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Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys Coming to Carrboro ...
Home ? Events ? Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys Coming to Carrboro
by: Leslie Tomecsek
Ralph Stanley
NPR?s Fresh Air has described Ralph Stanley as ?easily the most eminent bluegrass singer in the world? and Rolling Stone has celebrated the 85 year old Virginian as ?a master performer without an expiration date.?? This Friday, he will be joined by his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, in Carrboro to kick off the 10th Annual American Roots Series at The ArtsCenter.
Recognized by his mournful ?Mountain Gospel Soul? Appalachian music, he received the first ever Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his unforgettable version of ?O Death? from the popular O Brother, Where Art Thou film and soundtrack.? Previous members of Ralph?s Clinch Mountain Boys include the notable Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley.? For over 60 years, the Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Ralph Stanley has influenced countless country, folk, and bluegrass artists with his clawhammer style of banjo picking and poignant mountain melodies.
Don?t miss the chance to see this living legend on Friday, January 4th at The ArtsCenter?s intimate venue.
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Obama must press Putin on human rights | TribLIVE
By Katrina Lantos Swett
Published: Tuesday, January 1, 2013, 8:43?p.m.
Updated 5 hours ago
The year just passed featured grim news of serious human-rights restrictions imposed by Moscow on Russian society, including religious groups. At their next discussion, President Obama should convey these concerns to Vladimir Putin, reiterating to Russia?s president the need to adhere to universal human-rights and religious-freedom standards if relations are to progress between our two countries.
When I was in Moscow in late September, I heard these worries voiced frequently. In my meetings with 30 individuals representing civil society, journalism, and human rights and religious freedom, all feared that Russia was on the cusp of a new cold war on civil society.
Since Mr. Putin?s return to the presidency, Russia has passed a succession of laws curtailing freedom of expression, association and assembly. Parliament might even pass a proposed blasphemy law that clearly would violate freedom of religion or belief.
The new restrictions began in June 2012 when Putin signed a law that included a 100-fold increase ? more than the average Russian?s annual salary ? in fines for unauthorized protests.
In July, Putin signed legislation requiring foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in ?political activity? to register as ?foreign agents? or face massive fines or two-year jail terms for their leaders. Also in July, Russia?s parliament adopted laws increasing control over the Internet and re-criminalizing certain kinds of libel.
In November, Putin signed a treason law on the day he told the Presidential Human Rights Council that he might revise it.
All of this came on top of acts against pro-democratic U.S. entities, such as closing the U.S. Agency for International Development and denying certain radio frequencies to Radio Liberty.
Recently, Russia?s parliament began considering the criminalizing of blasphemy. A current bill would levy fines and penalties for ?offenses against religion and religious sentiment? and ?offending religious feelings of citizens.?
Were the blasphemy bill to pass, Russians could bring suit against fellow citizens whom they allege have ?insulted their religious sentiments.?
For instance, Russian Orthodox believers who view Apple?s logo as glorifying Adam and Eve?s original sin in the Bible also could prosecute Apple executives.
Clearly, a blasphemy law could push Russia?s religious freedom conditions from the proverbial frying pan into the fire.
Even without this proposal, Russia maintains a blatant double standard on religious freedom. While favoring the Moscow patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, it targets Muslims and other groups.
Russia?s course unmistakably threatens democracy but also stability, potentially pitting the Moscow patriarchate against Russia?s 25 million Muslim citizens.
For the sake of both freedom and stability, it?s time to remind Russia?s president that, for the United States, human rights matter, and it?s time to condemn last year?s eclipse of those rights in Putin?s Russia.
Katrina Lantos Swett is chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
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List: No love for 'fiscal cliff,' 'spoiler alert'
DETROIT (AP) ? Spoiler alert: This story contains words and phrases that some people want to ban from the English language. "Spoiler alert" is among them. So are "kick the can down the road," ''trending" and "bucket list."
A dirty dozen have landed on the 38th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. The nonbinding, tongue-in-cheek decree released Monday by northern Michigan's Lake Superior State University is based on nominations submitted from the United States, Canada and beyond.
"Spoiler alert," the seemingly thoughtful way to warn readers or viewers about looming references to a key plot point in a film or TV show, nevertheless passed its use-by date for many, including Joseph Foly, of Fremont, Calif. He argued in his submission the phrase is "used as an obnoxious way to show one has trivial information and is about to use it, no matter what."
At the risk of further offense, here's another spoiler alert: The phrase receiving the most nominations this year is "fiscal cliff," banished because of its overuse by media outlets when describing across-the-board federal tax increases and spending cuts that economists say could harm the economy in the new year without congressional action.
"You can't turn on the news without hearing this," said Christopher Loiselle, of Midland, Mich., in his submission. "I'm equally worried about the River of Debt and Mountain of Despair."
Other terms coming in for a literary lashing are "superfood," ''guru," ''job creators" and "double down."
University spokesman Tom Pink said that in nearly four decades, the Sault Ste. Marie school has "banished" around 900 words or phrases, and somehow the whole idea has survived rapidly advancing technology and diminishing attention spans.
Nominations used to come by mail, then fax and via the school's website, he said. Now most come through the university's Facebook page. That's fitting, since social media has helped accelerate the life cycle of certain words and phrases, such as this year's entry "YOLO" ? "you only live once."
"The list surprises me in one way or another every year, and the same way every year: I'm always surprised how people still like it, love it," he said.
Rounding out the list are "job creators/creation," ''boneless wings" and "passion/passionate." Those who nominated the last one say they are tired of hearing about a company's "passion" as a substitute for providing a service or product for money.
Andrew Foyle, of Bristol, England, said it's reached the point where "passion" is the only ingredient that keeps a chef from preparing "seared tuna" that tastes "like dust swept from a station platform."
"Apparently, it's insufficient to do it ably, with skill, commitment or finesse," Foyle said. "Passionate, begone!"
As usual, the etymological exercise ? or exorcise ? only goes so far. Past lists haven't eradicated "viral," "amazing," ''LOL" or "man cave" from everyday use.
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Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffkaroub
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/list-no-love-fiscal-cliff-spoiler-alert-092339244.html
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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Major banks close to big settlement on home loans
(Reuters) - U.S. regulators are close to securing another multibillion-dollar settlement with the largest banks to resolve allegations that they unlawfully cut corners when foreclosing on delinquent borrowers, a source familiar with the talks said.
The settlement with five big banks would be part of a larger deal that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency hopes will include 14 banks and total about $10 billion, the source said.
Such a settlement would address an outstanding issue that was left unsettled after the $25 billion deal that the banks reached in February with the Justice Department, housing authorities, and state attorneys general.
In 2011, the OCC had separately required the big banks to "look back" and compensate borrowers wrongfully foreclosed upon in 2009 and 2010. It appears that the case-by-case analysis is proving too cumbersome, and the banks are instead opting for a lump-sum settlement.
The top five mortgage lenders -- Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Ally Financial Inc -- may reach a deal in the coming days, the source said.
The largest banks would pay the majority of the $10 billion target. That money would be paid out to a group of borrowers foreclosed upon during the period of time covered by the review, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The OCC and the banks are still negotiating how to calculate individual payouts, the source said, adding that regulators will give the banks credit for compensation they have already given borrowers as part of ongoing foreclosure reviews.
The New York Times first reported the pending deal.
"The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is committed to ensuring the Independent Foreclosure Review proceeds efficiently and to ensuring harmed borrowers are compensated as quickly as possible," the OCC said in a statement.
Ally, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup declined to comment.
(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha, with additional reporting by Sakthi Prasad, Rick Rothacker and Douwe Miedema; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/major-banks-close-big-settlement-home-loans-170709980--sector.html
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Congress tightens belt, trims spy budget for 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress has drastically trimmed the budget for U.S. spies and satellites for 2013, though not quite as deeply as the White House wanted.
In one of the last votes of the year, House lawmakers voted Monday 373-29 in favor of a Senate-passed bill to slightly boost the president's $72 billion budget request for intelligence agencies including the CIA, adding extra cash for the counterterrorism fight against al-Qaida, and the counterintelligence fight against foreign governments trying to spy on the U.S.
That's down sharply from roughly $80 billion in 2012, which marked the peak of intelligence spending since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"The bill holds personnel levels, one of the biggest cost drivers, generally at last year's levels," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "Even so, the bill adds a limited number of new personnel positions for select, high-priority positions, such as FBI surveillance officers to keep watch on terrorists."
The House Intelligence Committee's ranking member, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., said the bill "invests in personnel and programs that are working and cuts things that aren't."
The bill was stripped of several measures meant to block the leaking of classified information, including a provision that would have limited which government officials could brief journalists on intelligence. The measures had been drafted after lawmakers objected to a series of news stories that anonymously quoted senior administration sources describing sensitive intelligence programs, such as the process by which targets are chosen for lethal drone strikes overseas.
The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says the measures were taken out to get the bill passed but that the issue remains a problem.
"Unfortunately, I am certain that damaging leaks of classified information will continue, and so the committee will need to continue to look for acceptable ways to address this problem," Feinstein said Friday after the Senate version of the bill passed.
The legislation, if signed into law by President Barack Obama, will require the White House to inform Congress when it decides to share classified information with reporters, giving lawmakers a heads-up before they read about it in the media.
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Dozier can be followed on Twitter (at)kimberlydozier.
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Apple Pulls Legal Crosshairs off Galaxy S III Mini
Riddle us this: Why file a patent claim against a device that isn't actually going to be sold in the jurisdiction ? let alone, the country ? of where you're filing the claim?
Such has been the peculiarity presented to Apple, which announced on Friday that it's no longer pursuing patent claims against Samsung's Galaxy S3 Mini smartphone. Samsung has said that it is not, "making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the Galaxy S III Mini in the United States," and has maintained this stance ever since Apple asked a California court to add the device to Apple's latest patent dispute last month.
Apple won its first round of patent litigation against Samsung this past August, but that hardly put an end to the two companies' legal squabbles ? which includes Samsung's desire to lessen the approximately $1 billion in damages that it faces juxtaposed against Apple's interest in amending a second round of patent claims to add as many recently released and allegedly infringing Samsung devices as it can.
In other words, Apple's second patent infringement lawsuit includes devices (and claims) that the company didn't address in its first round of patent litigation. And Apple has been zealous about amending its filling to include more Samsung devices as warranted. Samsung, in turn, has been granted permission to add Apple's iPhone 5 to its own patent infringement claims. Both of these trials won't kick off until 2014.
Apple initially argued that its ability to purchase a Galaxy S3 Mini smartphone from Amazon, and have it billed and shipped to a U.S. address, was enough to qualify that the device was being sold in the U.S. And, as such, Apple argued that it should be allowed to include the smartphone as part of the list of current devices that Apple claims infringe its patents.
As part of Apple's withdrawal, the company indicated that it would do so, "so long as the current withdrawal will not prejudice Apple's ability later to accuse the Galaxy S III Mini if the factual circumstances change," as reported by Reuters.
Samsung launched the four-inch Galaxy S III Mini in Europe in November, which numerous pundits saw as a direct assault against Apple's similarly sized iPhone 5. At the time of Apple's request to add the Galaxy S III Mini to its lawsuit, there was plenty of talk that Samsung might bring the smartphone to U.S. markets ? which explains Apple's interest in bringing the full weight of its legal efforts to bear.
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For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).
Source: http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/breakingnews/~3/n8SFzpfr2ug/0,2817,2413664,00.asp
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koijemala: Self Improvement Times: Time Management Tips - 3 ...
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