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September 2009

CBS wins the 1st week as long TV season begins

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 14:33 — admin

NEW YORK – CBS began the fall season with a bang, winning the first week overall, scoring the top-rated program and premiering the most-watched new show, according to Nielsen ratings figures released Tuesday.
CBS' veteran hit "NCIS" took the No. 1 spot, with its spinoff, "NCIS: Los Angeles," debuting in the runner-up position. Another new CBS drama, "The Good Wife," got a warm viewer welcome with a 15th-place ranking.
ABC's new Wednesday comedies "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" did well, ranking 20th and 23rd, respectively, while that network's new thriller "FlashForward" nabbed 21st place with its premiere.
Other than football, NBC's top performers were its new hospital drama "Mercy" and long-running cop drama "Law & Order: SVU," which shared 38th place in viewer rankings.
Meanwhile, the infant season claimed its first victim among the new fall crop: The neglected melodrama "The Beautiful Life: TBL" was axed by the CW after just two airings.
For the week in prime time, CBS led with 11.77 million viewers (7.3 household rating, 12 share), with runner-up ABC averaging 11.04 million viewers (7.1 rating, 12 share). NBC was a distant third place with 7.56 million viewers (4.8 rating, 8 share), just ahead of Fox with 7.35 million viewers (4.3 rating, 7 share).
The CW had 2.17 million viewers (1.5 rating, 2 share), My Network TV had 1.36 million (0.9 rating, 1 share), and ION Television had 630,000 (0.4 rating, 1 share).
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with 3.66 million (1.9 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 880,000 (0.5 rating, 1 share), and Azteca had 200,000 (0.1 rating, 0 share).
Among the evening newscasts, NBC's "Nightly News" held its customary lead with 7.72 million viewers (5.2 household rating, 11 share), followed by ABC's "World News" with 7.27 million viewers (4.9 rating, 10 share). The "CBS Evening News" had 5.54 million viewers (3.8 rating, 8 share).
A ratings point represents 1,149,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.9 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of Sept. 21-27, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "NCIS," CBS, 20.60 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 18.73 million; "Dancing with the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 17.79 million; NFL Football (Sunday): Indianapolis at Arizona, NBC, 17.47 million; "House," Fox, 17.16 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 17.03 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 16.01 million; "Criminal Minds," CBS, 15.84 million; "Dancing with the Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 15.367 million; "Dancing with the Stars" (Wednesday), ABC, 15.356 million.
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.
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On the Net:
Nielsen: http://www.nielsenmedia.com

Cops: Skater faces charges in right-of-way dispute

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 13:48 — admin

STAMFORD, Conn. – A Connecticut in-line skater faces assault and other charges after a confrontation over whether a 4-year-old on a tricycle had the right to be on a bike path. Stamford police charged 43-year-old Chris Karamon with third-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor and other crimes.
Police said Karamon shouted and cursed at the boy's parents on the path in Cove Island Park. Police said he later skated into the boy's father, who was shielding his children, and threw a helmet and water bottle at him.
Police Lt. Sean Cooney said the path is for use by everyone, not just skaters.
Karamon declined to comment Tuesday morning.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://www.stamfordadvocate.com

IPOD Speakers

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 11:39 — admin

IPOD Speakers

The lowest-priced speaker systems and most drivers are manufactured in China or other low-cost manufacturing locations. Although the manufacture of drivers has become largely commoditized, the fabrication and subsequent sale of finished speaker systems still carries high profits. Partly for this reason, manufacturers are increasingly combining power amplifier electronics (a typically lower profit item) with finished speaker systems to create powered speakers with an overall higher market value.[citation needed]

Those favoring the full range driver approach claim a coherence of sound (said to be due to the single source and a resulting lack of phase interference, and likely to the lack of obscuring electrical crossover components), and feel the disadvantages of restricted frequency bandwidth and reduced output power more than compensated for. Another disadvantage is often a requirement for elaborate cabinetry (i.e., transmission lines, horns, etc) to increase efficiency at low frequencies to barely adequate levels by better matching the driver to the air at those frequencies, thus increasing the output level at low frequencies.

Chicago designers to outfit Olympic delegation

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 11:21 — admin

CHICAGO – Fashion designer Maria Pinto has been a favorite of first lady Michelle Obama. President Barack Obama has worn suits from menswear maker Hart Schaffner Marx.
Both Chicago labels have been chosen to dress members of Chicago's Olympic delegation, along with tiemaker Lee Allison, for outfits debuting at this Friday's International Olympic Committee vote on the 2016 Summer Games.
Chicago is in a tight race for the bid with Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Chicago 2016 officials say it's customary for members of a city's delegation to wear the official wardrobe "to signify teamwork and cohesion."
Details of the apparel have been scarce — Chicago 2016 officials say the designs are to be unveiled Friday at the vote — but Allison described the clothing as an integrated, sporty but professional look for the men, with a more feminine silhouette for the women.
"The whole goal was to project an air of confidence and competence," Allison said. "In a sense the ties, they're very discreet. They say we're a professional team and we're here to get the job done."
The president and first lady will lead the Chicago delegation along with Oprah Winfrey, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Richard Daley. Fourteen Olympic and two Paralympic gold medalists, including Michael Johnson, Nadia Comaneci, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Nastia Liukin made the trip to Denmark.
Chicago fashion experts say they expect a classic, tailored look.
"The clothes are going to be on the conservative side, which lends itself to some of the philosophy of Chicago," Chicago fashion commentator and image consultant Barbara Glass said. "We're not a flashy city."
Glass said she also expects lots of red, white and blue.
Allison said the fact that all local designers were chosen is a sign the city is ready to host the world. "It's like a coming-out party for the town in all aspects, including its fashion industry," he said. "They can outfit this team and they don't have to leave the hometown."
Kristen Amato, president of the Chicago Fashion Foundation, said the selection demonstrates a certain caliber of work within the city's small-but-strong style community.
"This gives a lot of credibility to Chicago," said Amato, who designs her own jewelry line, K. Amato.
Amato said she expects Pinto to design for many different female body types.
"They've got to be able to speak to masses of people," Amato said. "They'll see a very polished, classic American style. I don't think we're in for any huge fashion surprises or shocks."
Mrs. Obama has worn Maria Pinto designs to important events in her husband's political career, including the day he announced his candidacy in Springfield and the night she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
Chicago 2016 said in a news release that the designers donated their time and will provide the clothing to the delegation at cost.
"On October 2, Chicago will be on an international stage, and our city's fashion designers will share in the spotlight," Chicago 2016 chairman Patrick Ryan said. "Our bid plan celebrates Chicago and we are proud to showcase the talents of the art and design community that thrives here."
Allison will offer one hint: The ties, he said, contain a hidden message.

"I can't tell you what it is," he said. "But it's an inspirational, aspirational thing there for the delegation."

Parents Lie to Children Surprisingly Often (LiveScience.com)

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 08:21 — admin

Parents might say "honesty is the best policy," but when it comes to interacting with their own kids, mom and dad stretch the truth with the best of them, finds a new study.

From claiming the existence of magical creatures to odd consequences of kids' actions, parents often come up with creative tales to shape a child's behaviors and emotions.

"We are surprised by how often parenting by lying takes place," said study researcher Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, Canada. "Our findings showed that even the parents who most strongly promoted the importance of honesty with their children engaged in parenting by lying."

Lee and colleagues acknowledge that their work is preliminary, bringing to the forefront an issue that is rarely studied. They are not sure the implications of parental lying, but suggest such tall tales could give kids mixed messages at a time when they are trying to figure out how to navigate the social world.

Lies could also harm parent-child bonds, said study researcher Gail Heyman of the University of California, San Diego.

It could even keep children from learning certain rules. "If I am always lying to the child in order to get the child to do X, Y, or Z, then they have never learned why they should do X, Y, or Z," said Victoria Talwar of McGill University in Montreal, who was not involved in the current study. "If it's constantly being used, [lying] may be preventing learning opportunities for the child."

The scientists also acknowledge that it's sometimes okay to be less than truthful with a child, say, telling a fib about how beautiful a scribbled drawing looks. But Heyman urges parents to think through the issues and consider alternatives before resorting to the expedient prevarication.

The research is published in the September issue of the Journal of Moral Education and was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The lies we tell

To get the scoop on lying parents, the researchers ran two studies in which parents and students commented on nine hypothetical scenarios in which a parent lied to a child to either shape behavior or make the kid happy.

For instance, one behavior-molding scenario reads: "A parent is embarrassed by a child's crying and says, 'The police will come to make sure that you behave if you don't stop crying now.'"

Another scenario, aimed at shaping emotions, goes: "A favorite uncle has just died and the child is told that he has become a star to watch over the child." Another emotion-shifter: "A child is told, 'you did a good job at cleaning up your room' after making things messier."

In one study, about 130 undergraduates read each scenario and indicated on a scale from 1 (absolutely no) to 7 (absolutely yes) whether their parents had said something similar to them.

Nearly 90 percent of students gave a positive rating (5 or greater) to at least one of the tales.

Then, the researchers tested the scenarios on nearly 130 parents, mostly moms, asking each participant to indicate whether they had told similar lies. Parents also rated on a scale from 1 (very bad) to 7 (very good) what the parent in each vignette had said. More than 70 percent said they teach their children that lying is unacceptable. Even so, nearly 80 percent of parents indicated they had told at least one similar lie.

Their own examples revealed parental lying went beyond the little white lie in which politeness or the child's best interest was at stake. Parents were fibbing to prevent tantrums or excessive talking, for instance.

Many parents reported telling their children that bad things would happen if they didn't go to bed or eat certain foods. One mother recalled telling her child that if he didn't finish his food he would get pimples all over his face.

Others reported inventing magical creatures, with one parent saying, "We told our daughter that if she wrapped up all her pacifiers like gifts, the 'paci-fairy' would come and give them to children who needed them...I thought it was healthier to get rid of the pacifiers, and it was a way for her to feel proud and special."

Why parents lie

Parents lie for various reasons, Heyman said, ranging from benefiting the parents themselves (say, lying to keep a child from crying when you head out for dinner) to protecting the child from scary issues, such as lying to a child about a murder in the news.

"Children sometimes behave in ways that are disruptive or are likely to harm their long-term interests," said Heyman. "It is common for parents to try out a range of strategies, including lying, to gain compliance. When parents are juggling the demands of getting through the day, concerns about possible long-term negative consequences to children's beliefs about honesty are not necessarily at the forefront."

Regardless of whether parental lying is justified, Heyman said parents should figure out their policy on it ahead of time.

"Parents often lie on the spur of the moment, and they don't think about what they're saying and how it will affect their child," Heyman told LiveScience. She added, "I think parents should figure it out in advance what their general beliefs are so when it comes to the situation you're working with your beliefs rather than what pops into your head at the moment."

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Original Story: Parents Lie to Children Surprisingly Often
LiveScience.com chronicles the daily advances and innovations made in science and technology. We take on the misconceptions that often pop up around scientific discoveries and deliver short, provocative explanations with a certain wit and style. Check out our science videos, Trivia & Quizzes and Top 10s. Join our community to debate hot-button issues like stem cells, climate change and evolution. You can also sign up for free newsletters, register for RSS feeds and get cool gadgets at the LiveScience Store.

Putting a Stop to Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Without Export Embargoes (HuffingtonPost.com)

Tue, 09/29/2009 - 06:27 — admin

Read Raymond J. Learsy's other articles on HuffingtonPost.com

On June 21st a Huffington Post submission ("Boycott Iran's Oil Immediatley") called for the immediate boycott of Iran's oil. It was a seemingly draconian suggestion that was met with widespread skepticism. After all, what would happen to oil markets without Iranian oil?

Well, on today CNN's State of the Union program, Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind), being interviewed by John King on the timely subject of Iran's nuclear pronouncements (or lack thereof), made a rather startling revelation. According to Senator Bayh, the Russians had informed their American interlocutors that the greatest fear of the current Iranian regime was that they would be denied access to world markets for their oil. Clearly the financial bounty generated by oil sales are key to maintaining their hold on government power and the funding of their nuclear and missile programs, not to speak of buying the loyalty of their goon militias giving them the wherewithal to terrorize their citizenry.

Certainly now is the time to establish the kind of international cooperation needed to boycott Iranian oil. With recent revelations about Iran's nuclear deception, the growing and shared concerns of the major European states and a far more amenable Russia and China, the moment for an international boycott has come.

The boycott would simply be a refusal to buy Iran's oil, either directly or indirectly (i.e. not lifting oil from Iranian ports nor from offshore storage facilities, nor turning a blind eye to third party exchanges). It would be analogous to boycotting Coca Cola (apologies Coca Cola) because of a nasty dispute with its management. No one buys Coke any longer. Soon their warehouse is full. Then their factories shut down. Then after a while one would hope the workers organize to oust the management so that business can carry on as before.

Please recall that although Iran produces some four million barrels of oil a day, only some 2.1 million is exported. It is the one year equivalent to the of 700 million barrels plus being held in our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Given the potential national crisis at hand, certainly the SPR should be considered for a strategic role in the current imbroglio.

More significant, however, is the fact that currently, Saudi Arabia's excess, unused capacity is approximately 4.5 million barrels/day. That is more than twice the current exports of Iranian oil. It is probably more in the interest of Sunni Saudi Arabia to keep Shia Iran nuclear weapon free than virtually any other nation. Saudi Arabia should welcome the opportunity to play a role in defusing Iran's nuclear ambitions by declaring they will supply any and all oil to world markets caused by a consumers boycott of Iran's oil.

A willing Saudi Arabia should be celebrated. An unwilling Saudi Arabia should be placed on notice that the nuclear defense umbrella proffered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (please see "Hillary Clinton's Nuclear Defense Umbrella for the Oil Price Gougers--Who Pays?") will remain moot and tucked away in an umbrella stand in the halls of Foggy Bottom.

By not buying Iran's oil the mullahs understand their sway over Iran's brave citizens will begin to crumble and the petro-potentates of Tehran will eventually have to cede governance to the Iranian masses without a foreign shot having been fired and without a blockade nor an embargo of goods and services(sanctions) having been put into place.

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Hanna Ingber Win: China Opposes Iran Sanctions Sought By U.S.,

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Hanna Ingber Win: Russia Stand On Iran Sanctions Welcomed By Israel,

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Katherine Thomson: Obama: Iran Has Secret Nuclear Facility,

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Hanna Ingber Win: Obama Speech On Iran Nuclear Facility (LIVE VIDEO),

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Hanna Ingber Win: Obama Iran Nuclear Speech At G-20 (TEXT),

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Hanna Ingber Win: Ahmadinejad: Obama, You Are Making A "Mistake" (VIDEO),

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T.J. Ortenzi: Iran Test Fires Short-Range Missiles: State TV

Read More:
'State Of The Union Program, China, Cnn, Energy, European States, Hillary Clinton Secretary Of State, Iran, Iran Mullahs, Iranian Oil, John King, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear-Defense-Umbrella, Oil, Politics, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senator Birch Bayh, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Sunni Shia, World Affairs

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LA-area street gang targeted by massive raids (AP)

Tue, 09/22/2009 - 07:27 — admin

LOS ANGELES – More than 1,000 federal and local law enforcement officials are carrying out raids around the Los Angeles area Tuesday, targeting a street gang accused of everything from drug dealing to murder.
About 1,300 officers and agents began going door to door before dawn. They're serving arrest warrants on about 90 suspected members and associates of the Avenues gang, based in Los Angeles.
Authorities say they're working from federal indictments accusing gang members of crimes ranging from graffiti tagging to violence against police officers, culminating with the killing of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante.
It's the latest in a string of raids against local street gangs this year that have led to dozens of arrests.

UN prosecutors decline to trim Karadzic case (AP)

Tue, 09/22/2009 - 07:21 — admin

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Yugoslav war crimes tribunal prosecutors are resisting calls by the U.N. court's judges to further streamline their case against Radovan Karadzic, saying it could mean dropping key charges against the former Bosnian Serb leader.
In written submissions released by the tribunal Tuesday, prosecutors say further cutting down their 11-count indictment against Karadzic to squeeze it into a year would prevent them presenting evidence encompassing all his alleged crimes.
"The prosecution cannot ... complete its case within a calendar year without sacrificing a core component of its case," prosecutors warned.
Karadzic has pleaded innocent to charges including genocide and crimes against humanity alleging he masterminded atrocities by Bosnian Serb forces throughout the 1992-95 Bosnian war. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 19, although Karadzic is appealing for more time to prepare.
Judges can now either accept prosecutors' arguments or order them to cut parts of the indictment — a move likely to enrage survivors of Bosnia's 1992-95 conflict.
Last week, angry demonstrators in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, torched pictures of tribunal judges to protest their efforts to shorten the indictment.
Earlier this month, the judge steering Karadzic's case toward trial urged prosecutors to trim the indictment so they can present all their evidence in a year.
Judge O-Gon Kwon said the trial should last three years at the most once Karadzic had called defense witnesses and judges have considered verdicts.
Judges are under pressure from the United Nations to finish all trials as soon as possible and close down the court, which the Security Council set up in 1993.
But a logjam of cases in its three courtrooms means that Karadzic's trial will likely sit for only three half days each week. There are 23 suspects on trial in eight different cases as well as six cases featuring 14 suspects at appeal.
Prosecutors said cutting their case "to offset scheduling constraints" would rein in their ability to present all three key elements of their case — the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Croats from scores of towns and villages, the siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 murder of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica — Europe's worst massacre since World War II.
"The only way the prosecution could effect such a dramatic reduction of its already streamlined case would be to allow critical allegations against Karadzic to remain unadjudicated," they said.
Prosecutors already have trimmed back the number of crime sites included in the indictment, but said they still need more than 250 hours to present all their evidence and witnesses.
As well as having to juggle trials to fit them into courtrooms, judges also are keen to avoid a repeat of the marathon trial of Karadzic's former political mentor, ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died of a heart attack in his U.N. jail cell four years into his trial.
His death aborted his trial before a verdict could be reached and led to fierce criticism of the court and prosecutors for sending him to trial on a sprawling indictment spanning nearly a decade from the opening shots of the Balkan conflicts to 1999 fighting in Kosovo.
Like Milosevic, Karadzic has vowed to defend himself in court.

US diplomat visits American detained in Myanmar: spokesman (AFP)

Tue, 09/22/2009 - 06:49 — admin

YANGON (AFP) –
The United States embassy in Myanmar said Tuesday that it has been allowed a visit to an American citizen held in the country since his detention at an airport almost three weeks ago.

A spokesman for the embassy told AFP that Kyaw Zaw Lwin was detained in Yangon on September 3 and the consular visit was granted on Sunday, although they could not give details as to why he was held.

"Our consul obtained permission and he went and saw him," the spokesman said, adding that they had since passed on information of the Myanmar-born man's circumstances to his family.

"At this point that's all we can say," he added.

Myanmar dissident groups have said Kyaw Zaw Lwin is a democracy activist, and that some of his relatives, including his mother, were arrested during the junta's crackdown on mass protests of September 2007.

He travelled to the country after obtaining a visa from Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok, according to exiled group The 88 Generation Students-Australia.

In a letter to the junta chief Than Shwe, posted online in English, the group suggested the government "set up the plan to arrest him at arrival at the Rangoon (Yangon) airport because you knew his involvement of democracy".

SAfrica: Murder down; rape and house robberies up (AP)

Tue, 09/22/2009 - 06:48 — admin

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – South Africa's police minister says the country's murder rate has declined but that more rapes and house robberies were reported.
The government has been desperate to show crime is dropping ahead of next year's World Cup.
Nathi Mthethwa says progress has been made to bring South Africa's high crime rate down but that more needs to be done.
Statistics released Tuesday show that murders decreased by 3.4 percent. But 18,000 people are still being killed each year — about 50 per day.
South Africa's reputation for having one of the worst rates of rape in the world will be reinforced with a 10.1 percent increase in sexual offenses.
And house robberies increased by 27.33 percent from February 2008 to March 2009.



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