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Saturday, July 13, 2013

Texas legislators to vote on abortion bill delayed by filibuster

Despite Wendy Davis' dramatic filibuster delaying Texas' abortion bill, the Republican-dominated Texas legislature is expected to support the measure which would ban most abortions for women more than 20 weeks pregnant. Just this year, 17 states passed new measures impacting abortion. NBC's Kate Snow reports.

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

Texas legislators moved Friday to overturn a temporary victory by state Democrats and standard bearer Sen. Wendy Davis, debating a bill containing new restrictions on abortions procedures.

The bill in the Republican-controlled Senate, which comes two weeks after the legislature failed to put the restrictions to a successful vote in its first special session, would ban most abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy, place new requirements on which facilities could perform the procedures, and would limit a woman?s ability to induce an abortion by taking a pill.

Abortion rights advocates, including Planned Parenthood of Texas, have said that the new law would effectively shut down all but six of the facilities where abortions are performed in the state.

Pro- and anti-abortion activists flooded the Texas Capitol on Friday afternoon, setting the stage for a dramatic ideological showdown. Abortion rights advocates wearing orange were holding gynecological devices and signs, while anti-abortion advocates dressed in blue carried images of fetuses and Bible verses, according to The Associated Press.

After 20 amendments were offered, debated and rejected, senators prepared for a vote could take place Friday evening or possibly early Saturday morning. Reporters inside the chamber said protesters could be heard chanting outside, and some protesters who were in the gallery were removed after outbursts.

As the time approached midnight, senators debated back and forth with passionate arguments on either side.

Gov. Rick Perry has made passing House Bill 2 a priority and said he will sign it into law. Democrats in the legislature have said that while there may be little they can do to stop the bill?s passage, they plan to challenge it in federal court.

?We do not have the numbers to stop it,? said Democratic Sen. Royce West of Dallas, according to The Associated Press. ?As soon as it?s signed by the governor, it will be challenged ? we believe the whole bill is unconstitutional.?

Texas is only one of several states looking to tighten rules for abortions.

Eric Gay / AP

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst strikes the gavel as the Senate adjourns on July 11 in Austin, Texas.

North Carolina's House passed a bill Thursday that directs state regulators to change standards for abortion clinics to bring them in line with more regulated outpatient surgical centers.

Missouri's governor Friday let a bill become law without his signature that requires doctors to be in the room for the initial dose of a drug used in medication abortions.

Wisconsin?s governor signed into law last week a measure similar to Texas' that forces abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. That law was blocked by a federal judge.

The biggest fireworks have come in Texas. Last month, GOP lawmakers were prevented from carrying out a vote on House Bill 2 as their first special session came to an end after Davis delivered an 11-hour filibuster that was cut short when state senators ruled she had committed three rules infractions. Raucous protests from Davis supporters in the gallery prevented lawmakers from carrying out a valid vote on the bill.

Security has been tightened in anticipation of the final vote Friday. Dozens of additional state troopers surrounded the gallery and monitored the hallways Friday, according to the AP.

Troopers inspected bags of people streaming into the halls of the capitol. Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Rick DeLeon said no props would be permitted in the gallery, including tampons, perfume bottles, and moisturizers, the AP reported.

Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin, the leader of the legislature?s Democrats, said he stepped in to prevent troopers from confiscating feminine hygiene products from women hoping to view the debate, according to the AP.

Democrats will not be able to prevent the bill from moving forward again by staging a filibuster. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he will clear the 467-person galley if necessary to get a vote.

?I hope we don?t get to that point but if we do, we do,? Dewhurst said, according to the AP. ?This is a democracy and we will not be interrupted from doing the people?s work by an unruly mob.?

The fight over the bill has drawn national attention from abortion rights advocates disturbed by the spread of new restrictions, as well as anti-abortion activists who say the new law would protect the health of mothers and fetuses.

Former contender for the GOP presidential nomination Rick Santorum appeared in Austin on Thursday, and said that ?Texas is the center of the pro-life debate in the country right now,? according to Reuters.

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This story was originally published on Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:55 AM EDT

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How Israel's war on Gaza breeds anger, grief and courage

JABALIA REFUGEE CAMP, GAZA // Musab Hijazi longs to see Suhaib, his twin brother.

They were best friends, his family said. Inseparable.

The three-year-old does not grasp what happened on the evening of November 19, when an Israeli missile exploded in the living room of the family home in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, killing three members of his family: his father, an older brother, and his twin.

"When he sees pictures of his Suhaib, he speaks to him like he's still alive," said his mother, Aamna Hijazi, in her early 40s. "We try to tell him that Suhaib is gone but he doesn't understand."

While he may be too young to comprehend the loss, Musab is not alone in struggling with the aftermath of those eight days of war last November, fought between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, which killed 158 Palestinians and six Israelis.

Scores of other children, their families and friends in this besieged territory are still wrestling with the emotional and physical trauma of losing loved ones.

The fighting started intensified after Israel assassinated a Hamas official. Gaza militants fired rockets at Israel, which responded with airstrikes on the territory.

During the holy month of Ramadan - the first since the war ended - coming to terms with such tragedy will be as difficult as ever, they said.

"We have a situation where large numbers of these people are still suffering from severe cases of post-traumatic stress disorder," said Saleh Mohsen, a mental-health counsellor at primary and secondary schools in Gaza. "The victims are in desperate need of psychological intervention, but many either don't seek out such support, or it's just not available to them."

Mr Mohsen holds group-therapy sessions for parents who lost children during the November war. In some cases, he said, they suffer from extended periods of denial.

"I counselled one man who simply didn't believe his son had died," he said. "For months after the war, he would go to the cemetery and try to dig up his son's grave because he believed he was still alive. His family would find him at the cemetery and every time, they would have to explain to him again and again that his son was gone."

Thirty-three children in Gaza were killed during the fighting, according to Defence for Children International Palestine Section, a non-governmental organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland. Most of them were killed by Israeli bombs.

On its website, the organisation says 561 children have been killed - including 352 during Israel's three-week war on Gaza that began in December 2008 - during fighting with Israel in the territory since 2005.

Beset by continuing conflict, an Israeli blockade and grinding poverty, Gaza's 1.7 million residents seldom find respite. Mr Mohsen recalled another one of his patients, a mother, who is still tormented by what she endured during the 2008-2009 war, which killed as many as 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

After an airstrike caused a fire at her home, she climbed to the upper level of the house with her four-year-old son. In panic, she threw him onto the street below, thinking that would save him from burning to death.

The child suffered a broken arm, but his mother never overcame the guilt of that decision, Mr Mohsen said.

"During our sessions, all she would do is cry and say my words are worthless, that I never had to experience what she experienced," he said.

Back in the Hijazi home, Aamna must now try to raiseb and his five brothers and sisters without her husband, Fouad. He was 46 and worked as a school security guard.

Aamna was lucky to survive the attack, but her injuries were signifcant and left her with serious disabilities. Her right shoulder was broken, her ability to walk has been impaired and after coming out of a ten-day coma, she has suffered from uncontrollable shaking in her right arm, which she said doctors cannot diagnose.

She awoke from her coma in a hospital in Egypt, where medical personnel had taken her for emergency treatment after the airstrike. Her sister-in-law then informed her about the death of Fouad and her two children, Suhaib and her four-year-old, Mohammed.

"When she told me that, for a moment all I wanted to do was die," Aamna said.

But she said she realised she had to remain strong to help raise her two daughters and four sons, including 17-year-old Ashraf. He sometimes pushes his mother in her wheelchair to the market to help with the shopping. He has become a father figure of sorts to his younger sibling.

But like many here, he also seethes with anger. Just as he vowed shortly after the war's end, Ashraf still wants to exact revenge on Israel for the attack on his family.

"I lost my father. I lost my brothers. I have to take care of the family. I am responsible for them," he said, and then added that he wants to join "the resistance."

That is exactly the urge that Ahmed Basioni, 36, wants his 17-year-old son, Nader, to resist. In November, Nader watched as shrapnel from an airstrike cut through the family home in northern Gaza and decapitate Fares, his nine-year-old brother.

Nader also sustained wounds in his leg, which have healed.

But since the attack, he dropped out of school and has been approached by members of militant factions on multiple occasions. "They're trying to recruit Nader because they know his brother is a martyr," Ahmed said.

"But fighting Israel is useless because it's always the normal people like us who die. I don't want my son to die doing something useless."

Ahmed has refused to seek offers of free psychological counselling for Nader and his family. He has instead sealed off Fares' old room, leaving all his belongings, including a birdcage, untouched. Only Ahmed enters the room from time to time, to think, he said.

"It's too painful for the family to go in there," he said.

Sealing one's self off from Gaza's reality is an act of futility, according to Shadi Abu Makthour, 29, an English teacher at a United Nations-run school in the Shijaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.

He tries to get his class of 12-year-old students to open up about their experiences during the war, even if he acknowledges such discussions may not be as therapeutic as he would like.

"How can we overcome such damage when you know you might be destroyed in the next war?" he said.

This summer, he has worked as an instructor at UN-administered youth camp in the area. On a recent day during the camp, he recalled several of his students, thinking they heard an Israeli helicopter in the distance, fleeing the scene.

"They told me they thought that another war was about to happen," he said. "These children are terrified."

For Aamna and the Hijazi family, they have done their best to rebuild their lives amid the constant threat of war and destruction. Some US$30,000 (Dh110,000) in donations from the community, including financial aid from Hamas, helped them build a new home over the remains of their destroyed one.

But Aamna worries about her family's future. Looking over Musab as he played in their new living room, she said: "I want stability, security for my family. I want them to live like human beings, to have an education.

"That's what any parent wants."

hnaylor@thenational.ae

Source: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/how-israels-war-on-gaza-breeds-anger-grief-and-courage

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Friday, July 12, 2013

India hammer Australia to win U-19 Series

Asia Pacific Star (IANS) Friday 12th July, 2013

India won the Under-19 International Series after demolishing Australia by eight wickets in the final at Marrara Oval here on Friday.

India never looked troubled in their run chase and reached Australia's total of 75 in only the 16th over to finish the series unbeaten. Sanju Samson (20 not out) and Ankush Bains (40) got the team home with 207 balls to spare.

Indian captain Vijay Zol won Player of the Series after a dominant tournament with the bat, scoring 284 runs. The Man of the Match was medium pacer Deepak Hooda, who in his 10 overs took three wickets for 22 runs.

Abhimanyu Lamba, Chama Milind and Kuldeep Yadav struck twice as Australian batting collapsed like a house of cards.

The Australian players may have spent last night watching one of last year's Australian U-19 representatives, Ashton Agar, bat his way into history in England. But they were unable to use that inspiration to produce any Agar-like heroics with the bat.

Australian fast bowler Matt Fotia was the only player to snare a five-for during the tournament and finished top of the bowling table with 10 scalps at an average of 17.20.

Sixteen-year-old Jake Doran was the best of the Aussie bats throughout the tournament with a spectacular average of 195 and an aggregate of 195 runs (second behind Zol).

Page 1 of 2 | Next

Source: http://www.asiapacificstar.com/index.php/sid/215791022/scat/4a8b544d0e80ba53

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Spitzer submits signatures to get on NYC ballot

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is surrounded by media as he tries to collect signatures for his run for New York City Comptroller in New York, Monday, July 8, 2013. Spitzer, who stepped down in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal, says he is planning a political comeback with a run for New York City comptroller. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer walks to a cab after trying to collect signatures for his run for New York City comptroller in Union Square in New York, Monday, July 8, 2013. Spitzer, who stepped down in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal, says he is planning a political comeback with a run for New York City comptroller. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer walks through Union Square while he tries to collect signatures for his run for New York City comptroller in New York, Monday, July 8, 2013. Spitzer, who stepped down in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal, says he is planning a political comeback with a run for New York City comptroller.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Eliot Spitzer has met the deadline to file thousands of petition signatures for his bid to revive his political career by running for New York City comptroller.

Spitzer said that "over 27,000 signatures" were submitted to the city Board of Elections just after 10:30 p.m. Thursday, ahead of a midnight deadline. It came just four days after the tarnished ex-governor launched his campaign.

Spitzer needs 3,750 valid petition signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot for September.

"I just want to first and foremost thank the citizens of New York that signed these petitions," Spitzer said outside the Board of Elections office in lower Manhattan. "I want to say it's an important statement for those who said it was not possible in the course of three and a half days to gather these signatures to get a candidate on the ballot for citywide office."

The filing may not be the last word. Spitzer's opponents or others could challenge signatures for reasons such as incomplete addresses or missing dates.

If that happens, elections officials will have to review the objections, hold a hearing late this month and decide whether the signatures qualify. The matter could ultimately go to court.

Spitzer, who resigned amid a prostitution scandal in 2008, startled the political establishment and shook up what had been a tame comptroller's race by jumping into it, a decision he says he just made over the weekend.

Candidates were allowed to start petitioning in early June, and many did. Campaigns generally gather two to three times as many signatures as needed, in case some are challenged as having incomplete addresses, missing dates or other flaws.

Spitzer had said he was aiming for 7,500 signatures. His self-financed campaign has offered canvassers $12 an hour to collect them; consulting firm BrownMillerGroup said a report that petitioners were getting $800 a day was inaccurate.

Stringer, meanwhile, noted that he relied on volunteer petitioners.

"One hundred thousand people signed my petition, and we didn't have to pay anybody," he said Thursday evening on TV news station NY 1's "Road to City Hall."

Spitzer and Stringer each need signers who are registered Democrats, live in the city and haven't signed another comptroller hopeful's petition. Signers must supply their names and addresses and date the forms, and signature-gatherers also have to fill out certain information.

Spitzer's four-day timeframe was certainly a challenge, political veterans said.

"It's not a lot of time. It can be done," said Martin Connor, an election lawyer and former state senator.

Meanwhile, Spitzer got encouraging news Wednesday from a poll showing he topped Stringer 42 percent to 33 percent among registered Democrats, including those leaning toward but not settled on a candidate. The Wall Street Journal-NBC 4 New York-Marist questioned 546 registered Democrats and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points for questions limited to them.

Spitzer said Wednesday night that while the poll numbers were comforting, he was aware he had more work to do.

"I'm never confident," he said. "And that is defensive politics."

Stringer campaign manager Sascha Owen expressed confidence that as more voters get to know Stringer, "he will be the obvious choice for comptroller."

Other comptroller contenders include Republican John Burnett, who has worked on Wall Street; his campaign said Thursday he'd filed about 8,000 signatures.

Petitions weren't yet due for some third-party contenders, but Libertarian Kristin Davis' campaign has collected 3,100 so far, spokesman Andrew Miller said. Adding an unusual element to the campaign, Davis is a former madam.

Green Party candidate and former teacher Julia Willebrand's campaign didn't immediately respond to a message sent through the campaign's Facebook page Thursday evening.

NBC.com lists Spitzer as a guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Friday night. The show airs at 11:35 EST.

___

Associated Press writer Ula Ilnytzky contributed to this report. Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-07-12-US-Spitzer-Comptroller/id-70a27cc30aed4a04a1f1a3ff00396ad2

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NFL Network Hires WRC's Dan Hellie

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/11/2013 2:11:58 PM

NFL Network has hired Dan Hellie to host its signature program NFL Total Access.

Hellie comes from NBC-owned WRC Washington, D.C., where he served as sports director and weekday sports anchor, hosting Redskins Showtime, the Redskins Coaches Show, Sports Final and Daily Connection. Hellie was also on location for the 2012 Summer Olympics and other events like the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, U.S. Open, Stanley Cup and MLB playoffs.

He begins Aug. 5.

"We're thrilled to add Dan's unique mix of talents to the team at NFL Network," said Eric Weinberger, NFL Network executive producer. "Coming from the D.C. market where he covered one of the league's most storied franchises for a number of years, Dan brings a unique perspective along with his reporting skills and on-camera presence."

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Research reveals Earth's core affects length of day

Public release date: 11-Jul-2013
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Contact: Sarah Stamper
sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk
01-517-943-044
University of Liverpool

Research at the University of Liverpool has found that variations in the length of day over periods of between one and 10 years are caused by processes in the Earth's core.

The Earth rotates once per day, but the length of this day varies. A yeas, 300million years ago, lasted about 450 days and a day would last about 21 hours. As a result of the slowing down of the Earth's rotation the length of day has increased.

The rotation of the earth on its axis, however, is affected by a number of other factors - for example, the force of the wind against mountain ranges changes the length of the day by plus or minus a millisecond over a period of a year.

Professor Richard Holme, from the School of Environmental Sciences, studied the variations and fluctuations in the length of day over a one to 10 year period between 1962 and 2012. The study took account of the effects on the Earth's rotation of atmospheric and oceanic processes to produce a model of the variations in the length of day on time scales longer than a year.

Professor Holme said: "The model shows well-known variations on decadal time scales, but importantly resolves changes over periods between one and 10 years. Previously these changes were poorly characterised; the study shows they can be explained by just two key signals, a steady 5.9 year oscillation and episodic jumps which occur at the same time as abrupt changes in the Earth's magnetic field, generated in the Earth's core.

He added: "This study changes fundamentally our understanding of short-period dynamics of the Earth's fluid core. It leads us to conclude that the Earth's lower mantle, which sits above the Earth's outer core, is a poor conductor of electricity giving us new insight into the chemistry and mineralogy of the Earth's deep interior."

###

The research was conducted in partnership with the Universit Paris Diderot and is published in Nature.

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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.

Research reveals Earth's core affects length of day Public release date: 11-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sarah Stamper
sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk
01-517-943-044
University of Liverpool

Research at the University of Liverpool has found that variations in the length of day over periods of between one and 10 years are caused by processes in the Earth's core.

The Earth rotates once per day, but the length of this day varies. A yeas, 300million years ago, lasted about 450 days and a day would last about 21 hours. As a result of the slowing down of the Earth's rotation the length of day has increased.

The rotation of the earth on its axis, however, is affected by a number of other factors - for example, the force of the wind against mountain ranges changes the length of the day by plus or minus a millisecond over a period of a year.

Professor Richard Holme, from the School of Environmental Sciences, studied the variations and fluctuations in the length of day over a one to 10 year period between 1962 and 2012. The study took account of the effects on the Earth's rotation of atmospheric and oceanic processes to produce a model of the variations in the length of day on time scales longer than a year.

Professor Holme said: "The model shows well-known variations on decadal time scales, but importantly resolves changes over periods between one and 10 years. Previously these changes were poorly characterised; the study shows they can be explained by just two key signals, a steady 5.9 year oscillation and episodic jumps which occur at the same time as abrupt changes in the Earth's magnetic field, generated in the Earth's core.

He added: "This study changes fundamentally our understanding of short-period dynamics of the Earth's fluid core. It leads us to conclude that the Earth's lower mantle, which sits above the Earth's outer core, is a poor conductor of electricity giving us new insight into the chemistry and mineralogy of the Earth's deep interior."

###

The research was conducted in partnership with the Universit Paris Diderot and is published in Nature.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/uol-rre071113.php
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Mars 2020: NASA's going bold ? on a budget

Mars 2020: NASA's next rover will search for signs of ancient life on Mars and stockpile the evidence for an eventual return to Earth. To save money, NASA will borrow hardware and designs from the successful Mars Curiosity rover.?

By Liz Fuller-Wright,?Correspondent / July 10, 2013

Mars 2020 will reuse the design and engineering work done for the NASA rover Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012, but with new science instruments to accomplish different science objectives.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

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For many, the pinnacle of Mars research would be sending human scientists to explore the surface, gather specimens, and study them with high-tech instruments, either there or back here on Earth.

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That's what we did with the Apollo missions, and it transformed our understanding of the moon's surface. NASA's vision for Mars, announced Tuesday at a press conference at NASA's headquarters in D.C., isn't quite that grand, but it's surprisingly close ? and they're doing it on a budget.

"One of the very biggest questions for all of?humankind is, Are we alone?" asks Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a planetary scientist on the Mars 2020 science team. "And that is the question we are hoping to make really big advances?with in this Mars 2020 mission."

Here's the good news for Red Planet enthusiasts: In 2020, NASA will send a near-clone of Curiosity, the wildly successful robot currently exploring Mars, to some really juicy terrain where life may once have flourished.

The even better news, if you're rooting to send people there: The mission will test out equipment that humans will need on Mars, a concrete step toward President Obama's stated goal of having humans on Mars by the mid-2030s.

While exploring, the Mars 2020 rover will stockpile the most interesting specimens it finds and keep them on ice for a future sample-return mission.

"Those samples are going to have an enormous impact on our understanding of planetary science," says Jack Mustard, the leader of the rover's science definition team.

NASA won't say exactly when or how those samples will be transported to Earth, prompting speculation that the rocks will wait for those human geologists. It's possible that they'll be flown back by a future unmanned mission, although the US has never accomplished a robotic sample-return mission. Soviet scientists did it three times in the 1970s, bringing moon rocks and dust back to Moscow in 1970, 1972, and 1976.

Don't worry that the specimens will die while waiting for their ticket to Earth: the rover isn't looking for anything currently alive. After all, odds are good that anything living on Mars right now would be deep underground, and we don't even begin to know where to look. (Wandering the planet and shouting, "Here, little bacteria! Here, little bacteria!" seems like a waste.)

Instead, the rover will look for ancient life. As NASA's John Grunsfeld said during Tuesday's press conference, "We know it had a habitable environment," but we still haven't found proof to answer the question, "Did Mars ever have life?" The rover will explore areas that used to be warm and wet and hospitable, even if they're cold and dry and barren today, and look for evidence of once-living creatures.

But here's the bad news: The budget for Mars 2020 is about $1 billion less than the budget for Curiosity, coming in at $1.5 billion. That has prompted some cost-saving measures, like recycling Curiosity's design even using some of its some spare parts. The scientific instruments will be different, but the chassis and the entire landing system ? including the nifty sky crane ? can be rebuilt with little new engineering or research.

Like a new model year of the same car, NASA has upgraded the dashboard and added heated seats, but the engine, drive shaft, and wheels are essentially the same. Also, as Curiosity has been such a roaring success, NASA's version of car insurance (funding to be held in reserve in case of emergency) is cheaper, too.

The team will tweak the landing system's design to improve the landing site precision and accuracy, says Dr. Mustard, who teaches at Brown University. He points out that NASA engineers placed Curiosity "exactly where they wanted to," but the rover still required months of trundling along at its slower-than-walking pace to get to its target, Mount Sharp. "With the new technologies we're talking about," he says, "they could land right at the base of Mount Sharp ? within spitting distance, instead of an 8-month drive away."?

"NASA is not just about science questions," says Dr. Elkins-Tanton. It's about "inspiring a whole new global generation to think big, to aspire, and to reach out."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/FIOShrSSm8c/Mars-2020-NASA-s-going-bold-on-a-budget

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Saturday, July 13, 2013

Friday, July 12, 2013

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/11/2013 2:11:58 PM

TMS

Thursday, July 11, 2013