More women getting behind the wheel of a Porsche

porsche

Philip LeBeau CNBC

10 hours ago

Daniel Maurer / AP

Tennis star Maria Sharapova and Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller drive in a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet during the victory ceremony after the final of the WTA Porsche GP in Stuttgart, Germany, April 28, 2013. More women are buying Porsches, especially SUVs.

Jody Verson never thought of herself as a Porsche woman.

So when the long-time Lexus owner from Deerfield, Illinois found herself behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayenne, she was blown away by the ultra luxury sports utility vehicle.

"I don't know how it happened, but I ended up driving a Porsche Cayenne one day as a loaner and absolutely loved it," said Verson. "It was a lot of fun and I couldn't believe it. Never would have believed it and said, okay, gotta have one."

Verson is not the only woman to discover a new-found appreciation for Porsche. In the last two years the luxury brand has doubled its sales to woman in the United States, with the percentage of Porsche sales to females rising from 7 percent to 15 percent.

"It is really hard to explain. I have girlfriends who want to know, 'why do you love this car so much?' It is just fun to drive, you really have to drive it," added Verson.

(Read more: The Most Desirable Porsches)

One of the primary reasons Porsche is attracting more female buyers is the popularity of the Cayenne. Just as BMW, Lexus and Mercedes have been able to expand their customer base and win over mothers who want a luxury SUV, Porsche now finds itself in the same position.

Faris Nijim, the sales manager at the Porsche Exchange in Highland Park, Illinois, said one out of every four Cayennes sold at his dealership is to a woman.

(Read more: China's gift crackdown not hitting luxury cars: Porche)

"We see more women coming in not only with their husbands, buton their own as the primary decision maker," said Nijim.

Given Porsche's reputation as a performance car driven by wealthy men who often want to convey a certain image, he understands why some women might feel intimidated when they think of buying a Porsche.

"We see a lot of times, when a woman walks into the showroom, there may be inherently a little bit of apprehension on her part right because she's not really sure what to expect or what the experience is going to be. So we have to provide an accommodating atmosphere that is non-threatening," explained Nijim.

Make no mistake. There are still plenty of men at the Porsche Exchange looking to buy the latest 911 or Boxster, but Nijim is increasingly seeing women coming in to browse and take a test drive.

As Porsche has increased sales to women, executives with the ultra-luxury brand have been careful not to radically change the company's marketing so it comes across as pandering to ladies.

Still the German brand has slowly but steadily expanded its advertising in a wider variety of magazines that reach upscale readers.

The idea? Spread the Porsche brand to a broader audience.

(Read more: Demand for 'street legal' ultra-luxury cars soars)

Nijim has seen the influx of new buyers, including women, with the Panamera sedan. "In late 2009, we brought the Panamera to market and in a period of just over a year and a half, 70 percent of those Panamera buyers were first-time Porsche buyers [and] had never walked into a Porsche showroom before."

As for Jody Verson, she said her friends have a new opinion of Porsche and her Cayenne. "My girlfriends can't believe how pretty the inside is. It is really a pretty car."

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Missionary from Utah survives Spanish train wreck

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Seconds before the Spanish train he was aboard lifted off the tracks "like a roller coaster," Mormon missionary Stephen Ward said he glanced up from the journal he was writing and noticed a backpack tumble from a rack. Moments later, he blacked out as the train smashed into a concrete wall at high speed.

He awoke to a scene that seemed like a nightmare.

"Everyone was covered in blood, there was smoke coming up off the train," said Ward, 18, of Bountiful, Utah. "There was a lot of crying, a lot of screaming. There were plenty of dead bodies. It was quite gruesome, to be honest."

Ward's face was caked in blood, his leg bruised and his neck injured. But he survived a horrific crash that killed 80 people ? his latest brush with death.

The train was traveling fast when it derailed Wednesday and killed dozens, but officials haven't yet confirmed how fast.

Ward said an information screen for passengers showed that the train was traveling 194 kph (121 mph) moments before the crash. He said that speed was nearly double the speed they had been cruising at since leaving Madrid earlier that afternoon.

Rafael Catala, a senior transport official in Spain's Development Ministry, said it appeared to be going much faster than the track's speed limit of 80 kph (50 mph). An Associated Press analysis of security camera video of the crash indicated the train hit the bend at the crash site going twice the speed limit or more.

Four years earlier, Ward was diagnosed with a rare cancer known as Burkitt's lymphoma and nearly died while undergoing a bone marrow transplant.

"From a religious standpoint, I'd like to say that God has something in store for me and that there's a reason I'm still here," Stephen Ward said in a phone interview with The Associated Press from La Coruna, Spain. "I count myself very lucky and very blessed to have been able to survive so many things."

Ward said he suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck but has been discharged from the hospital. He expects to stay in Spain to complete his two-year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which he started six weeks ago.

He was one of at least five Americans hurt Wednesday when the train hurtled off the rails and smashed into a security wall. One American died, the U.S. State Department said. The American victim was identified by the Diocese of Arlington as Ana Maria Cordoba, an administrative employee from northern Virginia.

On Wednesday, Ward was supposed to board an earlier train from Madrid to El Ferrol, a coastal city in northwest Spain where he was sent to begin proselyting. But he accidentally bought a ticket for the wrong day and instead went on a later train that ended up crashing as it rounded a bend about 60 miles north of Santiago de Compostela.

When he awoke from the crash, somebody was helping him walk out of his train car and crawl out of a ditch where the train car came to rest. He thought he was dreaming for 30 seconds until he felt his blood-drenched face and noticed the scene around him.

Emergency responders arrived within minutes and led him to a grassy area away from the wreckage where he laid for three hours before being taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Ward's parents didn't know he was on the train. They knew only that he was scheduled to leave Wednesday from Madrid, where had spent the first six weeks at a training center learning Spanish and how to be a missionary. When Raymond Ward, 45, saw news of the crash on his cellphone, he figured it had nothing to do with his son.

But an hour later, a Mormon church official in Spain called Raymond Ward and told him his son was on the train ? and survived.

A picture of the 6-foot-6 Stephen Ward appeared in a Spanish newspaper, blood running down his face, his father said. Stephen Ward also gave an interview from his hospital bed to The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London recounting the harrowing experience.

"He looks terrible, but he's alive so that's good," Raymond Ward said. "When we talked with him he was in good spirits."

Stephen Ward is no stranger to hospitals, having spent countless hours fighting to survive cancer when he was younger. He's been healthy since then, and is a gregarious, happy young man who plays piano and excelled in school, his dad said. He left for his mission after one year at Brigham Young University, where he is studying chemical engineering.

"Not many people come that close to death twice before age 20," Raymond Ward said. "I'm just grateful that he's alive and that's he my son."

___

Follow Brady McCombs at https://twitter.com/BradyMcCombs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/missionary-utah-survives-spanish-train-wreck-080839026.html

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Evolution on the inside track: How viruses in gut bacteria change over time

Public release date: 26-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Karen Kreeger
karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-5658
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Implications for deciphering differences in disease susceptibility, drug resistance and effectiveness

PHILADELPHIA Humans are far more than merely the sum total of all the cells that form the organs and tissues. The digestive tract is also home to a vast colony of bacteria of all varieties, as well as the myriad viruses that prey upon them. Because the types of bacteria carried inside the body vary from person to person, so does this viral population, known as the virome.

By closely following and analyzing the virome of one individual over two-and-a-half years, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led by professor of Microbiology Frederic D. Bushman, Ph.D., have uncovered some important new insights on how a viral population can change and evolve and why the virome of one person can vary so greatly from that of another. The evolution and variety of the virome can affect susceptibility and resistance to disease among individuals, along with variable effectiveness of drugs.

Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Most of the virome consists of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria rather than directly attacking their human hosts. However, the changes that bacteriophages wreak upon bacteria can also ultimately affect humans.

"Bacterial viruses are predators on bacteria, so they mold their populations," says Bushman. "Bacterial viruses also transport genes for toxins, virulence factors that modify the phenotype of their bacterial host." In this way, an innocent, benign bacterium living inside the body can be transformed by an invading virus into a dangerous threat.

At 16 time points over 884 days, Bushman and his team collected stool samples from a healthy male subject and extracted viral particles using several methods. They then isolated and analyzed DNA contigs (contiguous sequences) using ultra-deep genome sequencing.

"We assembled raw sequence data to yield complete and partial genomes and analyzed how they changed over two and a half years," Bushman explains. The result was the longest, most extensive picture of the workings of the human virome yet obtained.

The researchers found that while approximately 80 percent of the viral types identified remained mostly unchanged over the course of the study, certain viral species changed so substantially over time that, as Bushman notes, "You could say we observed speciation events."

This was particularly true in the Microviridae group, which are bacteriophages with single-stranded circular DNA genomes. Several genetic mechanisms drove the changes, including substitution of base chemicals; diversity-generating retroelements, in which reverse transcriptase enzymes introduce mutations into the genome; and CRISPRs (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), in which pieces of the DNA sequences of bacteriophages are incorporated as spacers in the genomes of bacteria.

Such rapid evolution of the virome was perhaps the most surprising finding for the research team. Bushman notes that "different people have quite different bacteria in their guts, so the viral predators on those bacteria are also different. However, another reason people are so different from each other in terms of their virome, emphasized in this paper, is that some of the viruses, once inside a person, are changing really fast. So some of the viral community diversifies and becomes unique within each individual."

Since humans acquire the bacterial population -- and its accompanying virome -- after birth from food and other environmental factors, it's logical that the microbial population living within each of us would differ from person to person. But this work, say the researchers, demonstrates that another major explanatory factor is the constant evolution of the virome within the body. That fact has important implications for the ways in which susceptibility and resistance to disease can differ among individuals, as well as the effectiveness of various drugs and other treatments.

###

The research was supported by Human Microbiome Roadmap Demonstration Project (UH2DK083981) the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania Center for AIDS Research (CFAR; P30 Al 045008).

Samuel Minot, Alexandra Bryson, Christel Chehoud, Gary D. Wu, James D. Lewis, all from Penn, are co-authors.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 26-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Karen Kreeger
karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-5658
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Implications for deciphering differences in disease susceptibility, drug resistance and effectiveness

PHILADELPHIA Humans are far more than merely the sum total of all the cells that form the organs and tissues. The digestive tract is also home to a vast colony of bacteria of all varieties, as well as the myriad viruses that prey upon them. Because the types of bacteria carried inside the body vary from person to person, so does this viral population, known as the virome.

By closely following and analyzing the virome of one individual over two-and-a-half years, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led by professor of Microbiology Frederic D. Bushman, Ph.D., have uncovered some important new insights on how a viral population can change and evolve and why the virome of one person can vary so greatly from that of another. The evolution and variety of the virome can affect susceptibility and resistance to disease among individuals, along with variable effectiveness of drugs.

Their work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Most of the virome consists of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria rather than directly attacking their human hosts. However, the changes that bacteriophages wreak upon bacteria can also ultimately affect humans.

"Bacterial viruses are predators on bacteria, so they mold their populations," says Bushman. "Bacterial viruses also transport genes for toxins, virulence factors that modify the phenotype of their bacterial host." In this way, an innocent, benign bacterium living inside the body can be transformed by an invading virus into a dangerous threat.

At 16 time points over 884 days, Bushman and his team collected stool samples from a healthy male subject and extracted viral particles using several methods. They then isolated and analyzed DNA contigs (contiguous sequences) using ultra-deep genome sequencing.

"We assembled raw sequence data to yield complete and partial genomes and analyzed how they changed over two and a half years," Bushman explains. The result was the longest, most extensive picture of the workings of the human virome yet obtained.

The researchers found that while approximately 80 percent of the viral types identified remained mostly unchanged over the course of the study, certain viral species changed so substantially over time that, as Bushman notes, "You could say we observed speciation events."

This was particularly true in the Microviridae group, which are bacteriophages with single-stranded circular DNA genomes. Several genetic mechanisms drove the changes, including substitution of base chemicals; diversity-generating retroelements, in which reverse transcriptase enzymes introduce mutations into the genome; and CRISPRs (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), in which pieces of the DNA sequences of bacteriophages are incorporated as spacers in the genomes of bacteria.

Such rapid evolution of the virome was perhaps the most surprising finding for the research team. Bushman notes that "different people have quite different bacteria in their guts, so the viral predators on those bacteria are also different. However, another reason people are so different from each other in terms of their virome, emphasized in this paper, is that some of the viruses, once inside a person, are changing really fast. So some of the viral community diversifies and becomes unique within each individual."

Since humans acquire the bacterial population -- and its accompanying virome -- after birth from food and other environmental factors, it's logical that the microbial population living within each of us would differ from person to person. But this work, say the researchers, demonstrates that another major explanatory factor is the constant evolution of the virome within the body. That fact has important implications for the ways in which susceptibility and resistance to disease can differ among individuals, as well as the effectiveness of various drugs and other treatments.

###

The research was supported by Human Microbiome Roadmap Demonstration Project (UH2DK083981) the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania Center for AIDS Research (CFAR; P30 Al 045008).

Samuel Minot, Alexandra Bryson, Christel Chehoud, Gary D. Wu, James D. Lewis, all from Penn, are co-authors.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/uops-eot072613.php

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Register today for eSports showdown at Montecasino | Lazygamer ...

The H.I.V.E and Gaming Cartel are holding a console eSport showdown on 3 August 2013, and today is the last day you can register. ?Want to play FIFA or Black Ops 2? ?Want to compete and eat pizza? ?Then this is the event for you!

The H.I.V.E is a pretty, shiny new venue at Montecasino, ready to host this eSports event. ?Two tournaments will be taking place:

• 1v1 FIFA 13 on PS3
• 4v4 COD:BLOPS2 on Xbox 360

Each tournament will cost R100 entry fee and includes a Debonairs pizza. ?Or, if you prefer Romans, you can pay R80 and get no pizza. ?There?s no need to bring a console, but you can bring your own controller and headset for hygiene purposes. ?I like to just bring a bucket of hand sanitizer with me, but hey, to each his own.

You can register for the FIFA event here, or the COD event here. ?Prizes will be announced soon.

See, this is why console games are better than PC games ? you can eat greasy food while playing. ?That was always against the rules when I was a kid while on the computer, but consoles were a free-for-all. ?Mmmmm, pizza.

Source: http://www.lazygamer.net/xbox-360/register-today-for-esports-showdown-at-montecasino/

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Weiner's New Confession Rocks N.Y. Mayor Race

Anthony Weiner admits that at least some new, sexually charged online exchanges posted on a website Monday and attributed to him were, in fact, his. Pope Francis' push to bring the papacy to the streets is raising a host of challenges.

NEW YORK?Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner jolted the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday, saying his habit of sending lewd pictures and messages to women he met online had continued well past his June 2011 resignation from Congress.

"I said that other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have," Mr. Weiner said at a news conference. "While some things that have been posted today are true and some are not, there is no question that what I did was wrong."

Mr. Weiner said he is no longer engaged in such behavior.

The revelation, prompted by postings Monday on a gossip website, raised questions about Mr. Weiner's ability to maintain the strong position he has held in recent polls of the crowded Democratic primary race. It also led some rivals to call for Mr. Weiner's resignation, though he vowed to stay in the race.

Former congressman Anthony Weiner addresses revelations of new explicit online messages and says he plans to stay in the race for New York City mayor.

Sexually charged messages sent after his resignation from Congress would be "very bad," said Bill Cunningham, a New York City political consultant who isn't working on a campaign. "That would indicate that he didn't learn his lesson," he said, speaking before Mr. Weiner told a room full of reporters in Manhattan that his online activity had continued after he resigned.

Mr. Weiner could be helped, though, by the appearance Tuesday of his wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime close aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ms. Abedin was absent when Mr. Weiner resigned and has stayed largely out of the limelight.

Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

Anthony Weiner speaks during a news conference in New York on July 23.

"Anthony's made some horrible mistakes, both before he resigned from Congress and after. But I do very strongly believe that it is between us and our marriage," she said, standing beside him. "I love him, I have forgiven him, I believe in him, and as he has said from the beginning, we are moving forward."

Mr. Weiner resigned from Congress after he admitted to sending lewd messages and photos to women online and then lying about it. He has tried to resurrect his political career this year with a bid for mayor. The most recent poll, conducted by the New York Times and Siena College, showed him in second place in the Democratic primary behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Another New York City consultant, Republican E. O'Brien Murray, said Ms. Abedin's presence would boost her husband. "Without her, his campaign should be dead," he said. "With her, he can get through this."

?Michael Howard Saul contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Grossman at andrew.grossman@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared July 24, 2013, on page A2 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: New Weiner Confession Rocks N.Y. Mayor Race.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324144304578624310784148082.html?mod=rss_US_News

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Carlos Danger for Mayor

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://animalnewyork.com/2013/carlos-danger-campaign-ad/

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Bank of England puts stimulus differences on ice at Carney's first meeting

By David Milliken and William Schomberg

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England's new governor, Mark Carney, and all his fellow policymakers voted against more stimulus for the economy earlier this month, unexpectedly setting aside differences ahead of a potentially big policy change in August.

The 9-0 vote against more bond-buying - the second big surprise of Carney's two-and-half-week governorship - made the pound jump and British government bond prices fall.

The Bank must report to chancellor George Osborne early next month on whether to start giving clear signals on the future direction of interest rates, something Carney did in his previous job as Canada's central bank chief.

Such "forward guidance" can itself act as a monetary stimulus if it means rates remaining low, so that could mean the end of bond purchases as the BoE's main tool for trying to build on signs of recovery in Britain's economy.

"The voting pattern is probably best interpreted as a truce," said Marc Ostwald, a bond market strategist at Monument Securities in London.

"Even those ... members who were pressing earlier this year for an increase in the Bank of England's stock of asset purchases now accept there may be other, more effective, means of delivering monetary stimulus," he said.

A minority of Bank policymakers had tried unsuccessfully to restart the central bank's bond purchases since November.

At the July 3-4 meeting, minutes of which were released on Wednesday, they said the economy still needed more help but they were holding fire until the bank had decided whether to provide clearer guidance on future interest rates.

"Given the already large size of the asset purchase programme, there was merit in pursuing a mixed strategy with regards to the different policy instruments at the Committee's disposal," the minutes summarised them as saying.

August's review should shed light on the size and form of additional stimulus, they added.

These policymakers were probably markets director Paul Fisher and David Miles who had been voting for a 25 billion-pound ($37.8 billion) expansion on top of the 375 billion pounds of assets already bought. Former governor Mervyn King also backed more bond-buying.

The BoE's Monetery Policy Committee told markets not to count on a policy change at its August 1 meeting and it would only detail its views on forward guidance on August 7, along with quarterly economic forecasts.

Other MPC members again doubted that bond purchases would be effective, even if the economy did need more stimulus now.

The BoE's potential move away from bond-buying comes at a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve is talking about slowing the pace of its own asset purchases, though the MPC was at pains to state that it did not yet see a case for tighter policy.

indeed, the Bank surprised markets at its July policy meeting when it said bond markets were betting too early on when British interest rates might go up, given the weak state of the economy.

RECOVERY IN TRAIN

British economic data over the past month had otherwise been broadly positive, the minutes said, providing further evidence that the recovery was in line with the BoE's May forecast for 0.5 percent growth between April and June.

Data on Wednesday showed the number of unemployment benefit claims fell in June at its fastest rate for three years. The overall jobless rate held at 7.8 percent.

Policymakers have been immersed in discussions about whether the Bank should use forward guidance based on so-called "intermediate thresholds" such as unemployment, linking future monetary policy moves to indicators other than inflation.

Some economists said signs of improvement in the economy, as well as the likely introduction of forward guidance, further reduced the chance of bond purchases later this year, which earlier this month they placed at around 40 percent.

"The minutes overall support our view that communication and forward guidance will be the main policy tool going forward," said RBC economist Jens Larsen.

Others were less sure, including Investec's Philip Shaw, who was rare among economists in predicting July's unanimous vote.

"We still feel there will be some policy easing. Our view has been that the MPC will sanction a further 50 billion pounds of QE, but we do wonder whether something will come out of left field which alters the mix of the overall stimulus," he said.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boe-unanimous-no-more-qe-first-carney-meeting-083424434.html

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For Quarterbacks, the NFL Is No Country for Old Men

The NFL is a young man's game. Father Time stalks his prey like a murderous Javier Bardem on a mission.

Just this year, Jason Hanson's retirement single-handedly reduced the average age of NFL players by three years.?

Well, not quite, but the 43-year-old's retirement was a microcosm of the youth movement in today's NFL. Older players are having more and more trouble finding work. Just look at Kerry Rhodes or Michael Turner?neither is terribly old at 30 and 31, respectively, but they have languished in free agency for months now.

The story is not so drastic at quarterback, but the position is getting younger despite the relatively advanced age of its future Hall of Famers.?

The halcyon days of 40-year-old quarterbacks might be over, unless Peyton Manning and Tom Brady can get there unscathed. Even if they do, they might be shells of their former fantastic selves.

The average age of starting quarterbacks last season was below 28. Take out Manning, Brady, Drew Brees and Carson Palmer, and it plummets to 26.9. Of course, that's hardly fair?the first three in that list are arguably the top three in the sport until further notice.

But that notice could be around the corner.

These averages are no fluke. The previous season featured the youngest average age of leaders at quarterback. "When it comes to age, the passing leaders are an average 28.9 years old. The youngest season was 2011 with 27.5 years old," wrote Bleacher Report's Scott Kacsmar over at Cold, Hard Football Facts.

The average age of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks over the past five years is 28, though that is a number that might be quite higher were it not for David Tyree's heroics or Wes Welker's big drop.

The next wave of starters at quarterback has crashed on the sandy beaches of the NFL.

Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan are the oldest of these at 29 and 28, respectively, but there is a host of budding stars 25 years old and under.

Thirteen current NFL starters are 25 and under.?If EJ Manuel (23), Geno Smith (22) or Matt Barkley (22) can win starting gigs, that number will go up.

Matthew Stafford just inked a huge extension?his second massive contract in the NFL?at age 25. He has thrown for over 10,000 yards in the past two seasons alone, though it helps to have the best receiver in the game.

While panned in some circles, he is poised to jump into the conversation as one of the top five quarterbacks in the league. That is, of course, if he can fix his mechanical issues and keep his head on straight.

They are the future, and they can run.

Cam Newton (24) and Colin Kaepernick?(25) are in their third seasons in the league, both bringing the pain to opposing defenses with their legs. The dynamic quarterbacks have helped create a new breed of running quarterback.

Andy Dalton (25) hasn't produced the fireworks of some of his young compatriots, but he has led the Bengals to two straight playoff appearances. With a little more seasoning, continued dominance from A.J. Green and continuing improvement elsewhere around him, Dalton might actually win one of those games.

Despite seemingly starting for the Buccaneers for the past decade, Josh Freeman is only 24 years old. He has had a roller-coaster career but still possesses the potential to be great. Sam Bradford is still 25 years young after three years with the Rams.

Then there is last year's unprecedented rookie class, led by Andrew Luck (23), Russell Wilson (23) and reigning Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III?(24). Those three have just about completed the youth movement at the position, even if Brandon Weeden (29) doesn't do much to help the average age of that class.

Beyond the amazing trio, Ryan Tannehill?(24) is poised to make a big leap with the Dolphins in his second year. Even some of the backups like Nick Foles (24) and Kirk Cousins (24) could have a chance to shine in the coming years.

Of course, youth is no guarantor of success.?

Indeed, this crop of budding NFL stars will need to stay on that trajectory if they want to continue buoying the young generation.

There are also some duds in that group to date, most notably Christian Ponder (25), Jake Locker (24) and Blaine Gabbert (23). They are both young and talented enough to be given another shot or two as starters, though.

The old guard is set to give way to the new breed. Many of these players will be the top dogs at quarterback in their late 20s, but some are already there.

?

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1702238-for-quarterbacks-the-nfl-is-no-country-for-old-men

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Video: Angry Birds Star Wars 2 launches on September 19th

Angry Birds Star Wars 2 Release Date

Rovio on Monday announced yet another sequel to its immensely popular Angry Birds franchise. Angry Birds Star Wars 2 will continue the story of last year?s Angry Birds Star Wars?with?new levels, new powers and more than 30 playable characters. Rovio also announced ?Telepods,? a tie-in toy that allows gamers to physically transport characters into the game. Angry Birds Star Wars 2 will be available for mobile devices and computers on September 19th. The company did not announce specific platforms, however the original game is available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Mac and Windows computers. The Angry Birds Star Wars 2 trailer follows below.

[More from BGR: Verizon reportedly jumps at chance to copy T-Mobile?s UNcarrier policies]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/video-angry-birds-star-wars-2-launches-september-013053920.html

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Obama's remarks on military sex crimes may have hurt cases

MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA

At least a dozen military sexual assault cases have been tainted since President Obama made the statement in May.

President Obama?s call for those who commit sex crimes in the armed forces to be ?prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged? may have muddled scores of trials across the nation.

At least a dozen military sexual assault cases have been tainted since Obama?s statement in May because of ?unlawful command influence,? The New York Times reported Sunday.

RELATED: U.S. MILITARY LEADERS CALLS SEXUAL ASSAULT PROBLEM ?A CANCER?

During courts-martial, defense lawyers have cited the commander-in-chief?s comments in bids to have cases dismissed.

White House officials told the newspaper that the comments were only meant to demonstrate the President?s concern about the issue and not to recommend penalties for offenders.

About 26,000 men and women in the military were sexually assaulted last year, up from the 19,000 cases in 2010, according to a recent Pentagon survey.

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/news/~3/7fiUc8RT_4E/story01.htm

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BlackBerry 10.2 brings support for Facebook Home - A BlackBerry Q10 owner was me...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/PhoneArena/posts/10151726802129598

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Brooklyn Nets' deal with Andrei Kirilenko raises suspicions from NBA rivals

The rest of the NBA had resigned itself to billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's relentless pursuit of players and playoff success, absorbing it all until the Brooklyn Nets are pushing an unprecedented $185 million in payroll and punitive taxes. From Deron Williams to Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce to Joe Johnson, these Nets embody the spirit of the Russian's imperialistic vision.

Andrei Kirilenko opted out of a contract that would have paid him $10 million with the Timberwolves this season. ?

Prokhorov had come to conquer the NBA, constructing a basketball arena in the borough of Brooklyn and empowering general manager Billy King to transform a barren roster into a championship contender. The Nets were destined to gather talent in this kind of boldly belligerent way, big names and bigger contracts stacked to the stars. From $101 million in salary to $82 million in luxury tax, Brooklyn has introduced itself as one of the biggest targets in the history of the NBA.

Only this time, the rest of the NBA believes the Nets have gone too far, delivering the league into an unfiltered rage. The signing of Russian free agent Andrei Kirilenko ? a $10 million-a-year player last season ? for Brooklyn's $3.1 mini-midlevel exception has transformed rival owners and front office executives into an angry mob of disbelievers.

The insinuations are unmistakable: Around the NBA, there are calls for the commissioner's office to investigate the possibilities of side deals and Russian rubles ruling the day ? for now, unfounded charges based on circumstance and appearances.

Within the NBA, there had long been those promising that deals would start popping up involving Prokhorov that made no fiscal sense, theorizing that high-end players could take less within the constraints of the salary cap and still make up the difference in clandestine pacts.

Once the Russian billionaire convinced a superb Russian player to take $7 million less to be a backup to Pierce, the rest of the NBA's reaction was instant and uproarious. For the first time now, the Nets have truly arrived as a contending franchise. They're good, with a chance to be great, and the rest of the NBA wants an investigation.
"Brazen," one Western Conference GM told Yahoo! Sports.

Mikhail Prokhorov has shown little concern for the NBA's hefty luxury-tax penalties. (USA Today Sports)
"Let's see if the league has any credibility," one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. "It's not about stopping it. It's about punishing them if they're doing it."
Another Eastern Conference GM: "There should be a probe. How obvious is it?"
The telephone calls and text messages kept coming on Thursday night and Friday morning, and the reason was simple: Few trust Prokhorov to honor the NBA's salary-cap rules and regulations. He made his $15 billion fortune in the wild 1990s in Russia in what he called, "cowboy territory with no sheriff." Bribes were part of the business culture, and Prokhorov confessed to his part in it.
It is easy to make the accusations, but harder to prove that Prokhorov and his management did anything but a solid sales job after the free-agent market had dried up on Kirilenko. When it comes to uninhibited spending and free-agent coups, the modern NBA has a long list of targets. Understand something else, too: Plenty of American-born owners, running respected franchises, have come under these suspicions, too. Charges of side deals didn't start with Prokhorov and won't end with him.

Nevertheless, this is the second time there's been questions about the Nets' signing of a foreign free agent below market value.
A year ago, Brooklyn agreed on a full midlevel-exception deal with Euro forward Mirza Teletovic on a three-year, $15.7 million contract. Shortly after the agreement, Brooklyn realized it needed to alter the exception slot to still keep open the chance for cutting a trade for Dwight Howard. Without re-entering the market, Teletovic accepted a three-year, $9 million deal at the mini midlevel.

Part of all this is the mystery surrounding Prokhorov, the distrust that comes with how he amassed his fortune, and his bold predictions of an NBA title within five years of purchasing the franchise.
When the Boston Celtics made the Kevin Garnett deal to make themselves championship contenders, everyone accused Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale of preferential treatment of the Celtics and their general manager, Danny Ainge, in the deal. When Pat Riley brought LeBron James and Chris Bosh together for discounts on max contracts, there were cries of collusion.
Nets officials will privately tell you they understand these suspicions were inevitable ? even if they believe the suspicions are misguided and misinformed. Nevertheless, Kirilenko has long been a target of Prokhorov, the highest-profile Russian star in the NBA and forever an object of the owner's desire. The Nets were discussing deals to back up Pierce with the pedestrian Alan Anderson until discussions with Kirilenko became more serious in the past several days.
Kirilenko wanted a three-year deal with a minimum of $8 million per season, front-office executives said. Several teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, pursued Kirilenko with sign-and-trade discussions with Minnesota only nothing could get done. Kirilenko has history with Deron Williams, the Nets star. They played together for five years in Utah. Most of all, Kirilenko has history with Prokhorov. The billionaire owned CSKA Moscow, and Kirilenko played for him there, too.

The Nets pursued Kyle Korver with its $3.1 million exception to start free agency, but he re-signed with Atlanta. Eventually, Kirilenko and the Nets were left shopping, and a deal was consummated on Thursday.
Brooklyn gets a strong, athletic defender to pursue James and Dwyane Wade in the playoffs, one more willing passer and scorer. For the Nets, too, they get the scorn of the sport now. Everyone can suggest it was easy to construct this roster with no financial limitations, but, rest assured, everyone couldn't have done what Prokhorov and King have done with these Nets ? whatever everyone thinks. Brooklyn has arrived with suspicions and charges and jealousies, arrived in unmistakable and unprecedented noise. Here are the Nets now: From Russia, with loathe.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--ne...180604173.html we all know some bullshit Russian backdoor deal was getting done

Source: http://www.atlnightspots.com/forum/showthread.php?9460-Brooklyn-Nets-deal-with-Andrei-Kirilenko-raises-suspicions-from-NBA-rivals&goto=newpost

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7/13/2013 ? Twinkies and the bakers union: don?t call it a comeback

LLN Archives

Source: http://www.linkedlocalnetwork.com/blog/2013/07/13/7132013-twinkies-and-the-bakers-union-dont-call-it-a-comeback/

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Texas Republicans finally pass new abortion limits

Opponents and supporters of abortion rights rally in the State Capitol rotunda in Austin, Texas on Friday, July 12, 2013. The Texas Senate convened Friday afternoon to debate and ultimately vote on some of the nation's toughest abortion restrictions, its actions being watched by fervent demonstrators on either side of the issue. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa)

Opponents and supporters of abortion rights rally in the State Capitol rotunda in Austin, Texas on Friday, July 12, 2013. The Texas Senate convened Friday afternoon to debate and ultimately vote on some of the nation's toughest abortion restrictions, its actions being watched by fervent demonstrators on either side of the issue. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa)

Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, left, throws up her hands as she leaves the Senate Chamber with Sen. Wendy Davis, D-FortWorth, right, after the Texas Senate passed an abortion bill, Friday, July 12, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill will require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, only allow abortions in surgical centers, dictate when abortion pills are taken and ban abortions after 20 weeks. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Sen. Wendy Davis, D-FortWorth, sits at her desk after the Texas Senate passes an abortion bill, Friday, July 12, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill will require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, only allow abortions in surgical centers, dictate when abortion pills are taken and ban abortions after 20 weeks. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A bloodied anti-abortion rights protester is surrounded by Texas state troopers outside the Senate Chamber after the Texas Senate passes an abortion bill, Saturday, July 13, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill will require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, only allow abortions in surgical centers, dictate when abortion pills are taken and ban abortions after 20 weeks. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Abortion rights advocates fill the rotunda of the State Capitol as the Senate nears the vote on Friday night, July 12, 2013. Texas senators were wrapping up debate on sweeping abortion restrictions Friday night and were poised to vote on a measure after weeks of protests. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Republican lawmakers in Texas passed a bill that would give the state some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws and force most of its clinics to close, leading Democrats to promise a fight over the contentious measure in the courts and at the ballot box.

More than 2,000 demonstrators filled the Capitol building in Austin to voice their opposition to the bill, including six protesters who were dragged out of the Senate chamber by state troopers for trying to disrupt the debate. The Republican majority passed the bill unchanged late Friday ? just before midnight ? with all but one Democrat voting against it.

"Today the Texas Legislature took its final step in our historic effort to protect life," said Gov. Rick Perry, who will sign the bill into law in the next few days. "This legislation builds on the strong and unwavering commitment we have made to defend life and protect women's health."

Democrats promised a legal challenge to the measure, which will ban abortions after 20 weeks, require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and require all abortions to take place in surgical centers. Only five of Texas' 42 existing abortion clinics meet the requirements to be a surgical center, and clinic owners say they cannot afford to upgrade or relocate.

"There will be a lawsuit. I promise you," Dallas Sen. Royce West said on the Senate floor, raising his right hand as if taking an oath.

Perry said Saturday afternoon that the bill would withstand court challenges.

"We wouldn't have passed it if we didn't think it was constitutional," the Republican governor said.

Democrats proposed 20 amendments to the bill, including making exceptions in cases of rape and incest and allowing doctors more leeway in prescribing abortion-inducing drugs. But Republicans would have none of it.

The bill is one of many championed in Republican-led states this year by anti-abortion groups set on challenging the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a woman's right to get an abortion until the point in which a fetus could viably survive outside the womb. A fetus is generally considered viable at 22 to 24 weeks.

Texas falls under the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has shown a willingness to accept more stringent limits on abortions.

By passing the new restrictions, Republicans pleased the Christian conservatives who make up the majority of primary voters. But they inspired abortion-rights supporters to protest at the state Capitol in numbers not seen in Texas in at least 20 years.

Demonstrators packed normally boring committee hearings to voice their anger over the abortion bill and managed to disrupt key votes. They finished a lengthy filibuster by Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis, of Fort Worth, by jeering for the last 15 minutes of the first special legislative session, effectively killing the bill.

That's when Perry called lawmakers back for round two. But opponents said the fight is far from over and used the popular anger to register and organize Democratic voters.

"Let's make sure that tonight is not an ending point, it's a beginning point for our future, our collective futures, as we work to take this state back," Davis told 2,000 adoring supporters after the bill passed.

The Texas Republican Party, meanwhile, celebrated what they consider to be a major victory that makes Texas "a nationwide leader in pro-life legislation."

"As Democrats continue to talk about their dreams of turning Texas blue, passage of (the bill) is proof that Texans are conservative and organized and we look forward to working with our amazing Republican leadership in the Texas Legislature as they finish the special session strong," a party statement said.

Friday's debate took place before a packed gallery of demonstrators, with anti-abortion activists wearing blue and abortion-rights supporters wearing orange. Security was tight, and state troopers reported confiscating bottles of urine and feces as they worked to prevent another attempt to stop the Republican majority from passing the proposal.

Those arrested or removed from the chamber included four women who tried to chain themselves to a railing in the gallery while singing, "All we are saying is give choice a chance." One of the women was successful in chaining herself, leading to a 10-minute recess.

Sen. Glen Hegar of Katy, the bill's Republican author, argued that all abortions, including those induced with medications, should take place in an ambulatory surgical center in case of complications.

Democrats pointed out that childbirth is more dangerous than an abortion and there have been no serious problems with women taking abortion drugs at home.

Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Gov. Anne Richards and president of Planned Parenthood, said Texas Republicans and abortion opponents won this political round ? but it could cost them down the road.

"All they have done is built a committed group of people across this state who are outraged about the treatment of women and the lengths to which this Legislature will go to take women's health care away," she said.

The dedication of those activists will be tested during the 2014 elections. Democrats have not won a statewide seat in Texas since 1994, the longest such losing streak in the nation.

___

Associated Press writer David Warren contributed to this report from West.

___

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cltomlinson

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-07-13-US-XGR-Abortion-Restrictions-Texas/id-645a2ac314fb4b80ad33764ccfc657be

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Texas state Senate passes abortion restrictions (Washington Post)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/319081031?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Galaxy S3, S4 and Note 2 ZeroLemon battery reviews visualised

Smartphone battery life can often be a touchy subject among owners of certain handsets, and sometimes no matter how good it is there will be times that we need more. There are solutions to this problem though in the form of replacement batteries or special cases, and today we are looking at some ZeroLemon battery reviews for the Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, and Note 2.

The first video we have for you is the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the 7,000 mAh ZeroLemon battery pack, which compares to the 2,100 mAh battery that comes with the handset. The replacement battery is huge and takes a while to get it fitted correctly but when it?s in place with the special rear cover put over the top of it you can see how much larger the handset is now.

It has a matte feel to it and the volume controls and power button now need a harder press for them to work, but the rear cover does add some protection to the smartphone. The next video is for the Galaxy Note 2 which is a handset that is always praised for its battery life but the ZeroLemon now adds a 9,300 mAh unit compared to the 3,100 mAh battery that comes with the smartphone.

The battery pack comes with a similar rear case that includes all the cut outs for the handsets features including the stylus and this one seems to fit in easier than the Galaxy S3 version. Once fitted it at least doubles the thickness of the smartphone with a weighty feel that the reviewer liked, but previously we have seen one user fit a 9,000 mAh battery to their Note 2.

Again the buttons need a firmer press to get them to work and when fitted a unit such as this may not be ideal for everyday use, but if you know it?s going to be a long time before you can reach a charger it will be ideal.

The last video we have for you is the Galaxy S4 version of the ZeroLemon battery pack and is 7,500 mAh in size, which replaces the 2,600 mAh standard battery. Check out the three videos and tell us if you ever need a boost in battery such as this.

Source: http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/07/13/samsung-galaxy-s3-s4-and-note-2-zerolemon-battery-reviews-visualised/

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Gunmen kill 14 security troops in attack at Ramadan mealtime; police thwart bombing attempt

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BAGHDAD - Insurgents in Iraq launched two days of bloody assaults at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that killed at least 31 people, most of them members of the security forces serving in restive Sunni-dominated areas, authorities said Thursday.

The killings are the latest in a wave of bloodshed that has claimed the lives of more than 2,600 people since the start of April. The months-long eruption of violence ? Iraq's worst in half a decade ? is raising fears the country is again returning to the brink of a civil war pitting its Sunni and Shiite Muslim sects against one another.

The deadliest attack happened at sundown Wednesday as Iraqis were marking the end of the first day of Ramadan fasting, though it took authorities time to learn of the killing and they only provided details the following morning.

Gunmen launched their assault on an army checkpoint near Barwana, which lies across the Euphrates River from the town of Haditha, about 220 kilometres (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad in the largely Sunni province of Anbar. Barwana's mayor, Meyasser Abdul-Mohsin, said three soldiers were killed and four were wounded in that attack.

The attackers then made their way to a trailer not far away that is used by special oil industry police assigned to protect a nearby pipeline. The men inside were sitting down to have the iftar meal that breaks the daytime Ramadan fast at sunset, Abdul-Mohsin said.

The gunmen shot up the trailer and then set it on fire before making their getaway, the mayor said. Eleven police there were left dead, with some of their bodies badly burned and making them difficult to identify, he said.

A security official in nearby Haditha gave a similar account and confirmed the death toll. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

"This is a crime carried out by terrorists during iftar on the first day of Ramadan," Abdul-Mohsin said. "It just proves what a cowardly act it is."

Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and other international oil companies have flocked to Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to capitalize on Iraq's vast oil wealth. The country is now the second-largest producer in OPEC, after Saudi Arabia. Oil revenues account for 95 per cent of the country's budget.

Insurgents unleashed more attacks Thursday.

A police station in Anbar's provincial capital Ramadi came under attack in the morning in an assault that left two policemen dead, provincial council member councilman Talib Hamadi and deputy provincial governor Dhari Arkan said. Arkan said gunmen opened fire on the police station after a car bomb exploded nearby. Ramadi is 115 kilometres (70 miles) west of Baghdad.

Militants turned their sights on the local police headquarters in the nearby city of Fallujah, also in Anbar province, later in the day.

A car bomb explosion kicked off that attack. Then gunmen exchanged fire with police as other militants launched mortar rounds at the facility. Another attacker then drove an explosives-laden car into the police post.

By the time it was all over, seven police officers were killed and 17 other people were wounded, all but two of them police, according to police and hospital officials.

A roadside bomb later exploded in central Fallujah, killing a police officer and wounding two others.

Anbar is a vast Sunni-dominated province west of Baghdad and bordering Syria. It has been the centre of months of protests by Iraq's minority Sunnis over what they believe is second-class treatment by the Shiite-dominated government. Sunni militant groups have tried to tap into that anger and link their cause with that of the protesters.

A car bomb rocked Baghdad's commercial district of Karradah late Thursday afternoon, killing two police officers and two civilians, police and health officials said. They said another 13 were wounded.

Insurgents also struck in the volatile city of Mosul, 360 kilometres (225 miles) northwest of the capital. Gunmen in speeding cars there shot and killed an off-duty solider and a civilian in two separate attacks, police and health officials said. Another policeman was killed when a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the city.

Authorities provided details of the Fallujah, Baghdad and Mosul attacks on condition of anonymity because they weren't allowed to brief reporters.

Elsewhere, a parked car bomb went off Thursday morning near a courthouse in the northern city of Tuz Khormato, wounding 30 people, mayor Shalal Abdool said. Tuz Khormato sits in a band of territory contested by Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Baghdad.

Another parked car bomb exploded in a village outside the nearby ethnically disputed city of Kirkuk, wounding seven civilians, provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Jamal Tahir said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the series of attacks. Sunni militants, including al-Qaida's Iraq arm, frequently target security forces and the country's vital oil infrastructure in an effort to undermine the Shiite-led government.

___

Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

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