Plane with wing walker crashes at Ohio air show

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) ? Media outlets are reporting that a stunt plane carrying a wing walker has crashed at an air show in western Ohio.

The crash happened Saturday afternoon at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton. A schedule posted on the event's website had Jane Wicker Wingwalker scheduled to perform.

A fire dispatcher confirmed a crash Saturday to The Associated Press but had no other information.

The Dayton Daily News and several TV stations say the plane burst into flames when it hit the ground. A fire truck extinguished the blaze.

There was no immediate word on the fate of the pilot, wing walker or anyone else aboard the plane. No one on the ground was hurt.

A spokeswoman for the Vectren Air Show near Dayton didn't immediately return a telephone message.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/plane-wing-walker-crashes-ohio-air-show-173332552.html

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Super full moon shines brightly this weekend

FILE - In this Saturday, May 5, 2012 file photo, a "supermoon" rises behind the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece, southeast of Athens. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes closer to Earth than usual. The event on Sunday, June 23, 2013 will make the moon appear 14 percent larger than normal, but the difference is so small that most skywatchers won?t notice. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)

FILE - In this Saturday, May 5, 2012 file photo, a "supermoon" rises behind the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, Greece, southeast of Athens. The phenomenon occurs when the moon passes closer to Earth than usual. The event on Sunday, June 23, 2013 will make the moon appear 14 percent larger than normal, but the difference is so small that most skywatchers won?t notice. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)

The moon in its waxing gibbous stage shines behind a statue entitled "Enlightenment Giving Power" by John Gelert, which sits at the top of the dome of the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, N.J., Friday, June 21, 2013. The moon, which will reach its full stage on Sunday, is expeced to be 13.5 percent closer to earth during a phenomenon known as supermoon. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The moon in its waxing gibbous stage shines over a statue entitled "Enlightenment Giving Power" by John Gelert, which sits at the top of the dome of the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, N.J., Friday, June 21, 2013. The moon, which will reach its full stage on Sunday, is expected to be 13.5 percent closer to earth during a phenomenon known as supermoon. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The moon in its waxing gibbous stage is shines behind a statue entitled "Enlightenment Giving Power" by John Gelert, which sits at the top of the dome of the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, N.J., Friday, June 21, 2013. The moon, which will reach its full stage on Sunday, is expected to be 13.5 percent closer to earth during a phenomenon known as supermoon. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The moon in its waxing gibbous stage sh behind tree limbs and a statue a marble statue by John Gelert representing history and law on the top of the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, N.J., Friday, June 21, 2013. The moon, which will reach its full stage on Sunday, is expected to be 13.5 percent closer to earth during a phenomenon known as supermoon. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A "supermoon" rises this weekend.

The biggest and brightest full moon of the year graces the sky early Sunday as our celestial neighbor swings closer to Earth than usual.

While the moon will appear 14 percent larger than normal, sky watchers won't be able to notice the difference with the naked eye. Still, astronomers say it's worth looking up and appreciating the cosmos.

"It gets people out there looking at the moon, and might make a few more people aware that there's interesting stuff going on in the night sky," Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory said in an email.

Some viewers may think the supermoon looks more dazzling, but it's actually an optical illusion. The moon looms larger on the horizon next to trees and buildings.

The moon will come within 222,000 miles (357,000 kilometers) of Earth and turn full around 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT), making it the best time to view.

As in any supermoon event, high tides are forecast because of the moon's proximity, but the effect is expected to be small.

Forget about the myths that swirl every time a supermoon appears. There's no link to higher crime or bizarre behavior. Scientists say that's just lunacy.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-06-22-US-SCI-Supermoon/id-046d4ad3946841f3bbb90b8010f4e20d

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Kane scores, Blackhawks lead Bruins 1-0 in Game 5

CHICAGO (AP) ? Patrick Kane scored his eighth goal of the postseason, and the Chicago Blackhawks led the Boston Bruins 1-0 through the first period in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night.

In a thrilling series that's seen only one game decided in regulation and was knotted at 2-all, the Blackhawks broke through in this one after both teams missed several chances in the early going. They grabbed the lead with 2:33 left in the period after a shot by Johnny Oduya closing in from the left point ricocheted off the stick of Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg.

Kane, who was to the left of the net, picked up the spinning puck and tucked it past Tuukka Rask into the lower left corner of the net. All that happened after Jonathan Toews muscled past Milan Lucic to carry the puck deep into the Boston zone.

Corey Crawford did his job in goal for Chicago with 11 saves after getting beaten five times to his glove side during Wednesday's 6-5 overtime victory.

Rask stopped seven of the eight shots he faced.

Boston outhit Chicago 23-9 in the period even though the Blackhawks indicated they would go right at the Bruins' Zdeno Chara, just as they did in Game 4. David Krejci had four of those hits.

Toews hit the post just under four minutes into the game, and Boston's Nathan Horton hit the crossbar right after that.

The Bruins had another chance midway through the first period when Jaromir Jagr came out of a scrum along the boards but got stopped from the edge of the crease.

Rask spread out and made a neat save with his chest or shoulder late in the period to stop a shot by Patrick Sharp closing in from the left circle.

Marian Hossa was in the lineup for Chicago as expected after missing the morning skate and practice on Friday. He was scratched from Game 3 because of an upper body injury but did play in Game 4. The Bruins also had center Carl Soderberg in the lineup over Kaspars Daugavins, another adjustment during arguably the wildest final in years.

Both teams have been doing whatever they can to get an edge, whether it was Chicago pairing Toews and Kane on the same line in Game 4 or Boston teaming Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin in Game 2.

It had been 20 years since a championship series had at least three games go to overtime, and this is just the sixth time since 1927 it has happened. The only other final to feature more OT games during that stretch was when Toronto and Montreal played five in 1951.

Teams that have won Game 5 after splitting the first four have gone on to win the championship 15 of 22 times since the league went to a best-of-seven format in 1939. But in recent years, the pattern has not held. The Game 5 loser in that scenario has won the championship four of the past six times, with Boston taking out Vancouver in 2011.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kane-scores-blackhawks-lead-bruins-1-0-game-011741660.html

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A Glowing Pump That Lets Drivers Know You're Doing Roadside Repairs

There's a reason that Topeak's MiniRocket iGlow bike bump won a 2013 Red Dot Design Award: the transparent barrel encases a internal optical fiber that turns a small red LED into a brilliantly-visible glowing safety strip. And at just 67 grams, it adds minimal weight to your bike's frame, so it's easy to always keep on hand. A pair of watch-sized batteries powers it continuously for up to 50 hours on its brightest setting, and 100 hours when dimmed.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JxVwcGj5Wo0/a-glowing-pump-that-lets-drivers-know-youre-doing-road-534969745

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Brazil: 150K protest against govt corruption

SAO PAULO (AP) ? About 150,000 anti-government demonstrators again took to streets in several Brazilian cities Saturday and engaged police in some isolated, intense conflicts. Anger over political corruption emerged as the unifying issue for the demonstrators, who vowed to stay in the streets until concrete steps are taken to reform the political system.

Across Brazil, protesters gathered to denounce legislation, known as PEC 37, that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crimes ? which many fear would hinder attempts to jail corrupt politicians.

Federal prosecutors were behind the investigation into the biggest corruption case in Brazil's history, the so-called "mensalao" cash-for-votes scheme that came to light in 2005 and involved top aides of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva buying votes for their legislation in congress.

Last year, the supreme court condemned two dozen people in connection to the case, which was hailed as a watershed moment in Brazil's fight against corruption. However, those condemned have yet to be jailed because of appeals, a delay that has enraged Brazilians.

"Dilma is underestimating the resolve of the people on the corruption issue," said Mayara Fernandes, a medical student who took part in a Sao Paulo march that drew 30,000 people on Saturday. "She talked and talked and said nothing. Nobody can take the corruption of this country anymore."

Elsewhere in Brazil, police estimated that about 60,000 demonstrators gathered in a central square in the city of Belo Horizonte, 30,000 shut down a main business avenue in Sao Paulo, and another 30,000 gathered in the city in southern Brazil where a nightclub fire killed over 240 mostly university students, deaths many argued could have been avoided with better government oversight of fire laws.

In Belo Horizonte, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who tried to pass through a barrier and hurled rocks at a car dealership. Salvador also saw protests turn violent.

The angry protests continued despite a prime-time speech the night before from President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was tortured during Brazil's military dictatorship. During her 10-minute address she backed the right to peaceful protest but sharply condemned violence, vandalism and looting.

Rousseff promised she would always battle corruption and that she would meet with peaceful protesters, governors and the mayors of big cities to create a national plan to improve urban transportation and use oil royalties for investments in education.

Anger over hikes in bus and subway fares in several cities originally ignited the protests, and a brutal police crackdown on demonstrators last week in Sao Paulo sent the nation into the streets during the largest public demonstrations Latin America's biggest nation has seen in two decades.

Many Brazilians, shocked by a week of protests and violence, hoped that Rousseff's words after several days of silence from the leader would soothe tensions and help avoid more violence, but not all were convinced by her promises of action.

Victoria Villela, a 21-year-old university who joined the crowd, said she was "frustrated and exhausted by the endless corruption of our government."

"It was good Dilma spoke, but this movement has moved too far, there was not much she could really say. All my friends were talking on Facebook about how she said nothing that satisfied them. I think the protests are going to continue for a long time and the crowds will still be huge."

Around her, fathers held young boys aloft on their shoulders, older women gathered in clusters with their faces bearing yellow and green stripes, the colors of Brazil's flag.

In the northeastern city of Salvador, where Brazil's national football team played Italy and won 4-2 in a Confederations Cup match, some 5,000 protesters gathered about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the stadium, shouting demands for better schools and transportation and denouncing heavy spending on next year's World Cup.

They blocked a main road and clashed with riot police who moved in to clear the street. Protesters said police used rubber bullets and even tossed tear gas canisters from a helicopter hovering overhead. The protesters scattered and fled to a nearby shopping mall, where they tried to take shelter in an underground parking garage.

"We sat down and the police came and asked us to free up one lane for traffic. As we were organizing our group to do just that, the police lost their patience and began to shoot at us and throw (tear gas) canisters," said Rodrigo Dorado.

That was exactly the type of conflict Rousseff said needed to end, not just so Brazilians could begin a peaceful national discussion about corruption but because much of the violence is taking place in cities hosting foreign tourists attending the Confederations Cup.

Brazil's news media, which had blasted Rousseff in recent days for her lack of response to the protests, seemed largely unimpressed with her careful speech, but noted the difficult situation facing a government trying to understand a mass movement with no central leaders and a flood of demands.

With "no objective information about the nature of the organization of the protests," wrote Igor Gielow in a column for Brazil's biggest newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo, "Dilma resorted to an innocuous speech to cool down spirits."

At its height, some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets nationwide on Thursday night with grievances ranging from public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for international sports events.

Outside the stadium in Belo Horizonte where Mexico and Japan met in a Confederations Cup game, Dadiana Gamaleliel, a 32-year-old physiotherapist, held up a banner that read: "Not against the games, in favor of the nation."

"I am protesting on behalf of the whole nation because this must be a nation where people have a voice ... we don't have a voice anymore," she said.

She said Rousseff's speech wouldn't "change anything."

"She spoke in a general way and didn't say what she would do," she said. "We will continue this until we are heard."

___

Associated press writers Tales Azzoni and Ricardo Zuniga in Salvador, Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Rob Harris in Belo Horizonte contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-150k-protest-against-govt-corruption-235445043.html

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Monsters University

A collection of the characters from Pixar's Monster's University

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures USA

Pixar Studios has painted itself into a corner (though because it?s Pixar, it?s an adorable corner, surrounded by top-quality enamel paint). They?ve established a reputation for themselves as the animation studio of record, the place for state-of-the-art children?s entertainment that also reliably hits the sweet spot for adults. At their best, Pixar movies can realistically aspire to the status of lasting cinematic art. (We won?t quibble here about which of these movies should enter the pantheon?I?m a partisan of Ratatouille and the Toy Story trilogy myself.)

But because Pixar?s rep has been polished to such a high sheen over the course of three decades, the slightest bit of tarnish really shows. Cars 2 (2011) was no worse than most hectic, underplotted summer kids? movies, and better than many; still, upon its release there was much garment-rending and tooth-gnashing about the declining standards of Pixar. The studio?s first-ever prequel, Monsters University, will probably get some of those same reactions: Though it?s a far sight better than Cars 2, it falls well short of the standard set by its excellent predecessor, Monsters Inc. (2001). And though this is a sweet, clever, gorgeously animated movie I?d be glad to take my kid to on a Saturday afternoon, I?m not sure it?s one I?d insist all my grownup friends drop what they?re doing to see.

Directed by Cars co-writer Dan Scanlon, the film revisits several of the main characters from Monsters Inc., back in their formative days at the titular alma mater. Mike Wazowski, the green walking eyeball voiced by Billy Crystal; and James P. ?Sulley? Sullivan, the shaggy purple-and-blue behemoth voiced by John Goodman; are back, as is their nemesis, the sneaky four-handed lizard Randall Boggs (voiced by Steve Buscemi). The story folds in elements of college movies from Animal House to Revenge of the Nerds, imagining a stratified big-monster-on-campus culture in which the BMOCs, proud of their superior scariness, lord it over their cuddlier, less threatening classmates.

To refresh your memory about the logic by which the Monsters universe functions: The chief power source in this world of diversely shaped weirdos consists of the screams of human children, whom the monsters sneak up on nightly through magic doors connecting the two universes. (As ingeniously thought through in the first movie, it all makes a kind of sense.) This time around, we learn that being a ?scarer? is one of the most prestigious and desirable jobs in the monster world, which makes Monsters University, among other things, a film about the anxieties of meritocracy. Shy, nerdy, minuscule Mike has dreamed since childhood of becoming a world-class scarer. He eschews frat parties to bone up on his sneaking and roaring technique, the better to impress the fearsome Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren, wonderfully animated as a dour, glowering centipede).

Sulley, on the other hand, comes from a legendary family of scarers, and he?s lazily resting on his laurels as a big, furry dude with a naturally loud roar. When they?re both kicked out of the scaring program for picking a fight with each other in class, Mike and Sulley find themselves rooming together at the hopelessly uncool Oozma Kappa frat house (whose misfit denizens, including a U-shaped Muppetlike creature voiced by Charlie Day, are among the best things in the movie).

Monster U?s biggest mistake is to make its chief conflict a monster-on-monster one?the annual running of the university?s intramural Scare Games, in which the pitiful Oozma Kappa team must take on the sneering jocks of Roar Omega Roar. Monsters Inc. focused instead on the relationship between Sulley and the little girl he accidentally brought across the threshold into the monster world. The notion of children as tiny, toxic beings capable of making even the most imposing monster don a hazmat suit has an understandable Bizarro World appeal for children (and a different kind of appeal for adults, who may on occasion experience kids as precisely that alien and frightening). Monsters University doesn?t truck in that kind of rich, fairy-tale?like symbolic meaning?in essence, it?s a sports movie, a simple, inspirational story of monster friendship, teamwork, and pluck. I?m not sure I needed to revisit Mike and Sulley?s world 12 years later (or, looked at from their point of view, earlier). But once you find yourself whisked over the threshold, it?s a colorful, funny, charming place to spend an afternoon.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2013/06/monsters_university_the_monsters_inc_prequel_reviewed.html

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5 Exercise Excuses And How To Beat Them! | Lucille Roberts Health ...

It?s a new day and you start out with all intentions of hitting the gym and getting in your daily exercise. But somewhere along the way thoughts like, ?I?m too busy? or ?I don?t have the energy? stop you from working out. Sound familiar?

Put and end to your exercise excuses with these helpful tips and tricks!

1. ?I don?t have the time?

Most people who use this excuse make time for things like vegging out in front of the TV, or constantly scrolling through their Instagram feed. The truth is, the U.S. Surgeon General recommends that the average adult get 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week ? that?s only ?about 30 minutes daily!

We would suggest getting in a full 30 minutes of working out every day, but if you really are pressed for time here are some tips.

• Break up the time into 10 minute exercise segments throughout the course of the day
• Do squats, lunges, pushups etc. during the commercial breaks of your favorite show.
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Take a brisk walk during your lunch break at work.

2. ?I?m too tired?

Okay, this might sound a little crazy but, exercising actually makes you feel energized! When you exercise your body releases the feel-good hormones called endorphins and your circulation increases making you feel more awake.

I know after a long day of work, the last thing you want to do is hit the gym. In this case, exercising in the morning might be the best option for you. If you still struggle to get up and get moving, use a trick that?s worked for me many times before. Tell yourself, ?I?m going to exercise for just 15 minutes?. More often than not, after that first 15 minutes are over I?m in the workout-zone and ready to do a complete workout!

3. ?It?s boring?

The key to exercising and building a workout routine that you can stick to is doing things that you truly enjoy. If you don?t like to dance, then taking a Zumba class probably isn?t the best exercise option for you.

Tailor your workouts to suit your needs and wants. Whether it be running, playing a sport, taking group classes, or at-home workout DVD?s, try out different forms of exercise to find what you love to do ? while also breaking a sweat!

4. ?I don?t know what to do at the gym?

If you?re a newbie at the gym, it can be an intimidating place. Always remember that at some point or another your fellow gym-goers were new to this as well! If you?re unsure of what to do at the gym, enlist in the help of a fit friend. She?ll be able to help you get started and motivate you to workout.

If you?re taking a group fitness class, arrive early or stay later to speak with the instructor about any questions you may have. Their job is to help you get in tip-top shape, so don?t be shy about approaching them!

Having a personal trainer is another great way to learn the ropes of the gym. A trainer will teach you all the basic exercise moves, show you how to use equipment, etc. Perfect for someone that likes one-on-one demonstrations and training!

5. ?My kids get in the way of my exercise routine?

Having children is certainly a blessing, but trying to fit in a workout around not only your schedule but theirs as well can be a challenge. When possible, try to exercise before your kids wake up or after they?ve gone to bed. It may sound like a pain, but many parents admit that it is the only time that they are able to squeeze in an uninterrupted workout session.

Another option is to exercise with your kids! Whether it?s helping them practice for a sport or playing a game of tag ? get moving together. Exercising with your children is a great bonding experience that will also teach them the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle.

?

Source: http://www.lucilleroberts.com/blog/http%3A/www.lucilleroberts.com/blog/5-exercise-excuses-and-how-to-beat-them/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-exercise-excuses-and-how-to-beat-them

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Back On Track: 5 Tips For Getting Back Into A Fitness Routine

Back On Track
5 Tips For Getting Back Into A Fitness Routine
By: Taylor Ryan

A note from Mandy?

Allow me to introduce you to a new friend that I met on the internet ? the beautiful and inspirational Taylor Ryan. She contacted me out of the blue and requested an interview with me to feature on her website. After chatting with her for just a few moments, we became fast friends! (You can see the whole interview here.)

Since she is an expert in the area of fitness, I thought it would be great to feature her here to share some tips with you from the perspective a personal trainer. I?ve even been implementing her tips myself! Whether you are just starting out on a fitness routine or getting back on track from an injury or sickness, I pray that this article gives you a fresh outlook on moving your body more and thriving?

Be blessed, be healthy, and be inspired,

~ Mandy

Hi! Before I begin let me start off by thanking Mandy for giving me the opportunity to visit today and share my fitness passion with you. My name is Taylor Ryan and I am a certified personal trainer and blogger at Lifting Revolution.

Like Mandy, I work very hard to not only talk the talk of a health professional, but to walk the walk. I love what exercise can do for not only the physical body but the mental as well.

Mandy asked me to share some tips on getting back into exercise after taking a hiatus.

Perhaps you?ve nursed an injury, have recently recovered from illness, or maybe you just haven?t felt like working out lately. It doesn?t matter which, my advice will be the same.

1. The Toe Dipping Approach To Getting Back Into Fitness

How do you get into a swimming pool? Personally, I?m the type who eases in slowly. First, the toes, then I allow my knees to meet the water and slowly lower down until I am forced to take a deep breath and let the water passes over my belly button. It might take 2 minutes longer than my husband who prefers to canon ball in, but I feel my way is the best.

For today?s blog post, I am 100% sure it?s the best.

The biggest mistake I see people making after taking time off from the gym or getting started completely, is doing too much too soon: Canon balling in.

You set expectations for yourself to be able to pick up where you left off. And when you don?t come close to meeting those expectations you?re left feeling weak, embarrassed, disappointed, and very, very sore.

What can you do to avoid the canon ball effect? Follow these tips:

2. Forget the past and focus on today.

Avoid thoughts such as ?before, I was able to do?? Who cares. Instead, think about what you?re able to do today. You?re starting from scratch, without expectations.

Simply be thankful for the ability to be back in the workout saddle. Do not be disappointed with your performance. See it as a stepping stone towards a progressive path.

3. Patient With Recoveries

Just because you want to workout 5 days a week, doesn?t mean you should start off that way. Getting back into fitness will take a toll on your body and you might wake up a tad more sore or tired than you would expect following a workout day. Allow for proper recovery time between, even if that means taking an extra rest day.

A good rule of thumb is to start out with the goal to workout half as much as you really want to. If you intend to workout 5 days a week, start off with 2-3. As you get stronger, you can progress to 4 and then 5.

4. Don?t Neglect A Balanced Workout

It?s a common misconception that starting with just cardio is the best plan of action. Perhaps you feel that it?s important to drop a few pounds with running and increase your endurance before heading into the weight room to start a toning regiment?

The truth is that cardio and strength training work hand in hand to create a balanced workout that will deliver the most bang for your buck.

Cardio will build endurance and stamina, however strength training will work the muscles, strengthen joints and bones; increase overall metabolism and help you to burn more fat faster than cardio alone.

Start off with body weight exercises such as squats, push-ups and lunges. Your own body weight can deliver plenty of resistance to see results.

5. Listen To Your Body

This is the easiest piece of advice, yet the hardest to follow. Your body will tell you when you need to back off or when you need to push down on the gas a little more. But, you have to be willing to listen.

If something hurts, don?t do it. If something makes you feel uncomfortable, avoid it. And if you begin to get the ?oh wow, the room is spinning? feeling, then slow down, grab some water and decide if it?s time to call it a day.

At the end of each day remember to be thankful to have the ability to push your body. Your body might not enjoy it at first, but with time you will begin to feel like your old self again and ready to take on much larger challenges.

And of course make sure your doctor gives you the okay!

Good luck!

?

Taylor Ryan is a NASM certified personal trainer and weight loss specialist. She lives in Charleston, SC where she runs an 8 location boot camp business. She is also the creator of the women?s online fitness studio, Fit Womens Weekly. You can get more from Taylor at her blog,Lifting Revolution.

Tagged as: Be Inspired, Exercise, Health & Wellness, Inspiration, overcoming CF

Source: http://mandybanderson.com/back-on-track-5-tips-for-getting-back-into-a-fitness-routine

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Researchers determine factors that influence spinach contamination pre-harvest

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

A team of researchers from Texas and Colorado has identified a variety of factors that influence the likelihood of E. coli contamination of spinach on farms prior to harvest. Their research is published in the July 2013 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"Microbial contamination of produce seems strongly influenced by the time since the last irrigation, the workers' personal hygiene and the field's use prior to planting of produce," says first author Sangshin Park of Texas A&M University, College Station. "These factors, together with the role of weather in produce contamination should be the targets of future research efforts to design cost-effective strategies for control of produce contamination."

E. coli contamination of spinach on farms in Colorado and Texas was 172 times more likely if the produce field was within 10 miles of a poultry farm, and 64 times more likely if irrigated by pond water, says Park.

As E. coli is commonly used as an indicator of fecal contamination with food-borne pathogens, the practice of hygieneavailability of portable toilets and hand-washing stations for workers in the fields and the absence of grazing or hay production on the fields prior to planting spinach, reduced the risk seven-fold.

Other potential risk factors tested in the study included numbers of workers, farm size, organic vs. conventional production, the use of chemical fertilizers, compost, and manure, says Park. The researchers assayed 955 spinach samples from 12 farms in the two states, finding that generic E. coli was present on 63 of them (6.6 percent).

Of particular note, the researchers tested their statistical model for spinach contamination to determine how accurately it was able to pinpoint the level of contamination. "The assessment of the predictive performance of a developed statistical model is largely omitted from food safety studies," says Park. Their methodology may serve as a useful template for future investigations of contamination on farms, he says.

"Because produce is commonly consumed raw, it would be best to prevent pre-harvest contamination by food-borne pathogens all together or at least to reduce it," says Park.

###

A copy of the article can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0613b.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

---

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

Public release date: 20-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

A team of researchers from Texas and Colorado has identified a variety of factors that influence the likelihood of E. coli contamination of spinach on farms prior to harvest. Their research is published in the July 2013 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"Microbial contamination of produce seems strongly influenced by the time since the last irrigation, the workers' personal hygiene and the field's use prior to planting of produce," says first author Sangshin Park of Texas A&M University, College Station. "These factors, together with the role of weather in produce contamination should be the targets of future research efforts to design cost-effective strategies for control of produce contamination."

E. coli contamination of spinach on farms in Colorado and Texas was 172 times more likely if the produce field was within 10 miles of a poultry farm, and 64 times more likely if irrigated by pond water, says Park.

As E. coli is commonly used as an indicator of fecal contamination with food-borne pathogens, the practice of hygieneavailability of portable toilets and hand-washing stations for workers in the fields and the absence of grazing or hay production on the fields prior to planting spinach, reduced the risk seven-fold.

Other potential risk factors tested in the study included numbers of workers, farm size, organic vs. conventional production, the use of chemical fertilizers, compost, and manure, says Park. The researchers assayed 955 spinach samples from 12 farms in the two states, finding that generic E. coli was present on 63 of them (6.6 percent).

Of particular note, the researchers tested their statistical model for spinach contamination to determine how accurately it was able to pinpoint the level of contamination. "The assessment of the predictive performance of a developed statistical model is largely omitted from food safety studies," says Park. Their methodology may serve as a useful template for future investigations of contamination on farms, he says.

"Because produce is commonly consumed raw, it would be best to prevent pre-harvest contamination by food-borne pathogens all together or at least to reduce it," says Park.

###

A copy of the article can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0613b.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/asfm-rdf062013.php

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France threatens Google with privacy fines

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2011 file photo, the Google logo is seen on the carpet at Google France offices before its inauguration, in Paris. France is giving Google three months to abide by the country's data privacy laws or be fined. The chief of the French agency that regulates information technology says that five other European countries are taking similar steps in a staggered offensive against Google's privacy policy between now and the end of July. The French agency says Spain joined France in the first wave of legal action Thursday June, 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, Pool, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2011 file photo, the Google logo is seen on the carpet at Google France offices before its inauguration, in Paris. France is giving Google three months to abide by the country's data privacy laws or be fined. The chief of the French agency that regulates information technology says that five other European countries are taking similar steps in a staggered offensive against Google's privacy policy between now and the end of July. The French agency says Spain joined France in the first wave of legal action Thursday June, 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, Pool, File)

PARIS (AP) ? France is giving Google three months to be more upfront about the data it collects from users ? or be fined. Other European countries aren't far behind.

Now it's up to Google to decide whether the relatively small fines are enough of an incentive to rethink its privacy rules ? the Internet giant risks a ?300,000 euro ($402,180) penalty in France.

Europe's a big market, but one where Google has no serious competition.

However, the company does have a reputation problem when it comes to protecting user privacy. Thursday's legal action puts new pressure on Google, which is smarting from criticism over providing customer data to the U.S. government as part of its fight against foreign terrorists.

The French agency that regulates information technology says that five other European countries are taking similar steps in a staggered offensive against Google's privacy policy between now and the end of July. It says Google largely ignored earlier recommendations from European regulators.

The French National Commission on Computing and Freedom, known as CNIL, says Spain joined France in the first wave of legal action Thursday, and that Britain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands will join in the coming weeks.

The legal action accelerates a long-running European fight against Google over privacy, which is more rigorously protected in many European countries than in Google's homeland, the United States.

A spokesman for Google said Thursday that it believes its privacy practices respect European laws.

"We have engaged fully with the authorities involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward," said Al Verney.

Paris' formal warning gives the company three months to make changes to its privacy practices. They include specifying to users what it is using personal data for, and how long it's held.

Regulators also want Google to let users opt out of having their data centralized ? for example, when data from online searches, Gmail and YouTube are crunched into a single location.

If not, Google risks a fine of up to 300,000 euros by France, which could eventually mean millions of euros in penalties across all six countries. By comparison, Google's revenues were $14 billion in the first quarter of this year, much of that from advertising ? which is boosted by the Internet giant's ability to target users based on what they read, watch and buy online.

In Britain, the Information Commissioner's Office said its investigation into whether Google's privacy policy complies with UK law is still underway and it will soon contact Google about its preliminary findings.

Spain's data protection agency did not have immediate comment on the French statement. The Dutch privacy watchdog, the College for the Protection of Personal Data, said it is investigating Google's "privacy conditions" but spokeswoman Lysette Rutgers declined further comment while the investigation is ongoing.

France's data protection agency led a European investigation last year into Google's privacy policy.

"French law demands that when you're collecting information about someone, you need to collect it for a precise reason," said CNIL president Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin.

She said the outcry about the role of Google and other online players in government surveillance illustrates that users want transparency about where their data goes.

Google's image has suffered since it was identified this month as one of nine U.S. Internet companies that gave the National Security Agency access to data on its customers, as part of the agency's efforts to track foreign threats to U.S. national security. Revelations about the program, known as PRISM, by a former NSA contractor has opened a debate about the privacy of Americans' communications.

In the European privacy dispute, Nick Pickles of Britain-based watchdog Big Brother Watch said, "There's a real worry that (the European fines) won't be a particularly strong deterrent, that Google may see it as a price of doing business."

"People shouldn't be able to ignore people's rights and the law, make huge profits and then continue acting as if nothing was amiss," he said.

Pickles noted that many European countries are limited by laws on data protection that date from before Google was even born 15 years ago.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding proposed last year that the maximum penalties for privacy matters be raised from the current ?600,000 to 2 percent of a company's global sales.

The legal action could also impact huge trans-Atlantic trade negotiations that President Obama announced on Monday.

In the wake of the NSA data snooping scandal, several EU officials and politicians want data protection issues to be at the heart of the trade talks. The U.S. Ambassador to the EU expressed concern Thursday that privacy issues shouldn't dominate the talks.

___

Raf Casert in Brussels, Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Greg Katz in London and Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-20-Europe-Google/id-4b634d94b23d4b48abe6854a6c247666

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Microsoft backtracks on Xbox One DRM and "always online ...

Microsoft has announced it will remove DRM restrictions on?Xbox One?games and the need for you to have the Xbox One "always online".

Sources told?whathifi.com earlier today that Microsoft was set to announce the changes, with games developers being informed first.

A post on Xbox.com now confirms the changes: "An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games ? After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24-hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

"Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today ? There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360."

The post by Don Mattrick, President, Interactive Entertainment Business, thanked people who posted "feedback" for their "assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One".?

The Xbox One was announced last week at E3 alongside the new PS4, with Sony's new PlayStation drawing first blood thanks to the higher Xbox One price and apparent restrictions surrounding games and offline play.

Microsoft announced that users would need to connect the Xbox One to the internet once every 24 hours in order to keep playing.?

DRM (digital rights management) would also seemingly restrict you from sharing Xbox One games with friends or indeed selling them on second-hand.?

Sony was quick to capitalise, changing the PS4 launch to poke fun at the Xbox One's perceived restrictive nature and highlighting the fact that there would be no such issues aroud the PS4 (even if PS4 games publishers' can seemingly still choose to add DRM).

It seems Microsoft has listened and has changed its mind on both DRM on Xbox One games and the always online requirement.?

Microsoft signed-off the announcement by thanking gamers for the "candid feedback", saying the Xbox team, "remained committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year."

HANDS ON: PS4 review

by?Joe Cox

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Source: http://www.whathifi.com/news/microsoft-to-back-track-on-xbox-one-games-drm-and-always-online

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FBI hunt for ex-Teamster boss Hoffa's remains ends

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) ? The excavation of a field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI announced Wednesday, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.

Authorities stopped the dig after just a few hours on the third day.

"We did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa," said Robert Foley, head of the FBI in Detroit.

"I am very confident of our result here after two-days plus of diligent effort," he said. "As of this point, we'll be closing down the excavation operation."

Authorities have pursued multiple leads as to Hoffa's whereabouts since his disappearance in 1975. He was last seen outside an Oakland County restaurant where he was to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit Mafia captain.

The latest tip about Hoffa's remains came from reputed Mafia captain Tony Zerilli, who, through his lawyer, David Chasnick, said Hoffa was buried beneath a concrete slab in a barn in Oakland Township, north of Detroit.

The barn is gone, but FBI agents on Monday starting poring over the field where it used to stand.

"At the end of the day, everything Zerilli said is credible ? whether (Hoffa's remains are) still there and they missed it or not," Chasnick told The Associated Press Wednesday afternoon. "He knew about the barn. He knew about the cement.

Zerilli is "still is convinced it's there," Chasnick said. "I would have felt a lot better if they had done the whole area. What if they went five feet over one way? Ten feet the other way?"

On Tuesday, authorities used a backhoe to dig and move dirt around in the section of land. Authorities also called in forensic anthropologists from Michigan State University and cadaver dogs from the Michigan State Police.

"Certainly, we're disappointed" in the results, Foley told reporters Wednesday.

He said about 40 agents were involved in an operation that covered about an acre. The FBI has not put a cost on the search, but Foley said it's more important to solve a case.

"With any investigation we consider cost-benefits analysis," he said. "The FBI and its partners are no corporations. We do not have a profit margin as a bottom line."

Detroit FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet said Wednesday that there was no connection between the dig for Hoffa's remains and an excavation on Tuesday at the house in New York once occupied by gangster James Burke. Burke, a Lucchese crime family associate known as "Jimmy the Gent," was the inspiration for Robert De Niro's character in the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie "Goodfellas."

Hoffa's rise in the Teamsters, his 1964 conviction for jury tampering and his presumed murder are Detroit's link to a time when organized crime, public corruption and mob hits held the nation's attention. Over the years, authorities have received various tips, leading the FBI to possible burial sites near and far.

In 2003, a backyard swimming pool was dug up 90 miles northwest of Detroit. Seven years ago, a tip from an ailing federal inmate led to a two-week search and excavation at a horse farm in the same region. Last year, soil samples were taken from under the concrete floor of a backyard shed north of the city. And detectives even pulled up floorboards at a Detroit house in 2004.

No evidence of Hoffa was found.

Other theories have suggested he was entombed in concrete at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, ground up and thrown in a Florida swamp or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant.

Zerilli, now 85, was in prison for organized crime when Hoffa disappeared. But he told New York TV station WNBC in January that he was informed about Hoffa's whereabouts after his release. Chasnick has said Zerilli is "intimately involved" with people who know where the body is buried.

Details are in a manuscript Zerilli is selling online.

"He wants the story to come out," said Chasnick.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-hunt-ex-teamster-boss-hoffas-remains-ends-145049888.html

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Unusual supernova is doubly unusual for being perfectly normal

June 19, 2013 ? August, 2011, saw the dazzling appearance of the closest and brightest Type Ia supernova since Type Ia's were established as "standard candles" for measuring the expansion of the universe. The brilliant visitor, labeled SN 2011fe, was caught by the Palomar Transient Factory less than 12 hours after it exploded in the Pinwheel Galaxy in the Big Dipper.

Easy to see through binoculars, 2011fe was soon dubbed the Backyard Supernova. Major astronomical studies from the ground and from space followed close on its heels, recording its luminosity and colors as it rapidly brightened and then slowly faded away.

The international Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), led by Greg Aldering of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has now released a unique dataset based on 32 nights of repeated observations of 2011fe with the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph (SNIFS), built by the SNfactory's partners in Lyon and Paris, France, and mounted on the University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter telescope on Mauna Kea. The observations began two weeks before the supernova reached its peak brightness and continued for over three months after maximum light had passed.

"We'd never before seen a Type Ia supernova this early," says Aldering, a cosmologist in Berkeley Lab's Physics Division. "Our measurements showed how remarkably normal 2011fe is."

SNfactory member Rui Pereira of the Institut de Physique Nucl?aire de Lyon says that the collected data "will be the benchmark atlas for all future studies of Type Ia's." Pereira is the lead author of the article presenting the observations in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Why a perfectly normal supernova is so odd

Type Ia supernovae aren't so much standard candles as "standardizable" ones. Graphs of how their brightness and spectral features change over time -- their light curves -- vary, but because timing and brightness are related, the light curves can be stretched (or squeezed) to match the standard. SN 2011fe's light curve falls right in the peak of the distribution -- as astrophysicists say, it has "stretch 1."

Rollin Thomas, of Berkeley Lab's Computational Research Division, was deeply involved in the 2011fe analysis. As new data arrived from the telescope each night he recalls thinking "please don't be peculiar, please don't be peculiar," and was pleased to find that the supernova was so normal.

2011fe not only looks like a textbook case, it passes important tests. Its brightness at different times (epochs) could be accurately recorded because the distance to its home galaxy had been measured independently, and there was little or no dust in the line of sight to affect color or brightness.

Normal as it is, however, 2011fe's light curve doesn't match the leading computational models, none of which fit the SNfactory data. Given the unavoidable uncertainties of supernova observation, says Aldering, "to date it has been a little too easy to cobble data together, depending on what you think it should be." The SNfactory's benchmark atlas raises the bar. "From now on researchers won't be able to arbitrarily tweak knobs in their models."

The 2011fe gold-standard atlas will help answer many longstanding questions about Type Ia supernovae, including the progenitors of these titanic thermonuclear explosions and the mechanisms of the explosions themselves.

The single degenerate model of Type Ia progenitors posits a single white dwarf that steals extra mass from a large companion star. (Electron "degeneracy" is a result of tight packing of atoms in a white dwarf.) In the resulting supernova explosion there should be signs of interaction with the companion, or what's left of it. In the double degenerate model, two white dwarfs collide. The resulting supernova would show no signs of interaction with a companion.

"The 2011fe observations can be used to test these models," says Aldering. "For 2011fe, the existing models of the double-degenerate scenario agreed best at some epochs, but the single-degenerate scenario was better at others. And for some epochs both agreed very poorly with the data, suggesting these models have a way to go."

The 2011fe data also point to unburned carbon as characteristic of the spectrum of a normal Type Ia. The finding adds support for a particular model, "pure turbulent deflagration," compared to two-stage explosions that would eliminate most excess carbon.

Carbon surviving from the original white dwarf indicates that different supernovae burn material with a range of different efficiencies when they explode. Methods for detecting unburned carbon, which may often have been missed in the past, are suggested by the 2011fe data.

In sum, says Aldering, "The SN 2011fe atlas offers unprecedented detail and a solid point of reference for Type Ia physics. We've never had data like this. It's a dream opportunity to stimulate deeper thinking about these markers of the expansion of the universe."

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t9ZWOrUtCc

This work was supported by DOE's Office of Science; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics (IN2P3) and National Institute for Earth Sciences and Astronomy (INSU); the French National Program of Cosmology and Galaxies (PNCG); and the Transregional Research Center, "The Dark Universe" (TRR33), of the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/2ATn3V-zLwE/130619122125.htm

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AP EXCLUSIVE: Taliban offer to free US soldier

FILE - This file image provided by IntelCenter on Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 shows a frame grab from a video released by the Taliban containing footage of a man believed to be Bowe Bergdahl, left. A Taliban spokesman, Shaheen Suhail, in an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from the newly opened Taliban offices in Doha, Qatar, said Thursday, June 20, 2013, that they are ready to hand over U.S. soldier Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The U.S. is scrambling to save talks with the Taliban after angry complaints from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. (AP Photo/IntelCenter, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: INTELCENTER; NO SALES; EDS NOTE: "INTELCENTER" AT LEFT TOP CORNER ADDED BY SOURCE

FILE - This file image provided by IntelCenter on Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 shows a frame grab from a video released by the Taliban containing footage of a man believed to be Bowe Bergdahl, left. A Taliban spokesman, Shaheen Suhail, in an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from the newly opened Taliban offices in Doha, Qatar, said Thursday, June 20, 2013, that they are ready to hand over U.S. soldier Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The U.S. is scrambling to save talks with the Taliban after angry complaints from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. (AP Photo/IntelCenter, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: INTELCENTER; NO SALES; EDS NOTE: "INTELCENTER" AT LEFT TOP CORNER ADDED BY SOURCE

FILE -- The image of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, who is being held captive in Afghanistan, is worn by an audience member as Bergdahl's father Bob, not pictured, speaks at the annual Rolling Thunder rally for POW/MIA awareness, in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012. A Taliban spokesman, Shaheen Suhail, in an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from the newly opened Taliban offices in Doha, Qatar, said Thursday, that they are ready to hand over U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The U.S. is scrambling to save talks with the Taliban after angry complaints from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Bergdahl family and released by the Idaho National Guard shows Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, of Ketchum, Idaho. A Taliban spokesman, Shaheen Suhail, in an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from the newly opened Taliban offices in Doha, Qatar, said Thursday, that they are ready to hand over U.S. soldier Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The U.S. is scrambling to save talks with the Taliban after angry complaints from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. (AP Photo/The Bergdahl Family, File)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) ? The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. army soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.

The offer follows this week's official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.

The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.

In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said on Thursday that Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition. "

Suhail did not elaborate on Bergdahl's current whereabouts.

Bergdahl's parents earlier this month received a letter from their son who turned 27 on March 28 through the International Committee of the Red Cross. They did not release details of the letter but renewed their plea for his release.

The prisoner exchange is the first item on the Taliban's agenda before even opening peace talks, added Suhail, who was first secretary at the Afghan Embassy in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad before the Taliban government's ouster in 2001.

"First has to be the release of detainees, Sukhail said when asked about Bergdahl. "Yes. It would be an exchange. Then step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward."

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected in Doha ahead of Saturday's conference on the Syrian civil war.

While in Qatar, Kerry is also expected to meet with the Taliban, who opened their political office earlier this week.

But complications set in almost immediately when Afghan President Hamid Karzai became infuriated by the Taliban's move to cast their new office in Doha as a rival embassy.

The Taliban held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday in which they hoisted their flag and a banner with the name they used while in power more than a decade ago: "Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

Karzai pulled out of the talks and suspended negotiations with the United States on a bilateral security agreement that would cover those U.S. troops who remained behind after the final withdrawal of NATO combat troops at the end of 2014.

Suhail said the Taliban are insistent that they want their first interlocutors to be the United States.

"First we talk to the Americans about those issues concerning the Americans and us and for those issues implementation is only in the hands of the Americans," he said.

"We want foreign troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan," he added. "If there are troops in Afghanistan then there will be a continuation of the war."

____

Kathy Gannon is AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be reached at www.twitter.com/kathygannon

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-20-Afghanistan-Taliban-Talks/id-a91ddc25c6c34b71a1b5ad890c6f6627

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Jack White, Kitty, Joe Jonas win at O Music Awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Jack White, Kitty and Joe Jonas are among the winners of the O Music Awards.

The off-kilter 24-hour awards show hosted by the MTV family of networks wrapped up Thursday night. White won the analog genius award. Kitty was named best web-born artist, Jonas won best artist Instagram and Yoko Ono took the digital genius award.

MTV, CMT and VH1 hosted 24 hours of performances from artists like Asher Monroe, Gavin DeGraw and Atlas Genius in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. Andrew WK also set a record by drumming continuously for 24 hours with assistance from Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and others.

And fans voted to give the band Darling Parade the opportunity to perform during MTV's Video Music Awards weekend in August. Other winners included Avicii and Linkin Park.

___

Online:

http://mtv.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-20-Music-O%20Music%20Awards/id-88f5cf55c2b6495d9af2232be18f629f

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FBI ends Michigan search for Hoffa's remains

Investigators stand at the scene in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 where officials attempt to restore the field to its natural condition after the FBI stopped the search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains. The FBI had been digging and searching for three days for the remains of Teamsters union president Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Investigators stand at the scene in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 where officials attempt to restore the field to its natural condition after the FBI stopped the search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains. The FBI had been digging and searching for three days for the remains of Teamsters union president Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

A trailer arrives at the scene of the search by the FBI in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 where Robert Foley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit division, announced the FBI was ending the search operations for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa. Authorities have pursued multiple leads as to Hoffa's whereabouts since his disappearance in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Law enforcement officials walk back to the search area after Robert Foley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit division, addressed the media in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 and announced the FBI was ending the search operations for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)a

Robert Foley, center, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit division, addresses the media in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 where he announced the FBI was ending the search operations for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Robert Foley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit division, addresses the media in Oakland Township, Mich., Wednesday, June 19, 2013 where he announced the FBI was ending the search operations for the remains of Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa who disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) ? Beneath a swimming pool, under a horse farm and now a weed-grown field north of Detroit. For at least the third time in a decade, FBI agents grabbed shovels and combed through dirt and mud in the search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains or clues to the disappearance of the former Teamsters boss.

Once again, the search was futile.

"Certainly, we're disappointed," Detroit FBI chief Robert Foley told reporters Wednesday as federal and local authorities wrapped up another excavation that failed to turn up anything that could be linked to Hoffa, who has been missing since 1975.

Many people interested in the mystery assume Hoffa ran afoul of the mob and was whacked.

"Right now the case remains open," Foley said. "At this point, if we do get logical leads and enough probable cause that warrant the resources to do an investigation, then we'll continue to do so."

The latest search for Hoffa's remains was prompted by a tip from reputed ex-Mafia captain Tony Zerilli. About 40 FBI agents searched a small field surrounded by trees and a gravel road in Oakland Township. With the aid of a backhoe, they spent about 10 hours in the field Monday and another 10 Tuesday before calling it quits about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"We're always hopeful that we'll get a lead that will lead us to a position in which we can conclude this investigation," said Foley, "both for the process of justice but also for the family."

Hoffa was last seen on July 30, 1975, when he was to meet with reputed Detroit mob enforcer Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone and alleged New Jersey mob figure Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano at a restaurant in Bloomfield Township, north of Detroit. The 62-year-old Hoffa never was seen or heard from again.

His rise in the Teamsters, his 1964 conviction for jury tampering and his presumed murder are Detroit's link to a time when organized crime, public corruption and mob hits held the nation's attention.

In 2003, authorities dug beneath an underground pool at a home in Michigan's Thumb area for a briefcase an informant said contained a syringe and possible evidence that Hoffa might have been injected with drugs or poison.

Three years later, the FBI spent 13 days searching a horse farm in Oakland County's Milford Township, northwest of Detroit, for Hoffa's remains.

Two other searches didn't involve any digging.

In 2004, detectives pulled up floorboards at a Detroit house, and last September, authorities drilled for soil samples in the floor of a shed in the Detroit suburb of Roseville.

Other theories have suggested Hoffa was entombed in concrete at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, ground up and thrown in a Florida swamp or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant.

Zerilli, now 85, was in prison for organized crime when Hoffa disappeared. But he told New York TV station WNBC in January that he was informed about Hoffa's whereabouts after his release. David Chasnick, Zerilli's lawyer, has said Zerilli is "intimately involved" with people who know where the body is buried.

The makeshift grave, according to Zerilli, was in a barn beneath a concrete slab in the Oakland Township field. The barn is gone, but the slab remains.

"At the end of the day, everything Zerilli said is credible ? whether (Hoffa's remains are) still there and they missed it or not," Chasnick told The Associated Press Wednesday afternoon. "He knew about the barn. He knew about the cement."

Chasnick said Zerilli still is convinced that whatever remains of Hoffa can be found somewhere among the high grass, thickets and crickets.

"I'd like to put a final nail in the coffin ? that they searched the whole field. There is always an open-ended question."

Foley said agents pored over about an acre in their 2 ?-day search. The effort included help from forensic anthropologists at Michigan State University and Michigan State Police cadaver-sniffing dogs.

"We did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa," Foley said. "I am very confident of our result here after two-days-plus of diligent effort."

Hoffa's son, James P. Hoffa, is the current Teamsters president, and union spokeswoman Leigh Strope said family members "do hold out hope that they will one day learn what happened."

Detroit FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet said Wednesday that there was no connection between the dig for Hoffa's remains and an excavation Tuesday at the house in New York once occupied by gangster James Burke. Burke, a Lucchese crime family associate known as "Jimmy the Gent," was the inspiration for Robert De Niro's character in the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie "Goodfellas."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-19-Hoffa%20Search/id-0cade8c63b7a490ba3443674d5d8289d

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