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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/nulmys4bCBg/story01.htm
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Saturday, February 4, 2012
OverBoard waterproof case for iPad review [Giveaway]
“The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is a must-have for everything from the bath to the beach, but can be a little tough to close if your hands are covered
Friday, February 3, 2012
More charges ahead for man held in homeless deaths (AP)
SANTA ANA, Calif. ? Prosecutors said Friday they plan to file two more murder charges against an ex-Marine accused of killing 4 homeless men in Southern California.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackaukas on Friday announced the pending charges against Itzcoatl Ocampo.
Ocampo will be charged with the stabbing deaths of Raquel Estrada and her son Juan Herrera.
Charges were dropped earlier Friday against Estrada's son, 24-year-old Eder Herrera, who was arrested shortly after the October killings. A judge dismissed the charges after detectives linked Ocampo to the fatal stabbings and found that Ocampo was associated with Herrera.
Authorities earlier linked Ocampo to a killing spree in December and January targeting four homeless men: James Patrick McGillivray, 53, who was stabbed Dec. 20 near a shopping center in Placentia; Lloyd Middaugh, 42, who was found Dec. 28 near a riverbed trail in Anaheim; Paulus Smit, 57, who was stabbed to death outside a Yorba Linda library on Dec. 30; and John Berry, 64, who was stabbed to death on the day Ocampo was arrested.
Each of the four men was stabbed more than 40 times with a weapon believed to be a 7-inch, fixed-blade, military-type knife, authorities said.
Before Ocampo's Jan. 13 arrest, police fanned out across the county better known as the home to Disneyland and multimillion-dollar beachfront homes to urge the homeless to be careful and seek shelter indoors.
Ocampo has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, plus the special circumstances of multiple victims and murder by lying-in-wait.
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Panetta: US combat in Afghanistan to end next year (AP)
BRUSSELS ? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta laid out the administration's most explicit portrayal of the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan, saying Wednesday that U.S. and other international forces in Afghanistan expect to end their combat role in 2013 and continue a training and advisory role with Afghan forces through 2014.
Panetta's remarks to reporters traveling with him to a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels showed how the foreign military role in Afghanistan is expected to evolve from the current high-intensity fight against the Taliban to a support role with Afghans fully in the lead. The timeline fits neatly into the U.S. political calendar, enabling President Barack Obama to declare on the campaign trail this year that in addition to bringing all U.S. troops home from Iraq and beginning a troop drawdown in Afghanistan, he also has a target period for ending the U.S. combat role there.
It also serves to possibly bridge an apparent gap between France and the rest of the NATO partners of the U.S. on defining the end game in Afghanistan.
All NATO members in November 2010 endorsed a plan to keep forces in Afghanistan until the end of 2014. But France this week appeared to throw that plan into doubt when President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his side and seemingly in agreement, that NATO end its mission in 2013 ? one year earlier than planned.
Sarkozy also said, however, that France would provide support for the training of Afghan forces beyond 2013, so his approach might not be entirely different from the one Panetta outlined in which allied troops shed their combat role in the second half of 2013 but remain through 2014 to train, advise and assist.
Panetta said he hoped to hear more from the French delegation at the NATO talks Thursday and Friday.
Panetta called 2013 a critical year for the Afghanistan mission that has dragged on for more than a decade with little sign that the Taliban will be decisively defeated. He noted that NATO and the Afghan government intend to begin a final phase of handing off sections of the country to Afghan security control in mid-2013.
"Hopefully by the mid to latter part of 2013 we'll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise and assist role," he said. He added that this "doesn't mean we're not going to be combat-ready," but rather that the U.S. and other international forces will no longer be in "the formal combat role we're in now."
Panetta said the administration wants to make sure that the Afghan forces, after foreign troops depart, are "sufficient and sustainable," but noted that will require continuing financial support not only from the United States but also from allies and many other countries.
"One of the things we'll be discussing (in Brussels) is what the size of that (Afghan) force should be, but a lot of that will be dependent on the funds that are going to be put on the table in order to sustain that force," he said. "That's one of the things, frankly, I'm going to be pushing at this (meeting)."
A senior defense official traveling with Panetta said the U.S. believes Afghanistan will not need as big a force as is now being built. NATO has set a target of 352,000 Afghan soldiers and police. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said the U.S. thinks a smaller force would be adequate, but he would not be more specific
He likened this approach to the way Obama managed the final two years of U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Obama declared an end to the U.S. combat role there on Aug. 31, 2010 but kept tens of thousands of troops there through the end of last year to continue training and advising Iraqi security forces.
Panetta said no decisions have been made about how many U.S. troops would be required to remain there once the combat role has ended. He suggested, however, that large reductions, below the 68,000 troop level projected for this September, were unlikely in the months immediately after the shift. The U.S. now has about 91,000 troops there as part of the International Security Assistance Force. The fact that much military work will remain after 2013 "demands that we have a strong presence there," he said.
Although Panetta made no mention of it, U.S. Marines in Afghanistan already are making that transition out of a combat role. They are operating in Helmand province in southwestern Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been greatly weakened, and are on track to reduce their numbers significantly this year. Panetta's remarks indicated that this switch into a support role will be applied across Afghanistan, assuming no major setbacks against the Taliban and continued progress in training Afghan forces.
Many U.S. forces already are training and advising Afghan forces.
Marine Gen. John Allen, the overall commander of international forces in Afghanistan, has been talking publicly since last fall about converting the military role from combat to what he has called "security assistance." But Panetta went further in identifying mid- to late-2013 as the target for completing this conversion countrywide.
Panetta was in Brussels to attend a NATO meeting at which this and other issues related to the war in Afghanistan are expected to top the agenda. The session is intended to help pave the way for key decisions to be announced at a summit meeting of NATO heads of government in Chicago in May.
In Washington, a senior European diplomat said Sarkozy's initial comments caused confusion among other NATO allies. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to relate internal discussions, said the French president was referring to the shift from combat operations to a training mission in 2013, although he acknowledged that Sarkozy appeared to be calling for all operations to end next year. The diplomat said NATO plans to leave the 2014 deadline in place.
On his second trip to Europe since becoming Pentagon chief last July 1, Panetta is gathering with his counterparts at a delicate time for NATO, not only because of the uncertainty surrounding the military mission in Afghanistan but also because of a growing gap in military power between the U.S. and nearly all other European members of the alliance.
That chasm is not expected to narrow even as the U.S. reduces its defense budget by nearly $490 billion over the coming decade and reduces the size of the Army and Marine Corps.
The U.S. remains the leader of a 28-nation NATO, but the Obama administration has made no secret of its intention to shift focus toward Asia and the Middle East. It announced last week that it will remove two Army brigades from Europe in the next two years, leaving one in Germany and one in Italy. The alliance also is quietly discussing the possible withdrawal of American nuclear weapons from Europe in coming years. The nuclear issue is on the agenda for the Brussels meeting.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said last week that the two brigades being removed from Europe will be eliminated rather than reassigned to U.S. bases. Both are based in Germany ? the 172nd Infantry Brigade, in Grafenwoehr, and the 170th Infantry Brigade, in Baumholder. Odierno said that in the long run this change will benefit both the United States and its European partners because U.S. Army combat and support units will periodically rotate in and out of Europe for training and joint exercises that are designed to meet the needs of the European forces.
___
Robert Burns can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP
Associated Press writer Anne Gearan contributed to this report.
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Choose to Outsource your Work with Chemicals when Creating ...
If you are in charge of the development of biocides for a new product line, contract your work with chemicals to a fine chemical manufacturer. They have the facilities and technological know-how to handle them. Biocides use fine chemicals to kill living organisms, typically in a discerning way. Typical biocides include herbicides, pesticides, algaecides, anti-fungals and even insecticides.
Understanding Fine Chemicals and their Relation to Biocides
Fine chemicals are pure, individualistic chemicals that can only be produced commercially in small batches. Manipulating larger batches of fine chemicals may lead to a breakdown in the integrity of their chemical make-up. These chemicals are typically for specialised applications only such as new pharmaceutical drugs and biocides.
Biocides are created from different fine chemicals and work selectively. For instance, a biocide used in agriculture can be made to target only insects that feed on crops or specific weeds that are stunting or pushing out crop growth. If you work in an industry that relies on water stores for operations or product production, you may require biocides be added to the water to prevent stagnation.
Importance of Hiring a Contract Chemical Manufacturer
Because the formulas are so particular for biocides, it is essential to use a chemical manufacturer with vast experience in dealing with fine chemicals. While you can invest time and money in your own labs and chemical production facilities, why should you? This would basically eat up all your profits. By outsourcing, you are only paying for a service. Let the contractor incur the costs of training employees on the latest techniques, safety protocols and new equipment.
Another reason for outsourcing your biocide production is the risk of harming the health and environment of the workers creating your product. Manufacturers that specialise in these materials know exactly how to handle the hazardous ones. In fact, they specialise in the manufacturing, isolation and drying of an exceptional array of fine chemicals that are used in biocide production. These might include alcohols, acids, aromatic compounds, esters and amides and amines. The synthesis of organic compounds may be necessary as well as the ability to create, segregate and dry solids. The ability to handle flammable materials as well as special formulations and blending is a plus too.
Biocides require great handling and care during its development, creation and production. Because of the special treatment the fine chemicals require to develop biocides, you should hire a contract manufacturer for your chemicals.
About the Author
Learn more about http://www.witton.com, recognised chemicals manufacturer. UK businesses have been using Witton?s chemical manufacturing, storage, and supply services since 1962.
Source: http://www.ulyssis.net/archives/401
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
Romney wins big in Florida presidential primary (Reuters)
TAMPA (Reuters) ? Mitt Romney cruised to a blowout victory in Florida's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday that put him back in front in the fight for his party's nomination to face President Barack Obama and left chief rival Newt Gingrich reeling but vowing to fight on.
With 70 percent of the vote counted, Romney had 47 percent of the vote to Gingrich's 32 percent in the largest of the four Republican presidential nominating contests so far this year.
Television networks projected Romney as the winner just as the last polls closed in Florida.
The victory enabled Romney, the wealthy former Massachusetts governor and private equity firm executive, to rebound from his decisive loss to Gingrich in the January 21 South Carolina primary.
The well-funded and well-organized Romney surged in opinion polls in Florida after aggressively pressing Gingrich in two debates and pounding him with negative advertising.
The campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election now tilts in Romney's favor with seven contests in February in which he could win or do well, starting with Nevada on Saturday.
The Florida victory also may widen a rift between establishment Republicans who back Romney and conservative voters who favor Gingrich, a dynamic that could complicate the party's effort to oust Obama in November.
"As this primary unfolds, our opponents in the other party have been watching, and they like to comfort themselves with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak," Romney told a jubilant crowd in his victory speech in which he focused on Obama after two weeks of clobbering Gingrich.
"But I've got news for them. A competitive primary does not divide us. It prepares us, and we will win," Romney added.
The Florida primary was the fourth in the series of state-by-state contests to pick the Republican nominee. Romney has triumphed in two of the first four contests, having also won in New Hampshire and coming in second in Iowa and South Carolina.
Romney was helped by the millions of dollars in negative television ads against Gingrich that undermined the argument advanced by the former speaker of the House of Representatives that he is the conservative heir to Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Gingrich fought back with ads of his own, castigating Romney as a party insider and elite friend of Wall Street - and called him "for all practical purposes a liberal." But Gingrich did not have the same amount of money as Romney, who had used a similar advertising spree to cut Gingrich down to size in Iowa.
"It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader Newt Gingrich and the Massachusetts moderate," Gingrich told his supporters after the primary.
The next contest is the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, followed next Tuesday by caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and a primary in Missouri.
'THIS DOGFIGHT IN FLORIDA'
"I think both of them are damaged by this dogfight in Florida," veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins said of Romney and Gingrich. "I've never seen anything quite like it in a presidential campaign."
Winning Florida demonstrated Romney's ability to compete strongly in a major political battleground state with a broad voter base that includes a diverse electorate including Tea Party conservatives, evangelical Christians and Cuban-Americans.
He kept his focus on the U.S. economy and Florida's 9.9 percent unemployment rate, insisting his background as a private equity executive gives him the economic acumen to help the country create jobs.
"I voted for Romney. I think he'll create jobs," said Dino De Cicco, 38, of Melbourne Beach.
But the Florida campaign revealed that Republicans still hold doubts about Romney. Conservatives feel he has flip-flopped on some major issues and lacks a spine.
"Romney is not a conservative," said Richard Jeske, 66, an Orlando security guard who voted for Gingrich.
These are concerns that Gingrich hopes to take advantage of as he tries to hang on until March when a number of Southern states vote.
The defeat was a dispiriting one for Gingrich, who was unable to recreate in Florida the late surge of support in South Carolina from undecided voters that carried him to a shock victory.
Gingrich is vowing to fight on until Republicans hold their convention to nominate their candidate in late August, a battle he pledges will be for the heart and soul of the conservative movement.
Gingrich supporters hoisted banners at his Florida party that read "46 states to go."
Romney still narrowly trails Gingrich in some national polls. But many analysts believe a double-digit victory in the "Sunshine State" cements his status as front-runner as the national Republican nomination contest continues.
According to exit polls by CBS, 62 percent of the Republican voters said the economy was the most important issue to them. Romney has campaigned hard saying he is best placed to fix the economy based on his experience as a businessman.
"(Romney's) a businessman. He knows how to make money. If he makes promises, he'll keep them," said Frank Lobue, a retired utility company employee, who voted in St. Petersburg.
Voters also said in exit polls that they very concerned about picking a candidate who could beat Obama.
(Additional reporting by Ros Krasny, Sam Youngman, Jane Sutton and David Adams; editing by Mary Milliken)
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Al-Qaida in decline, but threats to US multiply
WASHINGTON?? Al-Qaida is in decline around the world but is still a leading threat to the United States, the top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday in an annual report to Congress on threats facing the country.
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Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Iran's leaders seem prepared to attack U.S. interests overseas, particularly if they feel threatened by possible U.S. action.
The U. S. now faces many interconnected enemies, including terrorists, criminals and foreign powers, who may try to strike via nuclear weapons or cyberspace, with the movement's Yemeni offshoot and "lone wolf" terror attacks posing key threats, he said.
But while al-Qaida still aspires to strike the U.S., it will likely have to go for "smaller, simpler attacks" as its ranks are thinned by continued pressure from U.S. drone strikes and special operations raids since Osama bin Laden's death at the hands of Navy SEALs in Pakistan last year.
"We judge that al-Qaida's losses are so substantial and its operating environment so restricted that a new group of leaders, even if they could be found, would have difficulty integrating into the organization and compensating for mounting losses," Clapper said.
The intelligence community predicts that al-Qaida's regional affiliates - from the Yemeni offshoot al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to Somalia's al-Shabaab - will "surpass the remnants of core al-Qaida in Pakistan," and try to attack "Western targets in its operating area." The Yemeni branch of al-Qaida remains the most likely affiliate to try to attack the U.S. homeland, he added.
The U.S. continues to put pressure on the Yemeni offshoot, and on Monday mounted airstrikes targeting al-Qaida leaders there, killing at least four suspected militants, according to Yemeni and military officials.
Just below al-Qaida on the list of threats comes the possibility of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, from chemical and biological, to nuclear and radiological. The intelligence community does not believe states that possess them have supplied them to terror groups, but that remains a risk.
'Keeping open the option'
Iran has the technical ability to build a nuclear weapon, but simply hasn't decided to yet, Clapper said.
"We assess Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons, in part by developing various nuclear capabilities that better position it to produce such weapons," Clapper said.
Citing last year's thwarted Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in the U.S., "some Iranian officials - probably including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ... are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime," Clapper said.
The North Korean nuclear weapons program is a continued threat to global security, though the program is intended for self-defense, his assessment states: "We judge that North Korea would consider using nuclear weapons only under narrow circumstances" and "probably would not attempt to use nuclear weapons against U.S. forces or territory, unless it perceived its regime to be on the verge of military defeat and risked an irretrievable loss of control."
China and Russia remain the key threats to the U.S. in cyber-space, with "entities" in both countries "responsible for extensive illicit intrusions into US computer networks and theft of US intellectual property," though Iran is also a player, Clapper said.
He warned of growing cyber-espionage by foreign governments against U.S. government and businesses, and said many such intrusions are not being detected.
Insider threats are another category of risk, in which disgruntled employees like accused Army soldier Bradley Manning allegedly leak information to the public or sell it to competing corporations or nations.
The annual threat assessment looked further afield to places like Afghanistan, where it assessed the Afghan government's progress as fragile, and the Taliban as "resilient." The group is less able to intimidate the Afghan population that last year, especially in areas where NATO forces are concentrated, but its leaders continue to direct the insurgency from their safe haven in Pakistan, the report said.
The continent of Africa got one of the grimmest reviews. Africa remains "vulnerable to political crises, democratic backsliding, and natural disasters." Violence, corruption and terrorism are likely to plague Africa in areas key to U.S. interests, the review said, with unresolved discord between Sudan and South Sudan, continued fighting in Somalia, and extremist attacks in Nigeria.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46205906/ns/us_news-security/
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Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Avoid Problems with Buying Gold: Understand What You Are ...
Gold investment is becoming popular among many experienced investors. One of the key factors for the increase in popularity of gold investment may be due to the economic instability. When the economy is unstable, most investments, especially in stocks, bond, and real estate are very much affected. If the economy goes down, so will these investments. For this reason, investors are looking into safer and more stable investment opportunities thus they are considering an investment in gold. Gold investment can be gold bar investments and gold coins. Gold bars can be quite tricky and it is much more expensive and it takes a lot of paper work. Anyone can buy a gold coin from a reputable gold dealer and you don?t have to open a specific account. However, you have to be very careful in choosing the gold dealer whom you do business with in order to avoid having problems with buying gold.
Gold coins are becoming more and more popular since it is very easy to buy and sell in the market. It can even be easily convertible to cash when the need arises. If you are considering an investment in gold coins, you have to understand what you are investing in and how to properly invest in it. It is very fortunate that you can make use of a free investment kit available online. This investment kit will allow you to understand the market that you are trying to get into. If you are interested in investing in gold coins, this kit will provide you with enough information regarding the different coins you can consider investing in.
It is very important to do your research and understand how the market works in order to make the most out of your investment. This will also help you avoid having problems with buying gold and being deceived by fake gold dealers on the market.
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