 years, was a vice-president in the treasury finance department when he left the company in January 2011. He was arrested in July at John F. Kennedy Airport.

He voluntarily returned to the United States from a trip to Bangkok after his family told him there was a warrant for his arrest, his lawyers said.

The case is U.S. v. Foster, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 11-601.

For the U.S.: Michael Yaeger and Karen Hennigan.

For Foster: Isabelle Kirshner of Clayman & Rosenberg.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48019161/ns/business-us_business/

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Peterson No. 8 on NFL?s top 100

The only downside of counting down players like a weekend disc jockey ranks the top songs of the week is that, when you get to a certain point, it isn?t that difficult to figure out what players are going to be in the top 10.

The long offseason countdown of the players voted the ?Top 100 Players of 2012? concluded Wednesday after 10 weeks of building drama (sort of). Earlier this week, Viking Update broke down who the top 10 would be and, when the players were unveiled, all 10 made the final list.

Adrian Peterson checked in at No. 8, part of a four-man contingent from the draft class of 2007. That draft will go down in history for its hits and misses. Peterson was joined by Patrick Willis (No. 10), Darrelle Revis (No. 5) and Calvin Johnson (No. 3) in the top 10 selections. They join fellow 2007 draftees Joe Staley (No. 67), Joe Thomas (No. 82), Marshawn Lynch (No. 94) and Ryan Kalil (No. 99) on the final list of the top 100 ? making the 2007 draft memorable beyond first-round busts JaMarcus Russell, Alan Branch, Ted Ginn Jr., Amobi Okoye and Brady Quinn.

However, while the 2007 draft stole much of the spotlight, three of the top four spots went to quarterbacks ? none of whom was guaranteed anything when he was drafted. Aaron Rodgers checked in at No. 1, but there were more than a few concerns when he fell on draft day to the point of embarrassment before being claimed by the Packers. He spent three years playing caddy behind Brett Favre before getting his chance to shine and, with a Super Bowl title to his credit, he has more than lived up to expectations.

At No. 2 was Drew Brees, another Super Bowl champion whose career was far from certain when he came to New Orleans. Vikings fans will remember that Brad Childress had to make a hard decision on Daunte Culpepper and decided to shop him around in 2006. At the time, Brees was coming off a torn labrum and the Chargers were willing to let him go and ascend Philip Rivers to the starting job. Only two teams had an interest in Brees ? New Orleans and Miami ? because of a shoulder injury that produced a lot of speculation. When the Dolphins made the decision to pass on Brees, who wouldn?t have required compensation, to trade a second-round draft pick for Culpepper, the Saints were the only team with an interest. Brees and the Saints haven?t looked back since and Miami continues to have a revolving door at quarterback.

The third QB, checking in at No. 4, is Tom Brady ? the No. 1 player on last year?s list. Brady got the Patriots back to another Super Bowl last year and remains one of the dominant forces in the NFL. But, when he was drafted ? he was taken on the sixth round (No. 199 overall) ? every team in the league had passed on him multiple times.

If the top-100 list, as voted by the players themselves, proved anything (other than the NFL can milk a concept for two-and-a-half months), it was that where you were drafted doesn?t mean as much as what you do with your opportunity. Rodgers was a Green Room laughingstock. Brees was left for dead. Brady got passed on by every team in the league and, when he finally was drafted, it happened during an ESPN commercial break late Sunday afternoon. Four of the top-10 players were drafted after Uberbust JaMarcus Russell.

At times, timing and opportunity are everything, not necessarily when a player was drafted.

---

John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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FOR KIDS: Skeeters ride the rain

Mosquitoes survive collisions with raindrops by going with the flow

Web edition : Thursday, June 28th, 2012

You may barely notice when a raindrop lands on your head. But if you were a mosquito, you?d definitely notice: It would be like a bus falling onto you in midair.?

But a falling raindrop doesn?t spell doom for the plucky mosquito, say scientists behind a new study. The pesky bloodsucker might get tossed, rocked and rolled, but its strong body and small size help it survive such collisions. And when a raindrop lands directly on the bug?s back, the mosquito gets taken on a wild ride.

Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website?and read the full story:?Skeeters ride the rain

Found in: Science News For Kids

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Interacting mutations promote diversity

ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) ? Frequency-dependent selection fosters the diversity of populations but does not always increase the average fitness of the population.

Genetic diversity arises through the interplay of mutation, selection and genetic drift. In most scientific models, mutants have a fitness value which remains constant throughout. Based on this value, they compete with other types in the population and either die out or become established. However, evolutionary game theory considers constant fitness values to be a special case. It holds that the fitness of a mutation also depends on the frequency of the mutation. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Pl?n and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver developed a model to address the scenario of mutations being frequency-dependent but having random fitness parameters. The results demonstrate that the dynamics that arise in random mutants increase the genetic diversity within a population. Fitness, though, may even decline.

Population geneticists generally study mutations with constant fitness values. However, frequency-dependent selection is a recurrent theme in evolution: it enables the evolution of new species without geographical separation (sympatric speciation) or a relatively rapid change in the immune system of a population.

A mutation may be advantageous for low frequencies, for instance, but the fitness of the mutant decreases with rising frequency. A reverse trend in the fitness value is also conceivable. "Our computer model combines aspects of population genetics and evolutionary game theory in order to obtain a new perspective on genetic evolution," says Arne Traulsen from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology. Whereas mutations have a random yet fixed fitness value in many mathematical models, this new model also enables a change in random fitness values with the frequency of the different types.

The results of the simulations show that frequency-dependent selection leads to higher genetic diversity within a population of individuals even though diversity per se is not favoured. The interaction of different mutations and the emergence of new mutants support the development of dynamic diversity in the population. One mutant does not always need to replace all other mutations or the original population. "It is possible for different mutations to exist in parallel such that a new mutant does not to completely replace the residents," says Weini Huang, lead author of the study. What is particularly interesting is the fact that diversity in this model remains naturally limited.

Fitness, on the other hand, does not necessarily rise with frequency-dependent selection in contrast to constant selection. By way of example, a mutation may arise within cells which halts the production of substances that are passed on to other cells. This can initially be advantageous; however, if it reaches fixation, the average fitness of the cell population declines. Advantageous mutations can thereby be lost and deleterious ones become established.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.

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Journal Reference:

1. Weini Huang, Bernhard Haubold, Christoph Hauert, Arne Traulsen. Emergence of stable polymorphisms driven by evolutionary games between mutants. Nature Communications, 2012; 3: 919 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1930

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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professional power equipment - How Professional Sprayers Are ...

by Jeremy Smith
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professional power equipment More Details about professional power equipment here.

There are many different uses for sprayers when maintaining a property or performing landscaping services. They can be used to distribute liquid fertilizers or to treat an area with pesticides to fight problems like grubs in the soil. The type of retail sprayer that can be purchased from any home supply center often does not have all of the features that are necessary for use in commercial landscaping and property maintenance. Some of these differences are very important for companies that are performing work on large properties.

Even And Controlled Broadcasting

One of the major features of professional sprayers is the attention that is paid to the rate that the liquid is distributed. This type of even broadcasting of any substance means that there can be a more controlled application for stronger chemicals. This can result in a reduction in the amount of fertilizer or other liquids that are applied to an area which can save landscaping companies money over time. A sprayer that is designed for non-commercial use often spreads liquids inconsistently, causing spills that can burn grass or over-treat a specific patch of land.

Larger Tanks And More Powerful Engines

Most professional power equipment is designed with more durable commercial parts. Professional sprayers usually come with powerful engines and tanks that are larger than normal so that one or more acres of land can be sprayed without interruption. This can reduce the amount of time it takes to treat an area since the operator will not need to stop and refill the tank. A powerful engine driving the system can give the landscaping company far more options when it comes to distribution methods. The amount of pressure that is generated can allow several different types of spray-heads to be attached including boom-mounted designs that can cover a wide area of land behind a vehicle that is holding the unit.

More Options For Mobility

The design of a professional sprayer can give a landscaper several options for mounting and moving the unit. Some models are constructed on individual frames that have wheels that allow the unit to be moved by hand as needed. Other models are specifically made to be mounted on the back of a truck or other vehicle so that very large tanks can be filled and transported easily. Some sprayers are even designed to be worn on the back and contain smaller motors so that tasks such as spraying an entire line of trees can be done more efficiently.

Author is a freelance writer. For more information on professional sprayers please visit http://www.shindaiwa-usa.com/

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Google I/O 2012 Day 2 Keynote Liveblog!

Here we go again! We're back for the Day 2 keynote address at the Google I/O developer conference. What's in store this time around? Only one way to find out. Ease on past the break for Google's video feed and our liveblog.

Things get going at the following times:

• 9:30 a.m. Pacific time
• 12:30 p.m. Eastern time
• 5:30 p.m. in London
• And other times on either side.

Check this space Thursday morning as we get it done once more!

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Local Governments Can Assist Businesses By Improving Customer ...

By Paul Wolf, Esq, on June 25th, 2012

Businesses understand the importance of making interactions with customers as easy as possible. Most local governments have a long way to go as far as improving their approach to customer service. Recognizing that government is complicated, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched a Business Customer Service Initiative to make it easier for businesses to deal with government offices.

Bloomberg?s Customer Service Initiative for businesses involves the following:

- Appointing the City?s first Chief Business Operations Officer, a new, dedicated position that will oversee the initiative and serve as the lead official ensuring that business-friendly practices are made permanent where possible.
- Enabling businesses to pay license, permit and other fees, including taxes, online.
- Making it possible for businesses to apply online for the necessary licenses, permits and other credentials they need to open their doors.
- Reducing the number of agencies involved in issuing permits.
- Reporting on the progress of these initiatives every 90 days.

Some interesting facts that show how important it is to improve the bureaucracy of government for businesses:

- New York City issues 300 business-related licenses and permits ? but less than a quarter of them can be applied for online. Bloomberg believes that in 2012, a business owner shouldn?t have to leave his or her business in the middle of the day to visit an office and fill out a paper application.
- While some items are able to be paid online, businesses are often forced to come to city offices during certain hours, or to pay someone to come on their behalf, and to bring cashiers or other checks.

In addition to this Customer Service initiative, a previously established Regulatory Review Panel, a joint initiative of the Bloomberg Administration and the City Council, has identified ways to make New York City more supportive of small businesses. The Regulatory Review Panel:

- Is working to improve the permit process for ?Place of Assembly? ? businesses in which 75 or more people gather indoors by reducing the number of steps in this process by more than 20 percent, eliminating unnecessary steps and an unnecessary handoff between city agencies.

- Continuing improvements to the sidewalk caf? approval process. Since 2003 the number of agencies involved in this process has been reduced from six to three, and the approval processing time has been cut roughly in half. The number of sidewalk cafes has grown from 700 to 1100. Efforts are continuing to reduce the number agencies involved to one and to further shorten the approval process.

Forming a Regulatory Review Panel and implementing a Business Customer Service initiative is a great way to help local businesses in your community.

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Video: Romney suffers negative attacks over Bain record

Sunscreen ban leaves students severely burned

After a school sunscreen ban left two elementary students severely burned, their mother is taking on the school district. And it could happen elsewhere: 49 states have laws on the books barring schools from letting kids use sunscreen without a doctor's note.

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Refugee health care under microscope (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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Phelps sticks with 400 IM on 1st day of US trials

Michael Phelps speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Saturday, June 23, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. The trials starts on Monday. At right is Phelps' coach Bob Bowman. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Michael Phelps speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Saturday, June 23, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. The trials starts on Monday. At right is Phelps' coach Bob Bowman. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Michael Phelps speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Saturday, June 23, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. The trials are to start on Monday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? Michael Phelps could have a showdown with rival Ryan Lochte on the very first day of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.

USA Swimming announced Sunday that Phelps passed on the deadline to scratch from the 400-meter individual medley, meaning the winningest Olympian ever will at least swim the preliminary round Monday morning. Should he qualify for the evening final and decide to race it, he likely would be pitted against Lochte and Tyler Clary, who went 1-2 in the event at last year's world championships.

Phelps will swim in the 10th of 12 prelim heats. Clary will go in the 11th, followed by Lochte in the final heat.

"We would like to see what he can do in the event," Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, said in a text message to The Associated Press. "He's done a few decent ones in season, so we are taking a shot and seeing how it goes."

Phelps won the 400 IM at the last two Olympics, but vowed after Beijing to give up the grueling event that requires all four strokes. He had a change of heart, putting the race back in his program at several Grand Prix meets leading up to Omaha.

Lochte said Saturday he looked forward to facing Phelps in as many events as possible.

"He's the world's best swimmer ever," Lochte said. "I love racing against him. It's fun. He's one of the hardest racers in the world. He'll go toe-to-toe with you until the end. That's excitement for me. I really hope he does swim that."

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Associated Press

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Insight: ANC promises ring hollow in home of South Africa greats

ENTSHINGENI, South Africa (Reuters) - First graders huddle to do sums on scraps of paper pressed against a cracked mud wall at Mwezeni Primary School in South Africa's destitute Eastern Cape province.

The school may be located in Africa's wealthiest nation, but there are no chairs, no desks and no work books.

The Eastern Cape, home to giants of the African National Congress like Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu who helped end apartheid and Thabo Mbeki, the nation's second democratically elected president, is a glaring example of the ruling party's failure to deliver its promise of a "better life for all".

In Entshingeni village, not far away from where Mandela was raised, a mud hut with a dirt floor serves as a classroom to 79 first and second graders who sit on planks across rickety bench frames in front of a battered chalkboard.

"We are proud of Mr Mandela and Mr Mbeki. They came from this land and went all over the world. What will presidents overseas say if they see how we live?" said David Skwele from Mkanzini village, dressed in a tattered red T-shirt.

The ANC, in power now for 18 years, will hold a major policy conference from Tuesday next week acknowledging that "public services are uneven and often of poor quality; corruption is widespread; and South Africa remains a divided society".

While thousands of schools wait each year for textbooks and many Eastern Cape children are forced to write on loose sheets, the ANC has produced copious reams of policy papers to be studied by about 3,000 delegates at next week's meeting.

The conference is expected to lead to another blizzard of strategy documents on what the ANC calls a "second transition".

This aims to tackle what the party acknowledges as its greatest unfinished business: spreading wealth more widely and equitably in a nation whose levels of economic inequality are still among the highest in the world, a legacy of the political compromises needed to dismantle apartheid, which ended in 1994.

"Continuing with the status quo could lead South Africa into an irreversible downward spiral ... Our political transition was never only about freedom from political bondage," an ANC discussion document prepared for the policy conference says. It refers to "old fissures of race, gender, class and geography".

"GET RID OF THE ROT"

The week-long policy meeting is being held amid signs of acrimonious infighting among senior party figures ahead of another more critical conference at the end of the year which will elect the leadership and adopt strategies. President Jacob Zuma is widely expected to retain the party's top job.

The ANC proposes government taking greater control of the economy, a massive infrastructure program to create jobs and taxing mining firms more to help finance it all.

But a jaded public expect few effective measures from the conference to tackle corruption, mismanagement and cronyism that analysts see corroding governance and competitiveness in Africa's largest economy.

Party insiders insist that the ANC is aware it needs to get its house in order. This means balancing pressure from an increasingly demanding but still marginalized majority against the political clout wielded by a post-apartheid economic elite whose interests are intertwined with the ANC government.

"At 100 years, now is as good a time as any to get rid of the rot festering in the party," said one party official, who asked not to be identified while discussing internal criticism the party tries to keep behind closed doors.

A new book on South Africa by journalists Martin Plaut and Paul Holden, titled "Who rules South Africa? Pulling the strings in the battle for power", describes the country's political, economic and social state as "schizophrenic and disjointed".

"A wealthy now largely multiracial middle and upper class exists in a first world bubble that is miles away from the penury from a bottom half that has seen few gains from the post apartheid period," they wrote.

"MOUSE IN A CHEESE FACTORY"

Education has always been a priority for the ANC and the government spends nearly $1,400 a year on each student. But at hundreds of Eastern Cape schools, it is difficult to see where any of the money has gone.

The classroom shack of the Mkanzini Junior School is so rickety that teachers fear that if they tack up charts on the rusted walls, the structure will collapse.

"On sunny days we boil in here. Look at the big holes, on rainy days we are soaked and on windy days, I am afraid the shack will fall on the kids," said teacher Zoleka Nofonda, 40, who has two grades crammed in the room.

"They come because of the free meal we give them. Sometimes it's the only thing they eat all day."

The ANC, still revered for their role in bringing down apartheid, enjoys virtual one-party rule in South Africa.

In recent elections it has beaten the main opposition Democratic Alliance, largely seen as a party of white privilege in a nation that is 80 percent black, by more than 40 percentage points, although the opposition has made some gains.

Without fear of losing power, the ANC has deployed thousands of party cadres to run villages, towns and cities. But many of the movement's loyalists have proved themselves more skilled at lining their pockets with state funds than at doing their jobs.

"It is like taking a mouse from the bush and making it run a cheese factory," ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told Reuters. He said the party was trying to rectify this.

LOST GENERATION

The delivery deficit is most acute in the Eastern Cape which receives the most funds of any province for welfare spending.

Spending here is pushed higher because the ANC government inherited sprawling "homelands", which were set up by the apartheid regime to concentrate the black majority with almost no infrastructure in designated separate areas of the country.

With poverty so deep in Eastern Cape and a local electorate closely tied to the ANC, few have sought change through the ballot box so far. But other parts of the country saw 372 protests against poor public services between January and May.

"There is very little sophistication from civil society and the electorate to hold leaders accountable," said Derek Luyt from an Eastern Cape think tank, the Public Service and Accountability Monitor.

The central government more than a year ago declared the province's education system an abject failure, and said it would intervene. But entrenched interests in the provincial ANC defied the mother body and kept control of education purse strings.

This meant little improvement for Mwezeni Primary, one of 400 schools made of mud and sticks. More than 2,300 schools in the Eastern Cape have six teachers or less.

But according to government statistics, the Eastern Cape overspends on teachers by up to $120 million a year, and civil society activists suspect the money is going to corrupt officials instead of personnel in classrooms.

"Eastern Cape has a long history of inequality and poor bureaucracy inherited from the former homelands. It's a province using old systems, where corruption and mismanagement thrives," said Yoliswa Dwane from the Equal Education advocacy group.

Nearly half of South Africa's 18 to 24 year olds - the first generation educated after apartheid - are not in the education system and have no jobs, according to government data.

This "lost" generation is seen as a weakness in Africa's largest economy which is trying to grow its tax base as it funds increased social spending.

'GHOST' WORKERS, REAL SHORTAGES

As in education, corruption is also seen eating away at resources needed to boost the health sector. Horror stories of the Eastern Cape's health woes have become a staple of media.

In May, an elite body set up to investigate corruption in the provincial government uncovered suspected graft amounting to $24 million.

In 2011, the provincial health department said nearly $100 million had "vanished" from January 2009 to June 2010 with about $54 million going to so-called 'ghost staff' who drew a paycheck and did no work, the regional Daily Dispatch reported.

Heading towards the sea on a rugged track lies Madwaleni Hospital, built by missionaries in the 1960s and staffed by foreigners because even lucrative stipends offered by the government have not proved enough to attract South African doctors.

"We are always experiencing a shortage of something. Sometimes it is medicine, sometimes it is gloves but our worst is a shortage of doctors and nurses," said a foreign doctor who did not want to be identified while discussing the hospital's shortcomings.

Human Rights Watch said in a 2011 survey that Eastern Cape had some of the worst health indicators in South Africa, including high infant, child, and maternal mortality rates.

Nofinish Nqata, 63, lives in a traditional white-washed Xhosa hut in Ngqamakhwe village in Butterworth, on land allocated to her by the local chief.

The village has no electricity or telephones. Families use pit latrines and walk long distances to collect water.

"The water we drink we share with pigs, cows and donkeys. Some people use the river banks as their toilets and when it rains it washes into the water supply."

Once a die-hard ANC loyalist, Nqata has taken the bold step of joining the Democratic Alliance.

"It hurts so much because the old men Sisulu and (former ANC president Oliver) Tambo are no longer alive and the ones who took over the baton don't share the vision the stalwarts who fought for democracy had. They care about themselves and their pockets, not us." ($1 = 8.2215 South African rand)

(Editing by Jon Herskovitz, Pascal Fletcher and Peter Graff)

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LastPass 2.0

Sometimes the best things in life really are free. LastPass 2.0, the latest edition of PCMag's Editors' Choice for password manager, won't cost you a penny, and it outperforms the competition, both free and paid.

The developers at LastPass don't scrimp when it comes to updates. According to the product's revision history there have been over a dozen revisions, large and small, since I reviewed LastPass 1.72 (free, 5 stars). I'll highlight the major enhancements in this review.

Thorough Installation
You'll go through quite a few steps installing LastPass, but by the time you're through you'll have a fully functional ready-to-run installation. The installer adds plug-ins for the browsers it detects and offers to create a LastPass account if you don't already have one. It checks your browsers for insecurely stored passwords and offers to import them, remove them from the browser, and turn off the browser's password management. The fact that it can do all this is pretty clear evidence that browser-stored passwords aren't safe.

New in this edition, during installation you can import the password and other details for your Wi-Fi connection into a secure note. After installation, you can choose to import the login details for every Wi-Fi connection stored on your PC. Once you complete the installation process, the installer offers to show a video explaining just what you can do with LastPass.

Secure Storage
With LastPass, all of your passwords and other data are stored online in a highly encrypted format. The system is designed so that the people at LastPass have no access to your password. Even if subpoenaed to release your encrypted data, they simply couldn't. And the encryption system they use is highly resistant to brute force attacks. I'm confident enough that I use it myself.

If you just can't stomach the thought of keeping your passwords in the cloud, you'll have to choose a different product. RoboForm Desktop 7 ($29.95 direct, 4 stars) stores your encrypted passwords on the local computer. Dashlane 1.1 (free, 4.5 stars) offers a choice between local and cloud storage. If you enable the Sync option it stores the encrypted data online with the ability to sync between different devices. But if you leave Sync disabled, all data gets stored locally.

Still worried? You might consider a self-contained option like MyLOK Personal ($89.95 direct, 4 stars) or the password manager component of IronKey Personal S200 ($79 direct, 4 stars). You won't get the full range of password management features, but you can feel secure with all your passwords in your pocket.

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Bruce Jenner regrets sharing Kim Kardashian's wedding with world

Bruce Jenner has revealed that he regrets sharing Kim Kardashian's wedding to Kris Humphries with the world by filming it for their reality TV show.

The 62-year-old socialite, who is married to Kris Jenner, admitted that Kim's ill-fated marriage to the NBA star would have been best kept under wraps.

"'The only thing I wish I could take back that the public has seen, the whole wedding thing. We went so overboard on that. And the way it turned out and everything," Contactmusic quoted him as telling Oprah Winfrey on her show 'Oprah's Next Chapter'.

However, he claimed that the extravagance of their ceremony was out of genuine love at the time but their feeling changed rapidly.

"'And, because I mean at the time it was honest...I mean, I was all in, you know? But then it turned so quickly," he said.

When asked by Oprah if he believed the marriage was going to work, Bruce didn't say he believed it would but confided that he rooted for it to last.

"'I was hoping it would work," he added. (ANI)

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Three-wicket Parnell leads South Africa to final

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New Obama campaign fundraising pitch: How about you have people send your wedding, anniversary and birthday gifts to us instead? (Michellemalkin)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Romney: I'll tackle immigration in 'civil' manner

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) ? Backing off the harsh rhetoric of the Republican primaries, Mitt Romney pledged Thursday to address illegal immigration "in a civil but resolute manner." He outlined plans to overhaul the green card system for immigrants with families, and end immigration caps for their spouses and minor children.

In a speech before Hispanic leaders, Romney made only passing mention of his promise to complete a 2,000-mile border fence to help stem illegal immigration, instead attacking President Barack Obama's new plan to ease deportation rules for some children of illegal immigrants as little more than a "stop-gap measure."

"As President, I won't settle for a stop-gap measure. I will work with Republicans and Democrats to find a long-term solution," Romney told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. "I will prioritize measures that strengthen legal immigration and make it easier. And I will address the problem of illegal immigration in a civil but resolute manner. We may not always agree, but when I make a promise to you, I will keep it."

Obama will speak to the same group Friday. The speeches come as the Supreme Court prepares to render judgment on a get-tough Arizona law and after Obama announced his new deportation plan.

Romney has struggled in recent days to clarify his immigration policy as he pivots from the sharp tone that defined the months-long GOP primary to a general election audience in which Latinos will play a critical role.

During the primaries, Romney and his Republican opponents focused on border security and English as the official language, but the former Massachusetts governor didn't spell out precisely what he would do to address the nation's immigration problem.

On Thursday, as he filled in some of those blanks, Romney devoted only one sentence in a 17-minute speech to the border fence and ignored language issues altogether.

At least 1 in 6 Americans is of Hispanic descent, according to the Census Bureau, and many lean towards the Democrats. By softening his tone on immigration, Romney is looking to narrow the advantage that Obama has with this pivotal constituency.

The stakes are high not only for states with larger Hispanic populations such as Florida, Nevada and Colorado, but for a growing number of other battlegrounds ? Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia, among them ? where even a modest shift among Latino voters could be significant.

Romney was vague in some areas ? particularly the treatment of immigrant children brought to the country illegally by their parents ? but offered new details in others.

His plan to reallocate green cards for immigrants with families and end caps for spouses and minor children would mark a change from the current system, which is something of a first come, first served system. And his pledge to "staple a green card to your diploma" for immigrants who earned advanced degrees in the United States represents a significant change from current law.

It is unclear how many of Romney's promises on immigration reform could be accomplished without legislative action. But some of his proposed changes, including granting green cards to high-tech graduates, would likely require legislative help

Obama has used presidential authority twice since 2011 to make changes to immigration enforcement, including last week's announcement that many young illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children would be exempted for deportation and granted work permits good for two years.

The president's re-election campaign blasted Romney for ignoring his previously stated opposition to the DREAM Act, a measure that would have allowed some children of illegal immigrants to stay in the country legally.

"In front of an audience of Republican primary voters, he called the DREAM Act a 'handout' and promised to veto it," said Obama spokesman Lis Smith.

It was clear that Romney was on unfriendly turf as he addressed several hundred Hispanic leaders in a Disney ballroom, particularly when the Republican candidate went after the president's health care overhaul.

"If jobs are your priority, you've got to get rid of ObamaCare," Romney said, offering a line that typically prompts cheers at his rallies. But among the Hispanic crowd Thursday, only a handful applauded. At least one person booed.

Romney addressed Obama's new deportation policy, but left some questions unanswered.

"Some people have asked if I will let stand the president's executive action," Romney said. "The answer is that I will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president's temporary measure."

Obama is riding a wave of Latino enthusiasm over his decision to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to stay in the country and work. Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants can avoid deportation if they can prove they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, and graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED or served in the military.

The new policy could help anywhere from 800,000 young immigrants, the administration's estimate, to 1.4 million, the Pew Hispanic Center's estimate.

Romney had previously refused to say whether he would reverse the policy if elected, but he has seized on the temporary status of Obama's plan as his prime criticism. The Republican has also highlighted what he calls the president's "broken promises" to deliver comprehensive immigration reform during his first term.

"Despite his promises, President Obama has failed to address immigration reform," Romney said. "For two years, this president had huge majorities in the House and Senate ? he was free to pursue any policy he pleased. But he did nothing to advance a permanent fix for our broken immigration system. Nothing. Instead, he failed to act until facing a tough re-election and trying to secure your vote."

Both sides are crafting aggressive strategies to appeal to a demographic that is by no means monolithic but has supported Democrats in recent elections. Some Republicans fear ? and Democrats hope ? that Obama could capitalize on this moment to help solidify Hispanic voters as predominantly Democratic this fall and for years to come, much as President Lyndon Johnson hardened the black vote for Democrats as he pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As is typical, Romney also focused on the economy. The former Massachusetts governor argued that his economic credentials would benefit all people who have struggled under Obama's leadership in recent years ? women, younger voters and Hispanics among them.

In his speech, Romney said that Obama is taking the Hispanic vote for granted.

"I've come here today with a very simple message: You do have an alternative. Your vote should be respected, and your voice is more important now than ever before," he said.

___

AP's Alicia Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.

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Deal of the Day: Qmadix Metalix Snap-On Cover for HTC EVO 4G LTE

The June 22 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Qmadix Metalix Snap-On Cover for HTC EVO 4G LTE. The durable but lightweight, textured polycarbonate border of the Metalix helps to keep a firm grip on your device while aluminum alloy accents enhance the look for the HTC EVO 4G LTE without adding bulk or unwanted weight. Comes in grey and red.

The Qmadix Metalix Snap-On Cover is available for just $17.95, 49% off today only. Grab yours while supplies last!

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New Greek PM Samaras names cabinet members

The head of Greece's conservative New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, left, shakes hands with President Carolos Papoulias in Athens on Wednesday June 20, 2012. Samaras was sworn in as prime minister Wednesday at the helm of a three-party coalition that will uphold the country?s international bailout commitments. The move ends a protracted political crisis that had cast grave doubt over the country?s future in Europe?s joint currency and threatened to plunge Europe deeper into a financial crisis with global repercussions. (AP Photo/Andreas Solaro,pool)

The head of Greece's conservative New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, left, shakes hands with President Carolos Papoulias in Athens on Wednesday June 20, 2012. Samaras was sworn in as prime minister Wednesday at the helm of a three-party coalition that will uphold the country?s international bailout commitments. The move ends a protracted political crisis that had cast grave doubt over the country?s future in Europe?s joint currency and threatened to plunge Europe deeper into a financial crisis with global repercussions. (AP Photo/Andreas Solaro,pool)

Greece's newly appointed Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, center, Leader of the Democratic Left party Fotis Kouvelis, second right, Greece's National Bank chairman Vassilis Rapanos, right, acting Finance Minister George Zanias, left, and leader of the Socialist PASOK party Evangelos Venizelos take part in a meeting at the parliament, prior to the EUROGROUP and ECOFIN meetings, in Athens, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. (AP Photo)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece has named its coalition government's new Cabinet, appointing a prominent banker to take over the key position of finance minister.

New government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou announced Thursday that Vassilis Rapanos, a non-executive chairman of the National Bank of Greece, had been appointed finance minister.

Rapanos, 65, has been a leading figure in the country's banking sector and has also been teaching at Athens University since 1992.

Conservative party head Antonis Samaras was sworn in as prime minister Wednesday at the head of a three-party coalition government, ending weeks of political deadlock and calming market fears of an imminent Greek exit from the euro currency.

Associated Press

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PFT: Harvin asks Vikings to trade him

Getty Images

It?s easy to understand how Commissioner Roger Goodell got so much power under the labor deal, but it?s far more complicated to come up with a way to change the status quo.

Chiefs tackle Eric Winston recently expressed regret that the players didn?t push harder during the most recent CBA negotiations to remove from Goodell the ability to impose a penalty and then review his own decision under multiple disciplinary policies.? Falcons receiver Roddy White was more pointed, blaming the NFLPA for ?failing? the players by not stripping this power from Goodell in 2011.

But anyone who claim that last year the players ?allowed? Goodell to have his current power either doesn?t get it, or is deliberately distorting the facts.? Goodell already had the power, obtaining it not from the current NFLPA leadership but from former union boss Gene Upshaw, via past labor deals.? When the time comes to renegotiate the labor contract, the parties come to the table with the rights and duties they already possessed.

And if one side wants to taketh something away, that side had better be ready to giveth something in return.

As it relates to his power over issues like player discipline,Goodell flatly refused to surrender that power during negotiations occurring after the players and the league worked out a deal on the manner in which the money gets divided.

?The answer to that is no, I?m not going to be open to that,? Goodell said at the time.? ?I?m not going to hand off the brand and the reputation of the NFL to somebody who is not associated with the NFL.? I promise you that.? That is one of the number one jobs as a commissioner in my opinion.?

The fact that the lockout already had ended when terms like Goodell?s power over the disciplinary process were being debated made it harder for the players to dig in.? Still, with Goodell making it clear that he had built a bunker on that point would have made it virtually impossible to change the pre-existing approach.

In theory, the players could have reopened the monetary side of the deal and offered a penny or two on the dollar in order to buy Goodell?s disciplinary power.? But at what point should the financial interests of the many players who never get called to the principal?s office yield to the interests of the few who find themselves in water hotter than the average bathtub?? Only a small percentage of the league?s 1,900 or so players end up under scrutiny from Goodell.

Should the players have made a concession that affects all of them in order to protect a few?

More importantly, and as explained last night, the CBA doesn?t give Goodell a blank check to do whatever he wants to do.? Though he?s the judge, jury, and executioner, his power to be the judge/jury/executioner must be exercised fairly and impartially and in accordance with the rules contained in the CBA.? If he fails to do that, Goodell is subject to external oversight, through the federal court system.

In the bounty case, it?s inevitable that Goodell will uphold the suspensions, and that the players will sue.? Then, questions regarding, for example, whether the league failed to produce its evidence on a timely basis and whether the suspensions should be dismissed based on that glitch will be resolved by someone ?who is not associated with the NFL.?

A far more subtle, but perhaps far more important, point arises from the disconnect between the limited evidence that Commissioner Goodell has made available to the players and the extensive evidence of which Judge/Jury/Executioner Goodell is otherwise aware.? In this relatively rare instance in which Goodell has meted out discipline based on facts that are hotly contested, the judge/jury/executioner knows much more than the persons being punished.? So how can the persons being punished, who have access only to a sliver of the file, get a fair shake when they don?t know what the judge/jury/executioner already knows?

Think of it this way.? You?ve been accused of a crime.? Before the trial, the judge and the jury (and, technically, the executioner) are fully aware of the investigation and all evidence that was collected, in large part because the judge and the jury ultimately presided over the investigation.? Then, the judge and the jury decide what the sentence should be, before the trial even starts.

Through it all, the judge and the jury never give you any evidence.? Instead, they periodically share with you (and the media) summaries and characterizations of evidence, which may or may not be factually accurate.? Then, three days before the trial, you get a small stack from the thousands of documents generated by the investigation.

When the trial starts, the prosecutor presents what amounts to an opening statement ? and then she rests her case without calling a single witness.? Then the judge and the jury, fully aware of and intending to rely on all facts and documents and evidence and testimony that won?t be introduced in support of the allegations or otherwise shared with you, turns to your lawyer and says, ?Got anything to add??

How under those circumstances could your lawyer even begin to know what to say?? How could your lawyer change the minds of the judge and the jury without knowing precisely what caused them to reach their conclusion weeks before the trial began ? and without having a chance to test that evidence before the judge and the jury adopted a position on what the evidence means?

That example describes a classic kangaroo court, a term that arose from the perception that justice occurs by a series of leaps, not via a deliberate and even-handed process.? And while so many are quick to point out that the players accused of participating in the bounty program aren?t having their rights determined by a court of law, the truth is that those rights are being assessed by an informal court of law crafted by the NFL ? as demonstrated by the fact that Monday?s hearing was fully transcribed by (you guessed it) a court reporter.

Though the CBA gives the NFL the power to craft that informal court of law, it doesn?t give the NFL the right to create a process that lacks fairness and impartiality for the people whose interests are at stake.

The NFLPA has not given up the right to challenge the NFL?s procedures, and the NFLPA appears to be intent on doing so, aggressively.

As it should.

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