It's about as far from a Nintendo 3DS or PS Vita as you can get when it comes to the latest in handheld gaming consoles, but the DIY Gamer Kit from Technology Will Save Us comes with one features those devices don't: The satisfaction that you built it yourself. And not only do you have to assemble, wire, and solder the DIY Gamer Kit yourself, you'll also need to program your own games too. Sound like fun?
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Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the State Department in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the State Department in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the rocky relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan, the mere fact that President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are sitting down together at the White House is seen as a sign of progress.
Few breakthroughs are expected on the numerous hot-button issues on their agenda Wednesday, including American drone strikes and Pakistan's alleged support for the Taliban. But officials in both countries are hoping to scale back tensions that escalated after the 2011 U.S. strike within Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden and last year's accidental killing of two dozen Pakistani troops in an American airstrike along the Afghan border.
"We want to find ways for our countries to cooperate, even as we have differences on some issues, and we want to make sure that the trajectory of this relationship is a positive one," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Obama and Sharif talked on the phone earlier this year, but they have never met in person. Sharif, who served two earlier stints as Pakistan's prime minister, has held face-to-face talks with Secretary of State John Kerry and was scheduled to meet with other top U.S. officials while in Washington this week.
The prime minister's visit to the White House comes one day after Amnesty International released a report providing new details about the alleged victims of U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan, one of them a 68-year-old grandmother hit while farming with her grandchildren. In Pakistan, there is widespread belief that American drone strikes kill large numbers of civilians and Sharif is expected to raise the issue with Obama.
The White House responded to the Amnesty report by defending the drone program, with Carney saying U.S. counterterrorism operations "are precise, they are lawful and they are effective."
Also on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting will be Obama's looming decision on whether to keep any American troops in Afghanistan after the war there formally concludes at the end of next year. Ahead of the U.S. withdrawal, the U.S. is seeking to push through a peace deal with the Taliban and Afghan government.
Pakistan is seen as key to this process because of its historical connection to the Taliban. It helped the group grab power in Afghanistan in 1996 and is widely believed to have maintained ties as a hedge against neighbor and nuclear rival India — an allegation denied by Islamabad.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-23-US-United-States-Pakistan/id-b5c7c9065ebf4b1e83d6f8a0a01eff83Though David Beckham has officially retired from soccer, it seems like his daughter, Harper Beckham, is looking to fill his famous cleats. The 2-year-old tot took to the soccer field on Oct. 19 in Los Angeles for her first training as David, 38, and wife Victoria Beckham, 39, cheered her on from the sidelines.
PHOTOS: Harper Beckham's life with dad David Beckham
Harper's brothers, Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 10, and Cruz, 8, also attended the camp and supported their little sis from close by.
Fashion icon Victoria Beckham shocked many by wearing a casual T-shirt and jeans for a day at the field, and traded her signature stoic pose for a grin when Harper ran over to the sidelines for a hug.
PHOTOS: Victoria Beckham's life as a married mom of four
David spent most of the training photographing his children and was spotted having a chat with the boys' coach -- perhaps giving him a few pointers!
In their down time, the boys played soccer with their father as Victoria looked on smiling.
David currently models for H&M's body wear line and the Beckham family is estimated to be worth more than £200 million.
Very few girls get the recommended 60 minutes of exercise daily. But physical activity could help with school, a study says.
Very few girls get the recommended 60 minutes of exercise daily. But physical activity could help with school, a study says.
Girls who were more physically active at age 11 did better at school as teenagers, a study finds. And the most active girls really aced science.
It's become pretty much a given that children do better academically when they get regular exercise, even though schools continue to cut or even eliminate recess time. But there's surprisingly little hard evidence to back that up.
This investigation used data from a British study that has been following the health of a large group of parents and children since 1991. They measured almost 5,000 children's physical activity at age 11 by having them wear an acclerometer for a week.
Few of the children were getting the recommended 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous exercise. Boys clocked 29 minutes a day on average, while girls managed just 18 minutes.
The more active the 11-year-olds were, the better they did on standardized school tests of English, math and science.
The surprise was that physically active girls were much better at science than their peers. That held true for five years, when the children took other standardized tests at age 13 and 16.
"We're not sure why that would be," Josie Booth, a lecturer in developmental psychology at the University of Dundee and lead author of the study, told Shots. It could be important, given that both Europe and the United States are trying hard to get more girls involved in science. "It could obviously be a chance finding," Booth adds. "We'd like to have a chance to look further into it."
The researchers did adjust the results to account for factors that could affect school performance, including including birth weight, current weight, a mother's smoking while pregnant and the family's socioeconomic situation. The results were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
This study doesn't prove that the increased exercise was what improved the children's test scores, but parents aren't off base in thinking that it could help. Randomized controlled trials have shown that exercise improves brain function in older people, and a few studies have shown that in children, too.
Until Booth or other scientists can manage a randomized trial on girls, exercise and science, we'll have to just hope that bicycling or running will help our daughters become future Nobelists. (I'll hold off on booking my ticket to Stockholm for the awards ceremony.)
"There's certainly an association between more physical activity and better academic achievement," Booth says. "If parents can get their children to meet that goal of 60 minutes a day, it's going to be beneficial for a range of factors."
Copy to ground control, the Irish are coming!!
Niall Horan is just making all sorts of commotions on the interwebs this Tuesday!
First by proposing to Katy Perry and then hijacking an airplane with no word on where he's planning on taking the aircraft.
Maybe he's going to scoop up his lady love right underneath John Mayer's nose!
HA!
The One Direction cutie snapped a photo of himself and two other co-pilots controlling the plane:
Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, introduces the new iPad Air on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, introduces the new iPad Air on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks on stage before a new product introduction on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple, speaks on stage before a new product announcement on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks on stage before a new product introduction on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple, speaks on stage before a new product announcement on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Inc. is refreshing its iPad lineup in hopes of reclaiming lost ground in the tablet market and slashing the prices of its Mac computers to intensify the pressure on the beleaguered makers of PCs running Microsoft's Windows.
Tuesday's unveiling of Apple's latest products primes the company for a holiday shopping season onslaught aimed at a list of rivals that includes Google Inc., Samsung Electronics, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
A thinner, lighter and faster-running tablet computer called the iPad Air highlighted the event in San Francisco. Apple Inc. also showed off a souped-up iPad Mini that boasts a faster microprocessor, a high-definition display screen and a higher price than its predecessor.
The iPad upgrades, coming a year after the release of the tablet's previous generation, fell largely in line with analyst expectations.
In a surprise, Apple is introducing slightly revamped MacBook Pros at prices 9 percent to 13 percent below the previous versions. What's more, Apple is giving away its latest Mac operating system — Mavericks — for free, as well as several pieces of software, including programs called iWorks and iLife that provide many of the same tools as Microsoft's Office.
"We are turning the industry on its ear," Apple CEO Tim Cook said of the company's strategy.
Technology analyst Patrick Moorhead predicted the discounted MacBook Pros will force personal computer makers to cut the prices of their machines by at least $100 for the holidays.
And Ovum analyst Jan Dawson thinks Apple's giveaway of the operating system and software programs "is now teaching people to expect both of those things to be free. While this won't disrupt Microsoft's business overnight, it will create further pressure on Microsoft to bring down prices."
If that happens, it would be another blow for Microsoft, which has seen its Windows revenue suffer in recent years as personal computer sales sink amid a shift to smartphones and tablets.
Apple triggered the upheaval with the 2007 release of the first iPhone followed up with the 2010 introduction of the iPad.
While both products have a fierce following, Apple has been losing market share to rivals who primarily make mobile devices running on Google's Android software. As Apple is now doing with its Mavericks software for Macs, Google gives away Android to device makers who can afford to undercut the prices for iPhones and iPads.
Despite the competitive pressure, Apple has steadfastly refused to cut prices on its top-of-the-line products. Instead, it has sold older versions of its Phones and iPads at slight discounts to consumers who are willing to settle for something less than state-of-the-art technology.
The Cupertino, Calif. company is hewing to that philosophy with its latest tablets. The iPad Air will start at $499, just like its predecessors, while the new iPad Mini will sell for $399 — a 21 percent increase from the price of the first Mini. The price of the original Mini, which runs at slower speeds and lacks a high-definition display screen, is falling from $329 to $299.
As it has done for more than year, Apple will continue selling the iPad 2 — a tablet that came out two-and-half years ago — for $399.
"Apple doesn't want to play in the mud with declining prices" on iPads, Moorhead said.
The strategy hasn't been a hit with investors who are unhappy with the Cupertino, Calif. company's slowing growth as it loses sales to lower-priced alternatives. Wall Street also is disillusioned with Apple's lack of another breakthrough product since the death of co-founder and chief visionary Steve Jobs two years ago.
Apple's stock dipped $1.49 to close at $519.87 Tuesday. The shares remain about 25 percent below their peak reached 13 months ago.
The iPad Air's main appeal is a more svelte design and a faster microprocessor, the same kind of chip in the iPhone 5S that Apple released a month ago. The new tablet weighs just 1 pound, compared with 1.4 pounds for the previous version. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller hailed it as a "screaming fast iPad," noting that it is eight times faster than the original model that came out in 2010.
The iPad Air will go on sale Nov. 1. The new iPad Mini will be available at a still-to-be-determined date later in November.
They are coming out at a time when Apple needs to reassert itself in a tablet market. Google, Amazon.com and Samsung have been winning over consumers with flashy tablets that sell for $200 to $400. None of the rivals boast the 475,000 apps that Apple says are made for the iPad, but that vast selection hasn't mattered to many cost-conscious consumers.
The research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that Android tablets will end 2013 with a 50 percent share of the worldwide market versus 49 percent for the iPad. Just two years ago, the iPad commanded a 65 percent market share compared to 30 percent for Android tablets.
Apple sold 14.6 million iPads during the three months ending in June, down 14 percent from the same time last year. It marked the first time Apple has posted a year-over-year decline in iPad sales.
It might have happened again in the latest quarter ending in September. Although Apple isn't scheduled to report its results for the latest quarter until next Monday, a statistic released at Tuesday's event gave a hint of how the iPad fared in the period.
Cook said Apple's total iPad sales since the device's inception surpassed 170 million units earlier this month. Given that Apple sold 155 million iPads through June, that means fewer than 15 million were sold in the quarter ending in September. Apple sold 14 million iPads in last year's quarter ending in September.
__
Ortutay reported from New York.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-22-US-TEC-Apple-Event/id-aacb1e53d77d46bda1e6493421b1a5d1![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 21-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Chukuka Enwemeka
enwemeka@uwm.edu
41-412-294-712
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes progressive paralysis by destroying nerve cells and the spinal cord. It interrupts vision, balance and even thinking.
On a suggestion from a colleague, Jeri-Anne Lyons decided to test how the disease responded to a radical therapy exposure to a certain wavelength of light called near-infrared (NIR).
"Never in a million years did I think it would help," says Lyons, an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), who studies the role of the immune response in MS.
But it did. In rodent models, early MS-like symptoms were treated with exposure to NIR light for a week, alternating with a week of no light. The clinical condition of the mice improved.
Professor Janis Eells, who shared the idea with Lyons, had the same initial reaction after she used NIR therapy on rats to treat blindness caused by poisoning, a condition thought to be permanent. Repeating experiments again and again, she found that certain doses of NIR light allowed lab animals to regain their sight.
Scientists have known for years that certain wavelengths of light in certain doses can heal, but they are only now uncovering exactly how it works, thanks in large part to three UWM faculty researchers, including Chukuka S. Enwemeka, dean of UWM's College of Health Sciences who is internationally known for his work in phototherapy.
Enwemeka researches the effects of both NIR and blue light in the visible range on healing wounds. Among his discoveries is that some wavelengths of blue light can clear stubborn infections even MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant "superbug" form of Staphylococcus aureus.
Together, the UWM cluster has found that NIR and blue light repair tissue in dramatically different ways, but both act on the same enzyme in the cell's energy supply center: the mitochondria.
The studies have revealed key information about managing the effects of aging and disease.
A bodyguard
So how is light accomplishing such wonders?
In applying NIR light therapy to MS, Lyons has identified the right timing and dose. But she's also dug deeper, analyzing the effect the light had on the activities of the animal's genes. It turns out, molecules that would make the disease worse were weakened after exposure to the light, and the ones responsible for improvement were strengthened.
Eells says NIR light acts on the mitochondria and a particular enzyme, cytochrome C oxidase, to stimulate cell repair.
Light can do all that?
"We're not talking about white light [all wavelengths in the visible spectrum combined] as treatment, but only certain wavelengths, at a certain intensity, for a certain amount of time," says Lyons. "Like ingested medication, it's all about the dose."
Determining the best wavelength of light for phototherapy is a difficult task. Studies show that 670 nanometer (nm) and 830 nm light are beneficial, but 730 nm is not. The other difficult task is determining the appropriate dose and dose regimen for delivering the light.
Promising leads
Even more exciting is phototherapy's potential to improve a host of other degenerative diseases. Damaged mitochondria lead to a rise in destructive "free radicals," which play a key role in aging and cancer.
"It's why we try to put antioxidants into our diets," says Lyons, "to fight that process."
One source of free radicals comes from the inflammation caused by the body's immune response. The researchers have found that after an injury or illness triggers the immune response, NIR light resets the mitochondria so they function normally again.
"NIR reduces inflammation," says Eells. "If you can tone down the inflammation in an eye disease like retinitis pigmentosa, you slow the progression of the disease."
A similar observation with inflammation occurred in a study on recalcitrant bedsores, she adds. Wounds treated with phototherapy healed two and a half times more quickly than untreated wounds.
"Chronic non-healing wounds are 'stuck' in the inflammatory phase of wound healing" The light removes that obstacle," says Eells.
She has been working with Tim Kern at Case Western Reserve in treating an animal model of diabetic retinopathy with NIR light, which has been shown to slow progression and reduce the severity of the condition. Kern hopes to initiate a clinical trial in the near future.
A killer
NIR light heals by ensuring that cytochrome oxidase binds with oxygen to turn on protectors and stimulate cell metabolism. Blue light, on the other hand, causes a toxic environment when the immune response has been triggered. That poisonous effect hastens healing of topical wounds by killing bacteria that cause infection.
The question is, "What gives light in the longer wavelength its antibiotic effect?"
Enwemeka's studies suggest that blue light also acts on the mitochondrial enzyme site, but allows cytochrome oxidase to bind with nitric oxide, a free radical that is elevated in the immune response. It's a pairing that poisons the invader.
This theory is still unproven, but the therapy has achieved undeniable results in the lab with antibiotic-resistant MRSA. Enwemeka demonstrated that one dose of irradiation killed as much as 92 percent of two pervasive strains of MRSA.
He is working to improve that success rate by getting the light to penetrate deeper in order to finish off the few colonies that survive irradiation.
Limited availability
Enwemeka is leading a research effort in Brazil and at UWM that he hopes will ultimately lead to clinical use of NIR and blue light in the U.S. for the treatment of wounds.
In the six years since he was asked to test the effects of blue light on MRSA, he says, research on the topic has picked up. But currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not sanctioned the use of blue light in treating wounds, or NIR light for conditions other than wounds and pain.
With so much success, why isn't phototherapy being used more widely?
"It's considered alternative therapy in Western medicine. It seems too simple for people to accept," says Lyons.
What the FDA is waiting for, says Enwemeka, is confirmation from a large-scale clinical study before approving phototherapy for a wider variety of ailments. It's something Enwemeka and Harry Whelan, a UWM alumnus and physician-researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, are determined to accomplish.
"To see people who have not had relief see their wounds heal and not return," says Enwemeka of the Brazilian patients who have benefited from therapy, "is very touching."
###
Additional study: Photobiomodulation Induced by 670 nm Light Ameliorates MOG35-55 Induced EAE in Female C57BL/6 Mice: A Role for Remediation of Nitrosative Stress
KA Muili, S Gopalakrishnan, JT Eells, JA Lyons
PLoS ONE 8(6): e67358. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067358 [2013]
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.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 21-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Chukuka Enwemeka
enwemeka@uwm.edu
41-412-294-712
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes progressive paralysis by destroying nerve cells and the spinal cord. It interrupts vision, balance and even thinking.
On a suggestion from a colleague, Jeri-Anne Lyons decided to test how the disease responded to a radical therapy exposure to a certain wavelength of light called near-infrared (NIR).
"Never in a million years did I think it would help," says Lyons, an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), who studies the role of the immune response in MS.
But it did. In rodent models, early MS-like symptoms were treated with exposure to NIR light for a week, alternating with a week of no light. The clinical condition of the mice improved.
Professor Janis Eells, who shared the idea with Lyons, had the same initial reaction after she used NIR therapy on rats to treat blindness caused by poisoning, a condition thought to be permanent. Repeating experiments again and again, she found that certain doses of NIR light allowed lab animals to regain their sight.
Scientists have known for years that certain wavelengths of light in certain doses can heal, but they are only now uncovering exactly how it works, thanks in large part to three UWM faculty researchers, including Chukuka S. Enwemeka, dean of UWM's College of Health Sciences who is internationally known for his work in phototherapy.
Enwemeka researches the effects of both NIR and blue light in the visible range on healing wounds. Among his discoveries is that some wavelengths of blue light can clear stubborn infections even MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant "superbug" form of Staphylococcus aureus.
Together, the UWM cluster has found that NIR and blue light repair tissue in dramatically different ways, but both act on the same enzyme in the cell's energy supply center: the mitochondria.
The studies have revealed key information about managing the effects of aging and disease.
A bodyguard
So how is light accomplishing such wonders?
In applying NIR light therapy to MS, Lyons has identified the right timing and dose. But she's also dug deeper, analyzing the effect the light had on the activities of the animal's genes. It turns out, molecules that would make the disease worse were weakened after exposure to the light, and the ones responsible for improvement were strengthened.
Eells says NIR light acts on the mitochondria and a particular enzyme, cytochrome C oxidase, to stimulate cell repair.
Light can do all that?
"We're not talking about white light [all wavelengths in the visible spectrum combined] as treatment, but only certain wavelengths, at a certain intensity, for a certain amount of time," says Lyons. "Like ingested medication, it's all about the dose."
Determining the best wavelength of light for phototherapy is a difficult task. Studies show that 670 nanometer (nm) and 830 nm light are beneficial, but 730 nm is not. The other difficult task is determining the appropriate dose and dose regimen for delivering the light.
Promising leads
Even more exciting is phototherapy's potential to improve a host of other degenerative diseases. Damaged mitochondria lead to a rise in destructive "free radicals," which play a key role in aging and cancer.
"It's why we try to put antioxidants into our diets," says Lyons, "to fight that process."
One source of free radicals comes from the inflammation caused by the body's immune response. The researchers have found that after an injury or illness triggers the immune response, NIR light resets the mitochondria so they function normally again.
"NIR reduces inflammation," says Eells. "If you can tone down the inflammation in an eye disease like retinitis pigmentosa, you slow the progression of the disease."
A similar observation with inflammation occurred in a study on recalcitrant bedsores, she adds. Wounds treated with phototherapy healed two and a half times more quickly than untreated wounds.
"Chronic non-healing wounds are 'stuck' in the inflammatory phase of wound healing" The light removes that obstacle," says Eells.
She has been working with Tim Kern at Case Western Reserve in treating an animal model of diabetic retinopathy with NIR light, which has been shown to slow progression and reduce the severity of the condition. Kern hopes to initiate a clinical trial in the near future.
A killer
NIR light heals by ensuring that cytochrome oxidase binds with oxygen to turn on protectors and stimulate cell metabolism. Blue light, on the other hand, causes a toxic environment when the immune response has been triggered. That poisonous effect hastens healing of topical wounds by killing bacteria that cause infection.
The question is, "What gives light in the longer wavelength its antibiotic effect?"
Enwemeka's studies suggest that blue light also acts on the mitochondrial enzyme site, but allows cytochrome oxidase to bind with nitric oxide, a free radical that is elevated in the immune response. It's a pairing that poisons the invader.
This theory is still unproven, but the therapy has achieved undeniable results in the lab with antibiotic-resistant MRSA. Enwemeka demonstrated that one dose of irradiation killed as much as 92 percent of two pervasive strains of MRSA.
He is working to improve that success rate by getting the light to penetrate deeper in order to finish off the few colonies that survive irradiation.
Limited availability
Enwemeka is leading a research effort in Brazil and at UWM that he hopes will ultimately lead to clinical use of NIR and blue light in the U.S. for the treatment of wounds.
In the six years since he was asked to test the effects of blue light on MRSA, he says, research on the topic has picked up. But currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not sanctioned the use of blue light in treating wounds, or NIR light for conditions other than wounds and pain.
With so much success, why isn't phototherapy being used more widely?
"It's considered alternative therapy in Western medicine. It seems too simple for people to accept," says Lyons.
What the FDA is waiting for, says Enwemeka, is confirmation from a large-scale clinical study before approving phototherapy for a wider variety of ailments. It's something Enwemeka and Harry Whelan, a UWM alumnus and physician-researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, are determined to accomplish.
"To see people who have not had relief see their wounds heal and not return," says Enwemeka of the Brazilian patients who have benefited from therapy, "is very touching."
###
Additional study: Photobiomodulation Induced by 670 nm Light Ameliorates MOG35-55 Induced EAE in Female C57BL/6 Mice: A Role for Remediation of Nitrosative Stress
KA Muili, S Gopalakrishnan, JT Eells, JA Lyons
PLoS ONE 8(6): e67358. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067358 [2013]
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.
A gay rights activist waves a rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in June, a day before the ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act.
A gay rights activist waves a rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in June, a day before the ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act.
It has been four months since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The ruling paved the way for thousands of same-sex married couples to receive federal benefits, and a special group of government lawyers has been working to make that happen.
Their marching orders came from President Obama only hours after the high court threw out part of the Defense of Marriage Act. And the task was clear: review more than 1,000 rules and laws that cover all kinds of federal benefits to make sure gay and lesbian couples get their due.
"This is a civil rights matter," Attorney General Eric Holder says. "In many ways, I think it's akin to the struggle that African-Americans went through in the '50s and the '60s to demand equal treatment, to be allowed to enjoy all the benefits that flow to a person who is nothing more than an American citizen."
And many benefits are starting to flow. Federal employees in same-sex marriages can extend health and life insurance coverage to their spouses. Immigration authorities say they'll review petitions from people in same-sex relationships the same way they review requests from opposite-sex couples. And at the IRS, tax officials say legally married gay and lesbian couples can now file jointly.
"Obviously the decision generated a lot of excitement for a lot of people, but our job has been to make the promise of that decision, the words on the page in the Supreme Court's opinion, real for real people," says Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery, who leads the effort to implement the Supreme Court ruling for the Justice Department.
Brian Moulton, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign, says the effort has moved swiftly, but there's still work to be done.
"The places where we still have big challenges, and we really haven't heard a lot are from two big agencies: the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration, where we believe there are statutory problems in extending those benefits fully to married couples who live in states that don't themselves recognize those marriages," Moulton says.
That situation is complicated because the Supreme Court struck down the part of the law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman but it did not create a universal right to marry. So that leaves up in the air what happens to same-sex couples who live in states that don't recognize their marriages. And it has put the federal government in a tricky spot when it comes to Social Security and other laws that mention a place where a couple lives — or "domicile" — as a key factor in determining spousal benefits.
Associate Attorney General Tony West says many of the legal issues the Justice Department has faced were relatively straightforward. "And then," West adds, "there are harder questions. There are questions like, whether or not those benefits turn on whether the place of domicile or the place of celebration is at issue. What are you going to look to, to assess the validity of marriage in order to extend those federal benefits?"
Advocates are still anxiously waiting for answers on Social Security and the VA. Ultimately, Congress may need to weigh in to change the language in those laws. But even in cases where the Obama administration has spoken, there's been some pushback from states.
Moulton says same-sex couples in five states have been forced to travel to federal facilities, sometimes long drives away, to enroll in federal benefit programs for National Guard members.
"It does seem, you know, a little perplexing, particularly because these are federal benefits programs that are paid for with federal money and run by the federal government," he says. "It's really a question of enrollment and it's unfortunate to see that some of these states really seem to be politicking a little bit on this issue."
Moulton says he expects more friction with Medicaid enrollment, too. Even though federal health officials say same-sex couples should get those benefits, states administer the program jointly and could have a different view. And states where gay marriage is outlawed could make it harder for same-sex couples at tax time next year, too.
Justice Department officials say the Supreme Court has spoken, loudly and clearly.
"The American people, I think, have assimilated this decision, are comfortable with the decision, comfortable with what we are doing," Holder says. "I would hope their elected representatives could reflect the magnanimity of the American people."
History, he says, is on the side of same-sex couples.
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
FILE - In this March 8, 2013 file photo, U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, stands as the US national anthem is played aboard US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Marseille, southern France. Le Monde newspaper says Monday, Oct.21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. The French government has summoned the Rivkin to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies.(AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The French government summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin on Monday to explain a French newspaper report that the National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period.
The French government called the practice "totally unacceptable" and wanted to know why the U.S. spied on one of its closest allies.
Spying among allied countries is common, but the scope of the NSA surveillance, as revealed by leaker Edward Snowden, was larger than expected.
Similar U.S. spying programs have been revealed in Britain, Brazil, Mexico and Germany.
"The ambassador expressed his appreciation of the importance of the exchange, and promised to convey the points made back to Washington," a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Paris said.
Rivkin assured Alexandre Ziegler, chief of staff to Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius that "our ongoing bilateral consultations on allegations of information gathering by U.S. government agencies would continue," the embassy statement said.
The report in Le Monde, co-written by Glenn Greenwald, who originally revealed the surveillance program based on leaks from former National Security Agency contractor Snowden, found that when certain numbers were used, the conversations were automatically recorded. The surveillance operation also swept up text messages based on key words, Le Monde reported, based on records from Dec. 10 to Jan 7.
The French government, which wants the surveillance to cease, also renewed demands for talks on protection of personal data.
"This sort of practice between partners that invades privacy is totally unacceptable and we have to make sure, very quickly, that this no longer happens," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said during a meeting in Luxembourg with his European counterparts. Fabius said the U.S. ambassador had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
The most recent documents cited by Le Monde, dated to April 2013, also indicated the NSA's interest in email addresses linked to Wanadoo — once part of France Telecom — and Alcatel-Lucent, the French-American telecom company. One of the documents instructed analysts to draw not only from the electronic surveillance program, but also from another initiative dubbed Upstream, which allowed surveillance on undersea communications cables.
The U.S "gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations," said Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House. "We've begun to review the way that we gather intelligence, so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share."
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-21-US-NSA-Surveillance/id-abafa29af1954958954031b16d9f306dA gay rights activist waves a rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in June, a day before the ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act.
A gay rights activist waves a rainbow flag in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in June, a day before the ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act.
It has been four months since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The ruling paved the way for thousands of same-sex married couples to receive federal benefits, and a special group of government lawyers has been working to make that happen.
Their marching orders came from President Obama only hours after the high court threw out part of the Defense of Marriage Act. And the task was clear: review more than 1,000 rules and laws that cover all kinds of federal benefits to make sure gay and lesbian couples get their due.
"This is a civil rights matter," Attorney General Eric Holder says. "In many ways, I think it's akin to the struggle that African-Americans went through in the '50s and the '60s to demand equal treatment, to be allowed to enjoy all the benefits that flow to a person who is nothing more than an American citizen."
And many benefits are starting to flow. Federal employees in same-sex marriages can extend health and life insurance coverage to their spouses. Immigration authorities say they'll review petitions from people in same-sex relationships the same way they review requests from opposite-sex couples. And at the IRS, tax officials say legally married gay and lesbian couples can now file jointly.
"Obviously the decision generated a lot of excitement for a lot of people, but our job has been to make the promise of that decision, the words on the page in the Supreme Court's opinion, real for real people," says Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery, who leads the effort to implement the Supreme Court ruling for the Justice Department.
Brian Moulton, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign, says the effort has moved swiftly, but there's still work to be done.
"The places where we still have big challenges and we really haven't heard a lot are from two big agencies: the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration, where we believe there are statutory problems in extending those benefits fully to married couples who live in states that don't themselves recognize those marriages," Moulton says.
That situation's complicated because the Supreme Court struck down the part of the law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman but it did not create a universal right to marry. So that leaves up in the air what happens to same-sex couples who live in states that don't recognize their marriages. And it has put the federal government in a tricky spot when it comes to Social Security and other laws that mention a place where a couple lives — or "domicile" — as a key factor in determining spousal benefits.
Associate Attorney General Tony West says many of the legal issues the Justice Department has faced were relatively straightforward. "And then," West adds, "there are harder questions. There are questions like, whether or not those benefits turn on whether the place of domicile or the place of celebration is at issue. What are you going to look to, to assess the validity of marriage in order to extend those federal benefits?"
Advocates are still anxiously waiting for answers on Social Security and the VA. Ultimately, Congress may need to weigh in to change the language in those laws. But even in cases where the Obama administration has spoken, there's been some pushback from states.
Moulton says same-sex couples in five states have been forced to travel to federal facilities, sometimes long drives away, to enroll in federal benefit programs for National Guard members.
"It does seem, you know, a little perplexing, particularly because these are federal benefits programs that are paid for with federal money and run by the federal government," he says. "It's really a question of enrollment and it's unfortunate to see that some of these states really seem to be politicking a little bit on this issue."
Moulton says he expects more friction with Medicaid enrollment, too. Even though federal health officials say same-sex couples should get those benefits, states administer the program jointly and could have a different view. And states where gay marriage is outlawed could make it harder for same-sex couples at tax time next year, too.
Justice Department officials say the Supreme Court has spoken, loudly and clearly.
"The American people, I think, have assimilated this decision, are comfortable with the decision, comfortable with what we are doing," Holder says. "I would hope their elected representatives could reflect the magnanimity of the American people."
History, he says, is on the side of same-sex couples.
Melissa Block and Audie Cornish read listener responses to a question we asked of Gen-X and Millennial listeners last week: "Who are your generation's future musical legends?" Tupac Shakur, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, and Adele made the list, but by far the most frequently mentioned group was a quartet of Irish baby boomers.
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (22) drags Washington Redskins strong safety Brandon Meriweather, center, and inside linebacker London Fletcher, right, into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of a NFL football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (22) drags Washington Redskins strong safety Brandon Meriweather, center, and inside linebacker London Fletcher, right, into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of a NFL football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Washington Redskins free safety Brandon Meriweather's dangerous habit of leading with his helmet will cost him two games, the latest sanction from a league determined to make the game safer by discouraging blows to the head.
The NFL announced Monday that Meriweather will be suspended for this week's game against the Denver Broncos and the following game against the San Diego Chargers, a severe blow to a struggling defense as the Redskins try to recover from their poor start to the season.
Meriweather has the right to appeal. If he does, an expedited hearing will be held this week and a ruling issued before the Broncos game.
He was flagged twice for hits on defenseless receivers in Sunday's 45-41 win over the Chicago Bears, in the third quarter for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Alshon Jeffery in the fourth quarter for a helmet-first hit to the head and neck area of Brandon Marshall.
In announcing the suspension, the league cited Meriweather's status as a repeat offender. He was fined $42,000 for a helmet-first hit on Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy in Week 2, forcing Lacy out of the game with a concussion. Later in that same game, another helmet-first hit left Meriweather with a concussion, knocking him out of the game.
The two-game suspension will cost Meriweather $141,176 in salary. He will not be allowed to participate in any football activities with the team during the suspension.
Meriweather said after Sunday's game that he thought both hits against the Bears were legal. He said he's tried to change his game to suit the NFL's tackling rules.
"I wasn't trying to be dirty. I wasn't trying to hurt nobody," he said. "I didn't lead with my, didn't launch with my head. I used my shoulder like they told me to do."
Coach Mike Shanahan said earlier Monday that he didn't think Meriweather would be suspended.
"I think he knows exactly what he has to do," Shanahan said. "And sometimes the intent — there's no intent there — sometimes you hit a guy a little bit higher than anticipated. Even the last one, he came to the sideline and says, 'Hey, one guy told me it was a good hit and the other official told me he saw it differently.' So there's a lot of different interpretations of it, and at the end of the day we'll find out."
The suspension could leave the Redskins without their two starting safeties when they face Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Strong safety Reed Doughty suffered a concussion Sunday when the Bears attempted an onside kick in the fourth quarter. He will have to pass the league's required tests before he can be cleared to play next week at Denver.
The Redskins are already thin at safety. Rookie Phillip Thomas was lost for the season with an injury during training camp, and rookie Bacarri Rambo lost his starting job after struggling in the first two games.
The only other safeties on the roster are Jose Gumbs, who has played in two NFL games, and Trenton Robinson, who was signed last week.
Washington is ranked 24th in the NFL against the pass and gave up 24 second-half points Sunday against a backup quarterback.
Shanahan was asked how he would manage if he doesn't have Meriweather and Doughty.
"Not a whole lot you can do about it," Shanahan said, "except prepare the best way you can."
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-21-FBN-Redskins-Meriweather-Hits/id-c83a4d52225e4a16b27c3e0dd00f8dbbU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
FILE - In this March 8, 2013 file photo, U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, stands as the US national anthem is played aboard US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Marseille, southern France. Le Monde newspaper says Monday, Oct.21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. The French government has summoned the Rivkin to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies.(AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joining a growing list of angry allies, France on Monday demanded an explanation from Washington of a report that the U.S. swept up 70 million French telephone records and text messages in its global surveillance net, even recording certain private conversations.
The fallout prompted a phone call from President Barack Obama to President Francois Hollande and, the White House said, an acknowledgment by Obama that the episode raises "legitimate questions for our friends and allies" about how U.S. surveillance capabilities are employed. Hollande's office issued a strongly worded statement afterward expressing "profound reprobation" over U.S. actions that it said intruded on the private lives of French citizens.
Spying among friendly countries is classic tradecraft but the sweep and scope of the National Security Agency program have surprised allies and raised indignation among those targeted — Germany, Mexico and Brazil among them.
The report in Le Monde, co-written by Glenn Greenwald, who originally revealed the surveillance program based on leaks from former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, found that when certain phone numbers were used, conversations were automatically recorded. The surveillance operation also gathered text messages based on key words, Le Monde reported.
"This sort of practice between partners that invades privacy is totally unacceptable and we have to make sure, very quickly, that this no longer happens," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "We fully agree that we cooperate to fight terrorism. It is indispensable. But this does not justify that personal data of millions of our compatriots are snooped on."
Seeking to limit damage in relations with one of America's closest allies, Obama called Hollande late Monday and made clear the U.S. government is reviewing its intelligence-gathering "so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share," a White House statement said. The statement said some recent disclosures have "distorted our activities" while others have raised genuine concerns by other countries.
Earlier, the French government summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin for answers. A statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Paris said Rivkin assured Alexandre Ziegler, chief of staff to Fabius, that "our ongoing bilateral consultations on allegations of information-gathering by U.S. government agencies would continue."
The level of the diplomatic consultation at the time — between the U.S. ambassador and only an aide to Fabius — suggested that France was modulating its response. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Paris early Monday for meetings on Middle East issues and could have been contacted immediately if it appeared relations were in deeper trouble. But the matter was subsequently elevated with Obama's phone call.
Hollande's office said later that the French leader asked Obama to make available all information on NSA spying of French communications.
Kerry would not confirm the newspaper account or discuss intelligence-gathering except to say: "Lots of countries are engaged in the activity of trying to protect their citizens in the world."
Le Monde reported that from Dec. 10, 2012 to Jan. 8 of this year, 70.3 million recordings of French citizens' telephone data were made by the NSA. Intercepts peaked at almost 7 million in Dec. 24 and again on Jan. 7, the paper said. The targets were people with suspected links to terrorism and people chosen because of their roles in business, politics or the French government, the report said.
Former CIA officer Bob Baer, who was stationed in Paris for three years, said the French intelligence service regularly spies on Americans — both on U.S. diplomats and business people. The spying has included rifling through possessions of a diplomat, businessman or spy in Paris hotel rooms and installing listening devices in first-class seats of the now-defunct Concord aircraft to record Americans' conversations, he said.
In another instance, a former French intelligence director stated that the spy agency compiled a detailed secret dossier of the proprietary proposals that U.S. and Soviet companies wrote to compete with a French company for a $1 billion contract to supply fighter jets to India.
But while corporate and spy- vs.-spy espionage may be common, the newspaper report indicated that French citizens were unwittingly drawn into U.S. surveillance, too.
Dennis Blair, a former director of national intelligence, tried to broker a closer intelligence-sharing relationship with France, so the two would simply ask each other to explain political or economic policies directly instead of resorting to snooping.
"The U.S. is overwhelmed by cooperation by France on things like ... terrorism and organized crime," Blair said in an interview Monday. "It dwarfs the amount of time we spend on spying on each other. I'm hoping the day will come when both countries realize they have a lot more to be gained by working with each other, but we're not quite there yet."
The most recent documents cited by Le Monde, dated April 2013, indicated the NSA's interest in communications linked to Wanadoo — once part of France Telecom — and Alcatel-Lucent, the French-American telecom company. One of the documents instructed analysts to draw not only from the electronic surveillance program, but also from another initiative dubbed Upstream, which allowed surveillance on undersea communications cables.
Snowden's leaks exposing details of the U.S. global surveillance apparatus have sparked an international debate over the limits of American spying. The strongest objection has come from Brazil.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled a state visit to Washington over a dispute involving Brazil's desire to question Snowden after information he leaked indicated that the U.S. intercepted Rousseff's communications with aides, hacked the state-run oil company's computer network and snagged data on emails and telephone calls flowing through Brazil .
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government canceled a Cold War-era surveillance agreement over reports that NSA snooping swept up communications in Europe.
"I can understand the anger in France," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. "You don't do that among partners. You don't do that among friends."
Mexico has also expressed outrage about an alleged NSA program that the German newspaper Der Spiegel said accessed a domain linked to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his Cabinet. Also, a document from June 2012 indicated the NSA had read current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's emails before he was elected.
The U.S. is thought to avoid spying on its coalition of "'Five Eye" partners — Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — but considers other countries fair game.
The U.S. intelligence community has discussed bringing France into the Five Eyes alliance because of its close cooperation with U.S. troops and intelligence against al-Qaida in such as Afghanistan and Mali, according to two current U.S. intelligence officials. But the trust between both countries has never reached the level needed for that, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the relationship publicly.
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Associated Press writers Lara Jakes and Lori Hinnant in Paris, Matthew Lee and Adam Goldman in Washington and Raf Casert in Luxembourg contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-21-US-NSA-Surveillance/id-c8a3049dcfe44ac6a7acd3177f575410
