SHOW BITS: A bump in the night for Kim K.

Show Bits brings you the 85th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.

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PARTY TIME FOR PREGNANT KIM KARDASHIAN

Kim Kardashian didn't just step out at the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscar after-party in West Hollywood dressed to impress. She rocked her pregnancy bump like a glam accessory.

The reality TV starlet wore a white, cleavage-baring Donna Karan dress that showed off every curve without self-consciousness.

Kardashian and her sister Khloe, both without their respective loves, Kanye West, and Lamar Odom, chatted up party guest Chris Brown, who was at the party without his girlfriend, Rihanna.

Kim Kardashian added she was also looking forward to catching the show by the night's featured performer, soulful Scottish singer Emeli Sande.

"I love her!" she exclaimed.

Asked how late she would stay up celebrating, given her pregnancy, Kardashian considered the question for a moment.

"I don't know, hmmm," she told The Associated Press.

Then she added, "I always end up going to bed early!"

? Solvej Schou ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Solvej_Schou

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QUICKQUOTE: ANG LEE

"I think sometimes this disadvantage can be an advantage. The fact that I come from another culture makes me special."? Ang Lee, encouraging Asian and other non-American filmmakers to take on Hollywood after he won the directing Oscar for "Life of Pi."

? Hannah Dreier ? Twitter http://twitter.com/hannahdreier

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CARVING IT UP AT OSCAR AFTER-PARTY

The first stop on the party circuit for Oscar night winners is almost always the Governor's Ball.

Oh sure, the fancy food Wolfgang Puck lays out there is part of the attraction. But it's also the place to go to get your name engraved on your new toy.

"You trading that in?", lead actress winner Jennifer Lawrence asked Ben Affleck when she saw him show up with his best picture statuette.

"What can I get for this award?", Affleck joked.

Anne Hathaway arrived with her Oscar in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other.

She covered her mouth in awe when the engraver showed her the nameplate, then helped attach it to her trophy's base. Her husband, Adam Shulman, recorded the moment for posterity on his iPhone.

After spending a moment checking out his Oscar, Affleck stood up to a round of applause from those in the room.

"Thank you! I love it," he said.

? Sandy Cohen ? www.twitter.com/apsandy

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OSCAR IS TRIP FOR LAWRENCE

Jennifer Lawrence's performance in "Silver Linings Playbook" was flawless enough to capture the best actress Oscar. She wasn't so adroit in claiming the trophy.

Lawrence stumbled as she took the steps to the Oscar stage, falling to her knees in her flowing Dior gown. That drew a sympathetic ovation from the auditorium.

She remained endearingly flustered during her acceptance speech, thanking her family, those who worked with her on the film and wishing a "Happy Birthday" to a fellow nominee, Emmanuelle Riva of "Amour," who turned 86.

"Look at this dress. I tried to walk up stairs in this dress," Lawrence said of her white, floor-length gown. "I think I stepped on the fabric and they wax the stairs."

Lawrence said she thought of a "bad word" to say when she tumbled but kept it to herself.

She had already been bleeped by ABC when she let loose with a four-letter word while joking with Kristin Chenoweth on the red carpet.

Asked how she got ready for the day, Lawrence said it was "chaotic" from the start, with her family taking over the house to prepare for the big evening.

After fumbling for a more descriptive answer, she apologized: "I'm sorry. I did a shot."

? Lynn Elber ? Twitter http://twitter.com/lynnelber

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QUICKQUOTE: BEN AFFLECK

"I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It's good, it is work, but it's the best kind of work. There's no one I'd rather work with." ? Ben Affleck, thanking his wife, Jennifer Garner, as he accepted the best picture Oscar for "Argo."

? Christina Hoag.

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ACTING GODS, TOGETHER

For a moment, it looked the Oscar stage had turned into the Mount Olympus of acting.

There stood the two reigning gods of the art, the man and the woman generally considered to be at the very top in the field today: Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep.

Though he's not known for comedy, Day-Lewis got a big laugh when he turned to Streep, who had just presented him his third best-actor trophy, and said he'd actually originally been slated to play Margaret Thatcher, the role Streep won the Oscar for last year in "The Iron Lady."

And, he added, Streep had actually been director Steven Spielberg's original choice for Abraham Lincoln.

"I'd like to see that version," Day-Lewis quipped.

With his win for "Lincoln," Day-Lewis became the first person to win three best-actor Oscars. Streep has won three Oscars too, one of them as supporting actress.

? Jocelyn Noveck ? Twitter http://twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP

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QUICKQUOTE: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS

"I love it when people are completely inarticulate giving speeches because it says the same thing in a different way"? Daniel Day-Lewis backstage, discussing the unpolished thank you's he gave after winning the lead actor award for "Lincoln."

? Hannah Dreier ? http://www.twitter.com/hannahdreier

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ONION CRITICIZED FOR JOKE

A tweet from The Onion about the 9-year-old star of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is drawing criticism for being tasteless, even amid the constant social media satire of the Oscars.

The satirical newspaper called Quvenzhane (kwuh-VEHN'-juh-nay) Wallis an expletive intended to denigrate women. The joke was meant to parody how beloved Quvenzhane is, but many thought the language inappropriate for discussing a child.

The Onion deleted the tweet about an hour after it was posted. Still, that was enough time to create a firestorm online, with many saying the remark crossed a line.

A spokeswoman for The Onion didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Not everyone thought the tweet went too far: It was retweeted more than 500 times and favorited by some 400 before being deleted.

? Jake Coyle ? http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

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MASTER-FUL EXIT

In recent years, everyone would head for the door as soon as the best picture winner ? the last Oscar category in the show ? was announced, leaving the winner with an empty room to thank.

This year, organizers hoped to get attendees to stick around until the end of the show for a closing performance from Seth MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth, which was dedicated to all the evening's Oscar losers.

"Ladies and gentleman, we ask that you remain in your seats after the last award for a very special closing number," a female announcer calmly announced during the show's final commercial break.

Well, one pair of "losers" weren't interested. "The Master" stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman bolted for the door at the beginning of the song.

? Derrik J. Lang ? Twitter http://twitter.com/derrikjlang

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THANKING THE 'MOVIE GOD'

Ang Lee had his priorities in order when he gave one of his first thank you's to the "movie god."

The Taiwanese director pulled off a huge upset when he won an Academy Award for directing "Life of Pi." He beat out front-runner and two-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg.

Lee also gave a shoutout to the shipwreck story's lead actor, Suraj Sharma, but didn't thank the rest of the cast by name.

"I cannot waste this time talking about them," he said sheepishly.

He did slip in a quick mention of his agent, his lawyer and of course his wife.

"I have to do that," he said.

? Hannah Dreier ? Twitter http://twitter.com/hannahdreier

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THE AVENGERS REUNITE

Just like the superheroes they played in the movie, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson huddled together backstage to get a plan together and of course joke around.

Downey suggested the stars of "The Avengers" bow as they headed onstage to make Oscar presentations. Or perhaps curtsy.

When a show worker asked Jackson to stand still so he could be wired with a microphone, the actor faced a backstage wall and pretended he was being frisked by police.

To pass the time, the superheroes watched Melissa McCarthy and Paul Rudd from a backstage monitor.

Suddenly Ruffalo asked, "Did we miss our cue?"

"You want to go out there with them?" asked Jackson.

After presenting two awards, the actors returned backstage, where Downey quipped, "Avengers disassemble."

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twitter.com/apsandy

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QUICKQUOTE: QUENTIN TARANTINO

"I'm not an American filmmaker. I'm American and I'm a filmmaker, but I make movies for planet Earth"? Quentin Tarantino, tie loosened, talking with his hands and, at one point, drifting into an Australian accent while speaking with reporters backstage after winning the Oscar for original screenplay for "Django Unchained."

? Hannah Dreier ? http://www.twitter.com/hannahdreier

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KRISTEN STEWART HOBBLED

Kristen Stewart ditched her crutches to hobble onstage as an Oscar presenter, appearing bored and disheveled in the process.

She and Daniel Radcliffe handled one of the less glamorous awards for production design. Stewart read her lines with a slouchy insouciance.

Just before going on, Stewart left a pair of crutches in the wings and apparently the backstage hairstylists didn't get ahold of her for a brushing. Her long brunette hair looked stringy.

The reaction on Twitter was swift and severe.

"Kristen stewart are you ok? And by that I mean where were the hash brownies before u got hit by bus (hash)bruise (hash)limp," tweeted comedian-actor David Spade.

Actor Joel McHale tweeted, "Kristen Stewart is limping because she sprained her ankle from being excessively disinterested."

Backstage, Stewart ran into supporting actress winner Anne Hathaway, who noted her crutches.

"I know, I'm an idiot," Stewart replied. "But congratulations!"

"Please tell me you're going on stage with those," Hathaway said, pointing to the crutches.

"Nope. I'm gonna hobble," said Stewart, explaining that she had stepped on glass.

? Beth Harris ? http://www.twitter.com/bethharrisap

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TONYS OR OSCARS?

Did the Oscars intentionally turn into the Tonys?

All those song-and-dance numbers weren't lost on Twitter.

"Sucks for the actors at the Oscars who can't sing ... (hash)TONYS? (hash)HollywoodGoesBroadway," Nylon magazine tweeted after a tribute to the musical "Chicago."

"Am I watching the (hash)Oscars or the (hash)Tonys? Either way I'm happy:) lol," tweeted a belter herself, Lea Michele.

? Leanne Italie ? Twitter http://twitter.com/litalie

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NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON

As soon as Adele stepped off the stage after singing the Oscar-winning theme from "Skyfall," she kicked off her sparkly Louboutin platforms.

"I'm sorry. (Forget) that," she said, flinging the shoes onto the floor. A stagehand quickly swooped them up.

"I'd pick them up but I can't bend over," she said, motioning toward her tight beaded dress.

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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CELEBRITY SCHMOOZING

It was maybe the next best thing to being there.

Down the road from the Academy Awards, musicians and models found common schmoozing ground at the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscar viewing dinner in West Hollywood.

Lithe supermodel Naomi Campbell sat next to music mogul Quincy Jones then gripped hands and chatted with Steven Tyler and the party host himself, Elton John.

Bono, wearing his customary tinted shades, gleefully kissed Jones on the top of his head, then hugged statuesque model Petra Nemcova.

"Elton's a warrior on the HIV, AIDS scourge, since before anyone can remember," Bono told The Associated Press. "Like Bruce Springsteen is 'the Boss', Quincy is 'the President.' He is so unique. And Elton is both 'the king' AND 'the queen.'"

? Solvej Schou ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Solvej_Schou

___

BASSEY HITS IT OUTTA THE PARK

For all the sparkling young starlets and the edgy new host, it was none other than Dame Shirley Bassey who truly set the joint on fire early in the Oscar telecast.

The 76-year-old singer's rendition of the theme from "Goldfinger" ? or, as she sang so memorably, "GoldfinGAH" ? was a feel-good moment that won what was at the time the biggest ovation of the night.

Bassey, who recorded the song in the '60s to great acclaim, reprised it as part of the Academy's 50th anniversary tribute to the James Bond franchise.

On social networks, as people were debating vigorously how the telecast was going, there was no question as to how Bassey did: She was an unqualified hit.

Minutes after the performance, the singer and her song were trending on Twitter.

? Jocelyn Noveck ? Twitter http://twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP

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QUICKQUOTE: CHRISTOPH WALTZ

"Quentin writes poetry and I like poetry." ? Supporting actor winner Christoph Waltz of "Django Unchained" about working with writer-director Quentin Tarantino.

? Beth Harris ? http://www.twitter.com/bethharrisap

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MAYBE IT LOOKED EASY ...

Charlize Theron, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were one big bundle of nerves before they took the stage for their opening song-and-dance numbers.

Radcliffe danced by himself. Theron dabbed at her eyes and Gordon-Levitt stood silently as Oscar host Seth MacFarlane delivered the Oscar show's opening monologue.

Then it was time to hit the stage.

"Thank God!" Theron said afterward as she let out a sigh of relief.

"You stepped on my dress," she told Tatum.

Radcliffe and Gordon-Levitt bear-hugged after their dance routine.

"We did all right! We did all right," they told each other.

"It felt good! How did it look?" Gordon-Levitt asked.

"Well done," Radcliffe told him.

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twittermcom/APSandy

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AMY ADAMS SITTING PRETTY

To slide, plop or shimmy?

That's the dilemma that faced Amy Adams in her flowing Oscar de la Renta gown when she approached her front-row seat inside the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars began.

After greeting fellow nominee Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the row behind her with a big hug, "The Master" co-star tilted to her right side and sort of shimmied down into her seat.

While Jennifer Aniston and Samuel L. Jackson mingled with attendees nearby, Adams held court in her fluffy dove grey fabric cloud.

Across the aisle, Bradley Cooper rushed his mother to meet Jean Dujardin, who took home the best actor Oscar last year.

? Derrik J. Lang ? Twitter http://twitter.com/derrikjlang

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/show-bits-bump-night-kim-k-103408297.html

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Video: Pilot whales wash ashore in Chile beach

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbcnews.com/50956904/

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Stay Cool But Lost With This Spherical Mapless Globe Fan

Idea International's new Aero Sphere isn't quite poised to shake up the fan industry like Dyson's bladeless offering did. But it still manages to stand out in a boring and crowded market with a spherical teardrop honeycomb design that's as functional as it is eye candy. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/o7oikzC3Olg/stay-cool-but-lost-with-this-spherical-mapless-globe-fan

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Obama calls Boehner, McConnell as budget cuts loom

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Signaling an attempt to break an impasse, President Barack Obama on Thursday placed calls to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell about the looming spending cuts set to kick in on March 1. Neither side reported progress, however, and aides taunted each other with Twitter messages.

The outreach was Obama's first in weeks to top Republicans in Congress. They came as both parties remained in a stalemate over how to avoid automatic, across-the-board cuts that would trim $85 billion from most government accounts.

White House spokesman Jay Carney revealed the calls Thursday, describing them as "good conversations." But neither he nor top Republican aides offered details about the discussions, the kind of restraint that has in the past indicated a move toward genuine negotiations. Obama also spoke to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Thursday, though aides said both men speak frequently.

Obama sounded cautious about chances for a breakthrough during a Thursday interview with television and radio talk show host Al Sharpton.

"At this point, we continue to reach out to the Republicans and say this is not going to be good for the economy, and it's not going to be good for ordinary people," Obama said. "But I don't know if they're going to move, and that's what we're going to have to try to keep pushing over the next seven, eight days."

Later Thursday, Carney and Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck engaged in an exchange on Twitter debating Obama's insistence on replacing the cuts with a combination of tax increases and targeted spending reductions, an approach that Obama says would strike a balance between revenue and cuts. Republicans have refused to increase taxes, noting that Congress already agreed to a previous Obama request to raise the upper tax rate for top income earners.

"Oh, Jay. Was it balanced when the president got $600B in revenue with no spending cuts just last month?" Buck tweeted at one point.

"Oh, Brendan, back in real world, POTUS has signed into law (more than) $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction, 2/3 of it spending cuts," Carney replied, using the acronym for president of the United States.

Both aides' assertions are correct and not mutually exclusive. The $600 billion in 10-year revenue came from a rate hike on top earners agreed to in a New Year's deal that delayed the automatic cuts until March 1. Before that, Congress and Obama in 2011 enacted $1.4 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. The remaining $500 billion in deficit reduction is the result of lower interest payments on the national debt.

McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said Thursday's call was Obama's first to McConnell since New Year's Eve, when the White House and Congress were negotiating to avoid a combination of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that came to be known as the fiscal cliff.

Since then, Obama had sidestepped Congress, mounting a public campaign to cast the March 1 cuts as damaging to national security and to other government services. Obama has not backed away from that strategy, scheduling a trip Tuesday to Newport News, Va., a region of the state with a heavy military presence.

The imminent spending cuts are required under a budget plan Obama and Congress agreed to in 2011 that was designed to force lawmakers and the president to find less onerous ways to reduce deficits and stabilize the national debt. Both sides failed to find an alternative, however, leaving the cuts to kick in this year.

Despite Obama's call to the two Republican leaders, in public statements he continued to anger Republicans by needling them as protectors of the rich.

"My sense is that their basic view is that nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations and they would prefer to see these kinds of cuts that could slow down our recovery over closing tax loopholes," Obama told Sharpton on Thursday. "That's the thing that binds their party together at this point."

Buck, Boehner's aide, said in a statement: "The American people expect more of their president than petty cheap shots. We can have serious disagreements about how best to create jobs without asserting nefarious motives."

Stewart, McConnell's aide, added: "Three months after the November election, President Obama still prefers campaign events to common sense, bipartisan action."

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-calls-boehner-mcconnell-budget-cuts-loom-190326094.html

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HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S3: The difference a year makes

The first question asked when a new phone is released usually has something to do with how it stacks up against the competition. The HTC One announcement managed to walk an entire crowd of people through an smartphone unveiling without once mentioning details about the components, numerical specifications, or even what version of the Android operating system the phone runs.

We?ve since uncovered that information and poised a simple question: When it?s the HTC One vs. the Samsung Galaxy S3, which phone is better?

Software

Samsung?s approach to the Galaxy S3 user interface, the TouchWiz overlay, focuses on organic elements. Their whole ?inspired by nature? theme is represented in water droplet notification tones, the use of bright natural colors, and a soft, flowing approach to animations. TouchWiz is also packed with features that are dormant the first time you turn the phone on, but allow the user to create a compelling and unique experience. You can move apps across desktops be moving your phone through the air, or allow the camera to keep the screen on as long as it can detect your eyes.

The TouchWiz Nature UX has grown since its launch to allow for multitasking and an enhanced sharing tool through Multi-Window support and Smart Share Direct with NFC control. The longer you use the phone, the more it becomes your own personalized experience.

The new HTC Sense user interface, one of the key points to the release of the HTC One, focuses heavily on delivering an experience to the users. The ?BlinkFeed? ? basically a full-page content feed filled with social media, images, and blog posts ? grabs content and organizes it in a way that HTC has determined through intense research into what users will want. This feed consumes one whole page of the desktop, and HTC expects that most users will treat this as their home page.

The One?s new camera features HTC Zoe, a software tool designed to grab a handful of frames around a photo you want to take and use it to create a short video clip. HTC is the editor and producer in Zoe, with the user as the cameraman and the customer at the same time.

If you?re looking to personalize your HTC One, Sense offers a handful of helpful themes for both the homescreen and lockscreen that will allow you to completely re-skin the UI to fit your needs. The whole experience is very pleasing to the eye, and allows users of any skill level to appreciate the phone.

Hardware

If you were to compare the specs of these two phones on paper, the Galaxy S3 would lose hands down. This isn?t surprising because the Galaxy S3 was released right around a year ago. The One?s Snapdragon 600 offers a 40% bump in performance over the S4 Pro, which is one full generation ahead of the Snapdragon S4 in the Galaxy S3. In other words, the HTC One is faster and is able to do more with less battery drain. The 2300mAh battery in the HTC One is likely to last longer than the 3300mAh expansion battery that is available for the Galaxy S3.

If you?re not all that concerned by what?s under the hood, the design decisions between Samsung and HTC offer a considerable choice. Samsung?s design is one of flexible, removable plastics. The battery and microSD card slot on the Galaxy S3 serve as a constant reminder that you can expand this phone at will. If a users wants to add wireless charging to their Galaxy S3, they can simply replace the battery plate with one that supports the technology. It?s a flexible design that many users appreciate knowing exists even if they never use it.

The HTC One continues the line of completely sealed phones with its aluminum unibody design. This has two major implications ? no expandable storage and no replaceable battery. There are only two storage options and no microSD, but in return you get a phone that feels remarkably solid and absolutely smooth from edge to edge. The The 1080p screen on the HTC One feels like it could outshine the sun, while the Super Amoled display on the Galaxy S3 shows incredibly color richness with very deep blacks.

The two phones offer very different hardware choices, but neither one is necessarily better than the other.

It all comes down to you

Samsung and HTC have very different approached to the smartphone right now, in both hardware and software. Samsung is looking for the the best way to grab as many users as possible and let them figure things out for themselves. HTC has made a very targeted approach for users who are interested in consuming and creating media for themselves.

If your smartphone is a constant source of entertainment, whether its music, movies, or games, the HTC One is your phone. If you?re not really sure what you want from your phone, but you?re really interested in everything, the Galaxy S3 will keep you busy for a long time, even if you decide you?d like to root the phone and explore the ROM community.

There?s also price to consider. The One is going to be available for $199 on a new contract, while the now year old Galaxy S3 is headed out the door as soon as its successor ? like the Galaxy S4 ? arrives some time this spring. The Galaxy S3 will be available on deals and specials that the HTC One won?t be on for a long time.

Now read: HTC One ushers in a bolder, more aggressive HTC

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/htc-one-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3-the-difference-a-year-makes-20130220/

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HOT: Galaxy S IV event rumoured for March, 14th in New York? http://t.co/UE8xWr...

Galaxy S IV event rumoured for March, 14th in New York?

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Eldar Murtazin, the Editor-in-chief of Mobile-review.com seems pretty confident that Samsung will host an event on the 14th of March, this year for the launch of the Galaxy S IV. As it is evident f...

Source: http://www.facebook.com/PocketdroidDotNet/posts/510726502303087

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BP civil settlement remains elusive as trial nears

FILE - In this June 12, 2010 file photo, crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Ala. The U.S. Justice Department and the five Gulf coast states most affected by a massive 2010 oil spill have all indicated they would like to reach a settlement on civil claims against BP PLC that would avoid a trial scheduled to start next week. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE - In this June 12, 2010 file photo, crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Ala. The U.S. Justice Department and the five Gulf coast states most affected by a massive 2010 oil spill have all indicated they would like to reach a settlement on civil claims against BP PLC that would avoid a trial scheduled to start next week. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE -In this Wednesday, May 5, 2010 file photo, A shrimp boat is used to collect oil with booms in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, La. The U.S. Justice Department and the five Gulf coast states most affected by a massive 2010 oil spill have all indicated they would like to reach a settlement on civil claims against BP PLC that would avoid a trial scheduled to start next week. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? The U.S. Justice Department and the five Gulf coast states affected by a massive oil spill nearly three years ago have indicated they would like to settle their environmental and economic claims with BP PLC ahead of a trial scheduled to start next week.

The problem is that they haven't been able to agree on the possible terms of such an agreement. Months of negotiations have failed to resolve lingering differences ? not just with the London-based oil giant, but among themselves.

The Justice Department convened a meeting with Gulf Coast state officials in Washington late last week in an effort to hammer out an offer to resolve the outstanding civil claims, but an agreement wasn't reached, said a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were confidential.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said reaching a settlement that satisfies all states' competing interests has been difficult.

"We just want to make sure we get our fair share," he said. "We had more economic damage than probably any state because of the loss of all the tourism we had in 2010. So it's very important that the people of Alabama are compensated for the losses related to the oil spill."

Bentley said representatives of his office attended the meetings in Washington last week, but he declined to comment on the talks.

"We are ready to go to trial," he said Wednesday.

An 11th-hour settlement still could be reached before the trial starts Monday ? or even after it has begun ? but it is not surprising that a deal has proved elusive thus far in such a complex case, said David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan law professor and former chief of the Justice Department's environmental crimes section.

"It's extraordinarily difficult to negotiate any type of multiparty settlement, particularly when the sums involved reach into the tens of billions of dollars," he said. "The stakes are high. There are a lot of competing interests. Different parties may have different incentives to settle."

BP faces penalties under the Clean Water Act ranging from $5.4 billion to $21.1 billion, based on the government's estimate of how much oil spilled into the Gulf. Among the company's motivations to settle before a trial would be to avoid the higher end of that range, which U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier could impose if he ruled the company acted with gross negligence before the well blowout on April 10, 2010, that triggered an explosion, killing 11 workers and spawning the nation's worst offshore oil spill. With so much money at stake, "It's a high-stakes gamble to go to trial," Uhlmann said.

BP didn't participate in last week's talks, and pledged this week to take the case to trial. In a statement released Tuesday, the company's general counsel, Rupert Bondy, said BP has been open to settlements on "reasonable terms" but was "faced with demands that are excessive and not based on reality or the merits of the case."

In its most recent quarterly earnings report, released earlier this month, BP said state and local governments have formally presented the company with more than $34 billion in claims. The report claimed those figures are inflated and based on "seriously flawed" methodologies.

A key sticking point among the states themselves has been deciding how much money BP would pay in Clean Water Act penalties and how much it would pay through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process. The NRDA process, authorized by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, only funds environmental-restoration projects and uses scientific research to assess spill damage and decide how to fix it.

A settlement that funnels more money into NRDA projects could mean a greater share of the funding would flow into Louisiana, which bore the brunt of the spill's ecological impact.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder last week, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., urged the Justice Department not to settle with BP over Clean Water Act penalties without agreeing on NRDA payments.

Louisiana officials, however, don't appear to be uniformly in favor of a NRDA-heavy approach to a settlement. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., joined senators from other Gulf states in signing an Oct. 5, 2012, letter to the White House that expressed "grave concerns" about a settlement that would boost NRDA payments at the expense of Clean Water Act penalties.

The RESTORE Act, which Landrieu sponsored and Congress approved last year, dictates that 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP be divided among Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Texas. Not only would a large chunk of that money be spread out evenly among the Gulf states, but the legislation also gives them some flexibility in deciding how the money is spent.

"Circumventing the will of Congress by shortchanging the RESTORE Act is wholly unacceptable to us. We urge you to reject such an approach," the senators wrote.

The civil trial set for Monday originally was scheduled for February 2012, but Barbier delayed it to allow BP to wrap up a settlement with a team of private attorneys representing residents and businesses that claimed economic losses from the spill.

The trial's first phase, which could last up to three months, is designed to identify causes of the blowout and assign percentages of blame to the companies involved. The second phase would determine how much oil spilled into the Gulf.

Bondy, the BP attorney, said the company will "vigorously" defend itself against gross-negligence allegations.

"This was a tragic accident, resulting from multiple causes and involving multiple parties," he said.

He also disputed the federal government's estimate of how much oil spilled into the Gulf, claiming it's inflated by at least 20 percent.

The Justice Department and the Plaintiffs Steering Committee, the lead private attorneys in the case, have vowed to prove at trial that BP was grossly negligent and that it engaged in willful misconduct in causing the spill.

"We remain as determined as ever to hold those responsible accountable," Department of Justice spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said in a statement.

A team of scientists working for the government estimated that more than 200 million gallons of oil spewed from BP's blown-out Macondo well from April to July 2010.

BP already has reached a settlement with the Justice Department resolving its criminal liability for the spill. The company has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges and agreed to pay $4 billion in criminal penalties.

Rig owner Transocean Ltd. reached a separate settlement with the federal government, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge and agreeing to pay $1.4 in civil and criminal penalties.

___

Associated Press reporter Phillip Rawls in Montgomery, Ala., contributed to this report.

Follow Michael Kunzelman at https://twitter.com/Kunzelman75.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-20-Gulf%20Oil%20Spill-Trial/id-c8da7230ac554d5b82b18af03ff66b67

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Pittsburgh Police Investigation Continues, Mayor Speaks Out

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ? Trips to police conventions, trips to a police memorial, police shields and a fallen police officer?s car loan are some of the purchases being scrutinized by investigators.

Some of the money taken from police funds and paid for out of what?s being described as an ?illegal slush fund? set up at the Police Credit Union.

New details are emerging as FBI agents follow the money trail in an ever expanding investigation into alleged corruption at the Pittsburgh Police Department.

The documents show hotel room charges ? one charge for more than $2,000, the other for more than $700.

Sources confirm Police Chief Nate Harper paid for the rooms outside of Washington D.C. for a police memorial honoring three fallen Pittsburgh Police officers.

The air travel charges out of Pittsburgh to Denver and to Chicago, sources confirm Harper paid for his expenses to International Association of Police Chiefs conventions.

Additionally, sources confirm police officer Eric Kelly, who was gunned down in 2010, by Richard Poplawski, along with two other Pittsburgh officers, didn?t have car insurance when he died and owed $22,000 on his vehicle when he died.

Sources indicate Harper approved the payoff of that loan from the Police Credit Union account.

Sources also indicate Harper approved of the purchase of police shields for the G-20 Summit because federal money didn?t come soon enough.

Then there was this expense ?the fund paid for the party at a downtown restaurant for a police sergeant promoted to commander. All of it, according to sources, was signed off on by Harper.

?We need to make sure that we evaluate this,? Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. ?Just because somebody spent money on a hotel room doesn?t mean they weren?t there doing city business. Just because money was spent on G-20 doesn?t meant it wasn?t supposed to be spent from that account.?

The truth is, the Mayor says, there?s a lot to look at in the Federal Credit Union accounts the FBI seized, saying there could be thousands of transactions dating back to 2004.

?I just want to make sure that at the end of the day, none of these funds were used improperly,? Ravenstahl said. ?That they were all used for city business, that they were all used for the appropriate reasons.?

RELATED LINKS
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Source: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/02/19/pittsburgh-police-investigation-continues-mayor-speaks-out/

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At least 14 hurt in gas explosion, fire in Kansas City, Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A fire triggered by a natural gas explosion that appeared to originate underground engulfed a restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, injuring more than a dozen people, authorities and witnesses said.

The gas explosion shook the Country Club Plaza, an upscale shopping area about 30 blocks south of downtown Kansas City, around dinner time, just after 6 p.m. CST (0000 GMT), Kansas City Fire Department spokesman James Garrett told CNN.

Mayor Sly James and Fire Chief Paul Berardi said 14 people were injured. Of those, nine were taken to area hospitals, including two with life-threatening injuries. No one was known to have been killed, the mayor said.

"I am just keeping my fingers crossed that this turns out to be what it looks like on first blush - that this is a relatively low number of injuries compared to what it could be," he told reporters.

"Hopefully, no fatalities will come out of it, but we don't know that at this point," he added.

The precise cause of the explosion was not immediately known, officials said. However, an office building was under construction across the street from the fire scene.

One witness, Bryce McElroy, who lives about two blocks away, said he heard a loud boom and headed toward the noise, arriving on the scene to see flames leaping from a manhole cover and advancing on the restaurant, a popular steakhouse and fine dining venue called JJ's.

Jeff Hansen, who lives about four blocks away, said he went to the scene to offer assistance after hearing the blast and saw six to eight people visibly injured who were leaving the area.

"Obviously there were multiple injuries," he said. "The question is if there is anybody still in there."

Firefighters swarmed into the area to battle flames consuming the restaurant as police officers ordered bystanders to move two blocks back from the fire as a precaution. The smell of gas fumes permeated the air around the scene.

The University of Kansas Hospital received six patients from the blast and fire, two of whom drove themselves from the scene and were treated and released, hospital spokesman Bob Hallinan told Reuters.

Of the four patients transported to the hospital, one was listed in critical condition and two in serious condition, he said. The fourth was being transferred from another hospital.

Local television station KCTV-5 reported at least three people were listed in critical condition at nearby St. Luke's Medical Center, suffering from burns and lacerations. Two more people were listed in good condition at Research Medical Center, spokeswoman Denise Charpentier said.

Two JJ's employees who were away from the restaurant at the time of the blast said they were told later by fellow workers who were present that staff members were alerted to the smell of gas shortly before the blast and had begun to evacuate the building.

One of those workers who relayed that account, Talley Saey, said she was told that several employees were among those taken to the hospital.

(Additional reporting by David Bailey; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Eric Beech and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/several-hurt-explosion-fire-kansas-city-missouri-witnesses-012047389.html

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New Boeing contract splits engineers, tech workers

Workers begin to validate returned ballots at the headquarters of the union for Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tukwila, Wash. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) are voting on a contract offer from the company and whether to authorize a strike. The union represents 23,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound region. Negotiations began in April and union members rejected one offer in October. The previous contract expired in November. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Workers begin to validate returned ballots at the headquarters of the union for Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tukwila, Wash. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) are voting on a contract offer from the company and whether to authorize a strike. The union represents 23,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound region. Negotiations began in April and union members rejected one offer in October. The previous contract expired in November. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A pair of ballots are dropped at the headquarters of the union for Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tukwila, Wash. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) are voting on a contract offer from the company and whether to authorize a strike. The union represents 23,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound region. Negotiations began in April and union members rejected one offer in October. The previous contract expired in November. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Stickers sit on a table for members at the headquarters of the union for Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tukwila, Wash. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) are voting on a contract offer from the company and whether to authorize a strike. The union represents 23,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound region. Negotiations began in April and union members rejected one offer in October. The previous contract expired in November. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Rachel Freeman drops off her ballot at the headquarters of the union for Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tukwila, Wash. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) are voting on a contract offer from the company and whether to authorize a strike. The union represents 23,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound region. Negotiations began in April and union members rejected one offer in October. The previous contract expired in November. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

With a model 757 over his shoulder, Ernest Griffin drops his ballot at the headquarters of the union for Boeing Co.'s engineers and technical workers, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tukwila, Wash. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) are voting on a contract offer from the company and whether to authorize a strike. The union represents 23,000 employees, mostly in the Puget Sound region. Negotiations began in April and union members rejected one offer in October. The previous contract expired in November. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SEATTLE (AP) ? Boeing Co.'s engineers have accepted a new four-year contract while technical workers rejected their offer and voted to authorize a future strike.

The union representing both groups had recommended rejection of the contract because it would not provide pensions to new employees. They would have a 401k retirement plan instead.

The union called that unacceptable, but the Chicago-based aerospace company said the change was important to its future.

The vote tallied late Tuesday came as the company is trying to solve battery problems that have grounded its new 787s.

The engineers and technical workers in the union work on plans for new planes and solve problems that arise on the factory floor. The two units bargain at the same time, but their contracts are separate and independent agreements, the union noted.

While a strike by the technical workers is not imminent, the vote means the negotiating team can call one at any time, said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

The engineers' vote means those 15,500 employees have a new contract in place, Dugovich said. Union negotiators hope to resume contract talks soon on behalf of the 7,400 technical workers, he said.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said in a statement that the company was pleased with the engineers' vote but "deeply disappointed" in the technical workers' rejection of what he called the company's "best and final" offer.

"The realities of the market require us to make changes so we can invest in new products and keep winning in this competitive environment ..." Conner said in his statement. "That's why our proposal to move future hires to an enhanced 401(k)-style retirement plan is so important, as we have repeatedly emphasized over the course of these negotiations."

Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said the company is legally obligated to have discussions with SPEEA, but he noted Conner's statement about the importance of the 401k transition for future hires.

"That remains our position," Alder said.

Union members rejected one contract offer in October. The previous contract expired in November.

SPEEA went on strike for 40 days in 2000.

"With this second rejection by technical workers of Boeing takeaways, it's time for the company to stop wasting resources and improve its offer to reflect the value and contributions technical workers bring to Boeing," SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth said in a statement. "That way, we can avoid a strike and focus on fixing the problems of the 787 and restoring customer confidence in Boeing."

The latest labor unrest is happening as U.S. regulators launch an open-ended review of the 787's design and construction. Last month, a battery on a parked 787 caught fire in Boston. On Jan. 16, another 787 made an emergency landing in Japan after another battery problem.

All 50 787s that Boeing had delivered so far are grounded until the issue is resolved.

The union's nearly 23,000 employees are mostly in the Puget Sound region. Union leaders believe a strike would shut down Boeing production lines in Everett, Wash., where its big planes are made, as well as in Renton, Wash., where it cranks out the widely used 737.

The factory-floor assembly work is done by the members of the International Association of Machinists. The Machinists approved a new, four-year contract in December 2011, after a walkout in 2008 that contributed to a 3?-year delay in delivering the first 787.

It was also a factor in Boeing opening a plant in South Carolina, where laws make it more difficult to unionize.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-20-Boeing%20Engineers/id-b1f302400afa4231ad15dde3a2704c58

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Nebraska Sen. Johanns says he won't seek 2nd term

FILE - In a Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 file photo, Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Johanns announced Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 that he will not seek re-election in 2014, explaining he wants a "quieter time" to focus on his family following a busy political career. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In a Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012 file photo, Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Johanns announced Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 that he will not seek re-election in 2014, explaining he wants a "quieter time" to focus on his family following a busy political career. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) ? U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2014, saying he wants a "quieter time" to focus on his family following a busy political career that included stints as governor and President George W. Bush's agriculture secretary.

The Nebraska Republican announced that he was retiring from the Senate after one term. He said he and his wife, Stephanie, had decided that the time has come "to close this chapter of our lives."

"During these many years, we have cherished our time together," the couple said in an email statement. "So as we think about the next stage of our lives, we want a quieter time with our focus on each other, our family and our faith. We are also confident that there will be many more opportunities to serve our state and our nation."

Johanns, 62, joined the U.S. Senate in 2009 and did not appear to face any re-election threat. He served as agriculture secretary under Bush and was Nebraska's governor from 1999 to 2005.

The announcement came as a surprise to many GOP insiders. Several Republican office-holders praised Johanns for his collegiality and thoughtfulness in a deeply divided Washington. Johanns was a member of the "Gang of Eight" that tried to negotiate a federal deficit-reduction deal in 2011.

"I am personally grateful for Mike's leadership in the Senate and all he has done in helping to smooth my transition," said U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, a Republican who was sworn in for her first term in January. "His rare mix of strong leadership and warm collegiality has earned him the respect and admiration of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. While I am fortunate to have two more years to serve alongside him, I am sad to see Mike leave the Senate."

Johanns' decision to retire opens a new 2014 race in Nebraska, a solidly red state where Republicans hold all the congressional seats.

His departure could leave an opening for Republican Gov. Dave Heineman, who is leaving office in 2014 because of term limits. Heineman was courted by national party officials after Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson announced in 2011 that he was retiring. But Heineman declined to enter the race at the time, saying he wanted to focus on his work as governor.

In a statement, Heineman called Johanns "a remarkably outstanding public official."

"We are forever thankful for his commitment to serving our citizens, in particular, our farmers and ranchers, and our veterans," the governor said.

Although he began his political career as a Democrat, Johanns has made a name for himself as a staunch conservative since his election to the Senate in 2008.

In his first year in the Senate, Johanns voted with the GOP 94 percent of the time, including opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. He opposed the 2010 health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama, calling it bad policy even after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 upheld it as constitutional.

But unlike many Republicans, including Fischer, Johanns publicly backed former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense.

In 2012, when it was revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency was using aerial surveillance to check farms in the Midwest for violations of federal clean water regulations, Johanns introduced an amendment to a multifaceted farm bill to stop the flights, but it fell four votes short of the 60 needed.

He began his foray into politics nearly three decades ago, when he was elected as a Democrat to the Lancaster County Board of Supervisors in southeast Nebraska. He switched parties in 1988, winning election as a Republican to the Lincoln City Council and, three years later, the city's mayor.

His political status ? and conservative leanings ? have only grown since. He was elected Nebraska's governor in 1998, and during his second term accepted Bush's appointment to U.S. secretary of agriculture. He stepped down in 2007 to launch his U.S. Senate bid.

During his tenure in the Senate, Johanns has eschewed earmarks, legislative amendments that allow members of Congress to add money for local projects to national bills in a process that is often obscured from public scrutiny.

Johanns faced a health scare during his first year as a senator, undergoing surgery in March 2009 after doctors found a spot on his left lung. No cancer was found, but doctors removed the lower left lobe of his lung as a precaution. Johanns was a smoker, but quit more than 20 years ago.

"Mike Johanns epitomized principled leadership during his near three decades of public service, always putting the needs of Nebraskans first," said U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "I thank him for his service and wish (him) and his family the very best in their next chapter. The Cornhusker state will look to continue its strong conservative tradition by electing an equally dedicated Republican leader in 2014."

__

Follow Grant Schulte at http://www.twitter.com/@GrantSchulte

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-18-US-Senate-Johanns/id-50ba12ff1c0d4af5b0f0a99961e3afa6

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NSF recognizes JHU professor for cancer treatment research

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A Johns Hopkins engineer who is designing cancer-fighting nano-size structures that could assemble themselves and deliver treatment to diseased tissue has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation.

Honggang Cui, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins, has been given this honor, which is accompanied by nearly $500,000 that will be disbursed over five years. The funds will support Cui's research, which is aimed at producing a more effective and targeted way to provide cancer treatment.

A current method of delivering anti-cancer drugs is to enclose them in a nanoscale carrier made of natural or synthetic materials. However, Cui explained, this method presents several challenges. "The amount of drug that can be loaded into each carrier is very limited," he said, "and even within the same batch, the amount of drug being delivered can vary from one carrier to another. Another problem is that the carrier material itself may have toxic side effects."

To make this process safer and more effective, Cui is trying to eliminate the need for a separate, non-therapeutic carrier. To accomplish this, he is trying to coax the drug molecules themselves to form their own delivery vessels through a process of self-assembly. His team is developing new molecular engineering strategies to put together anti-cancer drugs as supramolecular nanostructures, meaning they consist of more than one molecule. "Such supramolecules could carry a fixed, full dose of the anti-cancer drug within each nanostructure, and this would minimize the potential of toxicity in the carrier itself," Cui said.

Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said that "unlike the general methods that use artificial nanostructures as vehicles to deliver anti-cancer drugs or molecular probes, Dr. Cui's goal is to produce nanostructures that are made of drugs or molecular probes that can deliver themselves. This novel approach, which requires cutting-edge expertise in the areas of chemical and biomedical engineering, nanotechnology and chemistry, will have a major impact on the field of drug delivery and cancer diagnosis."

Konstantopoulos added, "This is a new and exciting research area. Dr. Cui possesses the necessary engineering skills, deep nanotechnology and chemistry insight, and creative scientific vision to become a leader in this multidisciplinary field."

Cui completed his bachelor's and master's degree studies at Beijing University of Chemical Technology and Tsinghua University in China. He earned his doctoral degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Delaware, and then obtained postdoctoral training at Northwestern University. He joined the faculty of the Whiting School of Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University in August 2010. He is affiliated with the university's Institute for NanoBioTechnology.

The prestigious CAREER award, given to faculty members at the beginning of their academic careers, is one of the NSF's most competitive awards and emphasizes high-quality research and novel education initiatives. It provides funding so that young investigators have the opportunity to focus more intently on furthering their research careers.

Source: http://hub.jhu.edu/2013/02/18/honggang-cui-nsf-career-award

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Social media gives Indonesian women new voice

Niniek Karmini , The Associated Press ? ? ? 6 hrs.

A judge being interviewed for a Supreme Court job jokes that women might enjoy rape. A local official takes a 17-year-old second wife, then quickly divorces her by text message.

Both cases reflect attitudes toward women's rights and safety that have persisted for years in this Southeast Asian archipelago nation of 240 million people. The difference now: Both officials are at risk of losing their jobs.

Women in this social-media-obsessed country have been rallying, online and on the streets, against sexist comments and attacks on women. The response is seen as a small step for women's rights in Indonesia, where the government is secular and most people practice a moderate form of Islam.

"We are living in a different era now," said Husein Muhammad of the National Commission on Violence Against Women. "... Now we have supporting laws and social media to bring severe consequences and social sanctions."

Still, rights groups say the country remains far behind on many issues involving gender equality and violence. Rape cases often are not properly investigated, and victims are sometimes blamed.

And although it is rare to divorce by text message, as Aceng Fikri did last summer, unregistered polygamous marriages such as his are common.

Fikri, chief of Garut district in West Java province, called it quits four days after marrying his teenage bride in July. He claimed she was not a virgin, which she denied.

A photo of the couple posted on the Internet slowly began to stoke chatter ? and then rage. The outcry spread by local media and on Twitter, blogs, Facebook and popular mobile phone networking groups such as BlackBerry and Yahoo Messenger.

Thousands of people took to the streets in December to protest. Students and women's rights activists in Garut demanded that he resign, trampling and spitting on photos of his face before setting them ablaze outside his council building.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono responded by issuing a rare public condemnation of the 40-year-old official and his illegal marriage. The Supreme Court late last month recommended that the president dismiss Fikri for violating the marriage law, and police are investigating the case because it involves a minor.

Outrage also erupted in social media in January after Judge Muhammad Daming Sunusi told a parliamentary selection panel for Supreme Court positions that it could be a mistake to impose the death penalty for rape because both the attacker and the victim "might have enjoyed" it. The remark reportedly drew laughter from panel members. Sunusi later apologized and said he been joking.

"Enough is enough!" said Muhammad, of the commission on violence against women. "Our officials should no longer mess around and issue ridiculous statements even as a dumb joke."

Not only was Sunusi rejected for a job on the Supreme Court, but the country's Judicial Commission has recommended that he be dismissed from his position on the South Sumatra High Court. But the Supreme Court would have to agree, and it has said such punishment would be too severe because he made the remark in an interview, not during a trial.

Sunusi is hardly the first in Indonesia to be criticized for his comments about rape.

In 2011, after a woman was gang raped on a minibus, then-Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo drew protests after warning women not to wear miniskirts on public transportation because it could arouse male passengers. Bowo lost his re-election bid last year.

A sex-trafficking case involving a 14-year-old girl prompted Education Minister Mohammad Nuh to say last year that not all girls who report such crimes are victims: "They do it for fun, and then the girl alleges that it's rape," he said. His response to the criticism he received was that it's difficult to prove whether sexual assault allegations are "real rapes."

Growing concern in Indonesia over women's rights reflects that in India, where a brutal and deadly New Delhi gang rape in December has drawn nationwide protests and demands for change. That case also resonated in Indonesia.

"Let's imagine the suffering of women who are treated badly by their husbands and the rape victims. What if it happened to our own families?" said Ellin Rozana, a women's rights activist in Bandung, capital of West Java province. "We need government officials who will be on the front line to protect women, and judges who can see that violence against women is a serious crime."

In the West Java official's case, it was the text-message divorce that prompted outrage more than his unregistered second marriage, though such weddings raise issues about women's rights. They are regularly performed for Indonesians ranging from poor rice farmers to celebrities, politicians and Muslim clerics.

Polygamy remains common in many Muslim countries, based on Islamic teachings that allow men to take up to four wives.

In Indonesia, men are allowed to marry a second wife only after the first gives her blessing. Since most women refuse to agree to share their husbands, unregistered ceremonies, or "nikah siri," are often secretly carried out by an Islamic cleric outside the law.

Some of the marriages are simply a cover for prostitution. A cleric is paid to conduct "contract marriages" as short as one night in some parts of Indonesia, usually for Middle Eastern tourists.

Practices differ slightly elsewhere, with men in places such as Malaysia sometimes marrying outside the country to avoid informing existing spouses and seeking permission from an Islamic court. Ceremonies in Iraq are often held in secret for the same reason. No approval is needed in the Palestinian territories, but contract marriages are banned.

Without a marriage certificate, wives lack legal rights. Children from the marriage are often considered illegitimate and are typically not issued birth certificates, creating a lifetime of obstacles ranging from attending schools to getting a passport.

However, in another sign of Indonesia's changing attitudes, the Supreme Court this month ordered all judges to obey an earlier Constitutional Court ruling granting rights such as inheritance to children born out of wedlock, and to punish fathers who neglect them.

The women's commission on violence is now pushing for a revision of Indonesia's 1974 marriage law to grant more protections to women and children.

"I hope Indonesian women can take a lesson from Fikri's case," said Ninik Rahayu of the commission. "At least it has awakened their awareness to not marry in an illegal way."

____

Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad, Iraq and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, also contributed to this story.

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/social-media-gives-indonesian-women-new-voice-1C8415555

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Police: 7 foreigners kidnapped in north Nigeria

BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) ? Police in northern Nigeria say gunmen have kidnapped seven foreign workers from a construction company.

The attack happened in Bauchi state overnight Saturday. Police spokesman Hassan Muhammed told The Associated Press that the attack first targeted a prison in the area.

Muhammed said Sunday the attackers then went to the construction company STRAECO, where they killed a guard and kidnapped the foreign workers.

The nationalities of the workers were not immediately known.

Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the last year and a half. The country's weak central government has been unable to stop the group's bloody guerrilla campaign of shootings and bombings.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-17-AF-Nigeria-Violence/id-4de57b9dbe534b60bbd162b43463107a

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Bouncing back from financial grief and loss

This guest post is from Psychotherapist Bobbi Emel who specializes in helping you face life?s significant challenges and regain your resiliency. Download her free ebook, ?Bounce Back! 5 keys to survive and thrive through life?s ups and downs.? You can find her blog at http://www.TheBounceBlog.com.

Some reader stories are guest posts containing information or general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success or failure. These posts feature folks with all levels of financial maturity and income. Want to submit your own reader story? Here?s how.

I bet you?ve had some financial losses in the last five years or so. It seems like we all have, unfortunately. If you?re newly into a financial crisis such as seeing your retirement savings take a major loss, losing your house to foreclosure, or getting laid off your job, you may recognize some of these emotional experiences:

• Sadness
• Anger
• Guilt/self-reproach
• Anxiety
• Loneliness
• Shock
• Yearning

You may have also experienced any of these thinking patterns or behaviors:

• Disbelief
• Confusion
• Preoccupation or rumination
• Sleep and/or appetite disturbances
• Absentmindedness
• Social withdrawal
• Crying
• Restlessness

If you see yourself in some or all of these feelings, thoughts and behaviors, I have news for you: You might be grieving. We?re accustomed to thinking of grief as something that occurs only after a loved one dies. But the problem with this is that we might discount our feelings and not recognize them as grief when we lose something other than a loved one.

Complications of financial grief

You might find it difficult to express your feelings of grief about your financial situation. What is it about this type of grief that is different than the emotions we feel when we lose someone we love?

There are some complications:

Embarrassment: It?s one thing to tell someone that your mother died, but a completely different thing to share that you lost your money in a Ponzi scheme or any other issue related to a recession.

Loss of identity: You used to be Software Engineer Who Owns A House And Has Enough In the Bank To Put My Kids Through College and now you are Unemployed Dad Who Lost My House Due To Foreclosure And Had To Move The Family In With My Folks.

Maybe your situation isn?t that drastic, but you get the idea. You identify with your work and your social status, among other things, and so you might be unsure of who you are right now.

Feelings of betrayal: Dealing with a loss is difficult enough without the added emotional fallout from feeling betrayed by banks, mortgage lenders, the government, Bernie Madoff and Wall Street in general.

Now you are not only dealing with grief, but anger and resentment as well. In addition, the anger and resentment may be at a spouse, friend or relative who gave you bad financial advice.

Denying the magnitude of the loss: It?s easy to think, ?I shouldn?t be feeling this bad. It?s not like someone has died.? You devalue your own feelings because it?s ?not as bad? as something else.

The thought that financial crisis = personal failure: ?If I was a better money manager, this wouldn?t have happened. I?m such a jerk.?

?Why did I listen to that broker? I knew better. This is all my fault.?

?I must be a real loser to have thought I could refinance my house with an adjustable rate mortgage.?

This type of thinking is very easy to fall into, but certainly not helpful or true.

Lack of social ritual for this kind of grief: We have many rituals for the death of a person: funerals, memorials, sitting shiva, wakes, etc. These customs help us with closure and adjusting to the world without our loved one. But there are no rituals around the loss of finances and the dreams that went with them. We are left feeling unfinished and lost. So, it really is pretty complicated, isn?t it?

Surviving and thriving after financial loss

Surviving . . .

1. Acceptance

Accept the fact that this loss has really happened to you. If you find yourself thinking, ?Once the stock market comes back, everything will be fine? or ?Even though this new job pays half of what I made at my old job, we can still live the same way we did before,? you are in denial. It?s time to intentionally assess your situation and accept its reality.

Honor your own grief about what you have lost. This really is a loss ? be careful not to minimize it.

Don?t resist. This does not mean to give up. But it does mean to acknowledge both your emotions about your financial loss rather than fight against them. Going with the river current is much easier than fighting to swim against the current.

2. Build and use your support system

Find people you trust: friends, family, spiritual leaders. Gather your support team around you just as you would if you had lost a loved one.

Talk. You don?t have to talk about the specifics of the loss, just your feelings about it. This is an important way for you to process your grief and not get stuck in it.

Take your power back. By talking about your feelings related to the financial loss, you take the power away from the ?deep, dark secret? and shine the light of day on it.

3. Get a different perspective

Remember that you have made it through past challenges. When you?re faced with a loss, it can seem like the worst thing that has ever happened to you. And it might be. But remember that you have experienced many difficulties in your life and you have made your way through them.

Stay in the moment. Rather than ruminating about past events or fretting about the future, try to stay with what is happening right now. Life is happening in front of your eyes, not in the past or some time up ahead.

And thriving . . .

4. See what you can learn.

There?s a lesson in everything. Maybe you did make some poor financial decisions. Learn from your mistakes. Maybe your value system was overly focused on material things. Learn the joys of simpler living.

Maybe your kids didn?t really understand what it meant to pull together as a family until now. Help them learn this lesson during these tough times.

5. Find the gifts.

The sand that irritates the oyster eventually makes a pearl. The economic loss you are experiencing now may be the very thing you need to learn to thrive into new opportunities opening before you.

One woman I spoke to who had lost her job was doing surprisingly well emotionally. When I asked her how she maintained her good attitude, she said, ?I decided to expand rather than contract.? She took action to learn new skills, enjoy new experiences, and take a different path in life. Perhaps you are being given an opportunity to expand your life as well.

There are gifts to be found everywhere, even in the darkest of times. My late partner had breast cancer and when it was discovered, it was already at Stage IV. We could not think of a more terrible thing to happen. But, after using some of the ?surviving? tools above, we began to see the gifts pouring in.

We learned that we were much stronger than we thought, we learned how many caring friends we had, my partner ? who had always struggled with her self-image ? found out how many people truly loved her, and we found peace through renewed spirituality.

Getting your bounce back after financial loss may not mean getting your money or assets replaced, but it does mean learning to survive ? and thrive ? in the most difficult times.

Will you take this as an opportunity or a defeat?

This article is about Reader Stories??

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Source: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/02/17/bouncing-back-from-financial-grief-and-loss/

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