2012 London Olympics Blog: Video: Anatomy of a U.S. Olympic Gold Medal Race

?A lifetime dream realized? is how Peter Cipollone, the coxswain for the men?s eight team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, describes the historic victory that ended a 40-year Olympic medal drought for the United States men?s rowing team.

Cipollone, who retired in 2004 after 10 years on the national team, was recently elected chairman of the board for USA Rowing. As chairman, he plans to lead discussions and make decisions to ensure that the United States program is properly constructed and financed so that athletes who choose to dedicate their lives to rowing have every opportunity to be successful.

In a recent interview, Cipollone spoke about strategies to expand rowing in America, including an initiative called America Rows, which focuses on young people in communities that have not traditionally been served by rowing. It exposes young people to rowing while teaching teamwork and discipline, and provides collegiate opportunities and scholarships.

After their 2000 Olympic collapse, when they were the prohibitive favorite, the men came into Athens feeling good but were ?at best a dark horse,? Cipollone said. They were confident with their fast times at home but had not done much international racing that year.

?We were having fun, and it?s something you can?t underestimate when you?re at the Olympics,? Cipollone said. ?If everybody is loose and relaxed and having a good time, that has a profound effect on your ability to perform on race day.?

Having shattered the world record by almost three seconds in the preliminary race leading up to the final, Cipollone said: ?If you had asked me to write the story of how it goes, it went better than anything I would ever dared write or dream of. We got away from everybody so early and so quickly that it became the dream race. And when that boat crossed the finish line first, it felt like the greatest thing that?s ever happened.?

Source: http://feeds1.nytimes.com/~r/nyt/rss/Sports/~3/78G4d6T9nKQ/

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Robert J. Spitzer: The NRA's 'Fast and Furious' Gun Walking

Politics is full of ironies. But June 28, 2012, should be logged as one for the irony record book. On that day, Attorney General Eric Holder was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigating the botched "Fast and Furious" gun tracing operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Chief among the forces arrayed against Holder was the National Rifle Association, which pressured members of Congress to support the contempt citation. Among the NRA's fevered charges against Holder: "his history of anti-Second Amendment advocacy and enforcement actions," including support for a measure, beaten back by NRA supporters, to require gun dealers to report multiple long gun sales.

Yet at nearly the same time, a six-month investigation by Fortune Magazine revealed that the ATF did not engage in "gun walking" (that is, deliberately letting guns fall into the hands of Mexican criminals) after all. In fact, ATF agents were doing everything possible to try and bring prosecutions. But, according to the article, ATF agents "were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn." Existing law made it nearly impossible to bring charges against straw purchasers. To prosecutors, these cases were "hard to prove and unrewarding to prosecute, with minimal penalties attached."

But the rest of this tragic story is that it is the culmination, and logical conclusion, of the NRA's 30-year war against the ATF, aimed to hamstring, denude, emasculate, and hogtie the agency charged with administering the nation's gun laws. No other federal law enforcement agency has had to function under such relentless attacks.

In a 1981 NRA-produced film called It Can Happen Here, ATF agents were depicted as "Nazi Gestapos" and "jackbooted fascists." The following year, Rep. John Dingell, then an NRA Board member, called ATF agents "knaves and rogues," saying "I think they [the agents] are evil."

NRA demonization of the ATF reached a fever pitch in the early 1990s when it and other critics charged the ATF with murder and the persecution of innocent citizens. That criticism was fanned because of the ATF's role in the raid on the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas, in 1993 (four ATF agents were killed and 20 wounded). In a full-page ad run in national newspapers, the NRA said that the ATF "deserves public contempt." Rep. Harold Volkmer, also an NRA Board member, called the ATF a "Rambo-rogue law enforcement" agency. Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy counseled his listeners to fire "head shots" at ATF agents who approached them because the agents "got a vest underneath."

These vituperative attacks subsided only after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, in which ATF agents died. That attack occurred just weeks after NRA vice president Wayne LaPierre called the ATF "jack-booted government thugs... wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens" in a fund-raising letter.

NRA-led attacks on the ATF haven't been limited to verbal assaults. Working relentlessly in Congress, the ATF's size, budget, and operations have all been hamstrung. The agency has been barred, by law, from inspecting gun dealers more than once a year (even for previous law-breakers) and some violations were reduced to misdemeanors. The ATF is also barred by law from maintaining gun trace records in a computer database, meaning that, even today, gun traces must be done by hand from paper records. Further, the law does not require gun dealers to take inventory. For the last six years, the ATF has operated without a permanent head of the agency, thanks to the obstruction of NRA-backed senators.

According to the Washington Post, in 1972 the ATF had 2500 agents. By comparison, the DEA had 1500, the U.S. Marshals 1900, and the FBI 8700. In 2010, the DEA had 5000, federal Marshals 3300, and the FBI 13,000. The ATF still had 2500 agents. In all, it has 600 personnel to inspect 115,000 gun dealers, meaning that on average, a dealer is inspected once every ten years.

Taking all this into account, is it any wonder that the nearly 10,000 gun dealers found along the border between the U.S. and Mexico constitute a largely unregulated arms bazaar for Mexican drug gangs? As the ATF recently reported, of the over 99,000 guns recovered by the Mexican government from 2007-2011 and submitted for tracing, over 68,000 (about 70%) came from the U.S.

Sure, Congress deserves blame for enacting laws deliberately designed to keep the ATF from doing its job. But no one can dispute that these destructive and senseless policies exist thanks to the NRA. Just as the NRA continues to blame the ATF for the 2000 guns allegedly "walked" into Mexico, the NRA should take the real credit for the "walking" of hundreds of thousands of guns into Mexico, as American agents can do little more than watch.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-spitzer/fast-and-furious-gun-walking_b_1636079.html

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Plouffe: Dems Must Rebut GOP's Tax-Hike Message

One day after President Obama warned that viewing the Supreme Court's health care decision through a political lens is "completely missing the point," his top political adviser encouraged congressional Democrats in a memo to do just that.

David Plouffe, Obama?s senior adviser and his campaign manager in 2008, rebutted Republicans? criticisms that the president was raising Americans? taxes as part of the Affordable Care Act. The GOP tax-hike analysis is being pinned to the court?s ruling Thursday that the health law is constitutional in part because the penalty imposed if Americans do not carry health insurance is akin to a tax.

?Republicans in Washington are trying to deliberately misrepresent the president?s record of cutting taxes for the middle class,? Plouffe told congressional Democrats in a memo titled ?Winning the Middle Class Tax Battle.? He accused Republicans of ginning up a debate about higher taxes under Obama when the data refute GOP assertions, he said.

?We urge you to go on offense to illustrate how the president and Democrats in Congress are standing up for the middle class,? he wrote in the two-page memo released by the White House Friday afternoon.

Plouffe?s public protest memo is a defensive ploy the White House hopes it can transform into an offensive play when House Republicans return from the Fourth of July break. House conservatives have said they will vote on July 11 to repeal the 2010 health reform law. That effort is just for show -- the law cannot be changed without cooperation from the Democratic-controlled Senate -- but a political fight this summer in which Republicans accuse Obama of raising taxes lets the two sides mobilize their respective bases.

?Republicans in Congress have voted to preserve tax breaks for big oil and cut taxes for millionaires by 25%,? Plouffe wrote, ?and they?ll pay for that by ending Medicare as we know it and raising taxes for the middle class.?

White House talking points crafted to help ?drive? the debate this weekend and in the coming months, Plouffe said, include the following arguments:

-- The Affordable Care Act provides an average $4,000 tax cut for more than 18 million middle-class people and their families;

-- The penalty imposed as part of the insurance mandate, described by Chief Justice John Roberts as functioning like a tax, was modeled on Mitt Romney?s health care law in Massachusetts, and is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to impact 1 percent of the population;

-- The ACA should be ?improved? as it is implemented through 2014, and the administration wants to give states more ?flexibility?;

-- Obama has signed laws to cut taxes by $3,600 for an average middle-class family. The GOP wants to raise taxes on the middle class and give millionaires and billionaires a tax cut worth $250,000, Plouffe wrote.

The White House asserts that Obama has the better ?vision? compared to Romney regarding middle-class concerns, including taxes. The president will have a chance to discuss tax reform and a ?balanced? approach to deficit reduction with voters through the summer and fall.

A report released June 20 by Congress? Joint Economic Committee found that the House Republican budget plan authored by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, which has been generally endorsed by Romney, would benefit the wealthy over the middle class. The richest 0.1 percent of taxpayers would receive an estimated tax cut of $1.18 million per taxpaying household in 2015, the report found. The Ryan budget plan would raise taxes on those earning less than $200,000 annually by eliminating tax breaks and exclusions now in place, it also said.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/06/29/plouffe_dems_must_rebut_gops_tax-hike_message_114664.html

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Accused Fort Hood gunman denied delay in trial

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/accused-fort-hood-gunman-denied-delay-trial-220256571.html

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SoleCollector: Nike Golf Lunar Swingtip | Sole Collector: http://t.co/QGrToOfy

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Source: http://twitter.com/SoleCollector/statuses/218809582091386881

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Samsung appeals Apple injunction against Galaxy Tab 10.1

Samsung lawyers have petitioned a US court to suspend a preliminary injunction that has blocked its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer from sale in the country.

The South Korean electronics company filed papers at the US District Court for the Northern District of California asking that the order be suspended pending an appeal.

The filing came a day after Judge Lucy Koh barred sales of the tablet and any "product that is no more than colorably different from this specified product and embodies any design contained in US Design Patent No. D504,889."

Related Articles on Techworld

Judge Koh also ordered Apple to post a bond for $2.6 million toward any damages sustained by Samsung if the injunction is subsequently found to be erroneously enjoined.

Samsung argued the injunction on a number of points, including that Apple's evidence against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is "seven months or older." Such injunctions are typically granted to prevent prospective harm from sales of the allegedly offending product, but that doesn't exist pending more current data from Apple, the company argued in the filing.

"Samsung not only has a strong likelihood of success on appeal given the Court's issuance of a preliminary injunction based on a stale record, but, absent a stay, the injunction will cause Samsung significant harm due to impaired relationships with customers and carriers, while causing no demonstrable injury to Apple," Samsung argued in its filing.

Samsung's appeal represents the latest round in a patent battle between the two companies that centres over a handful of patents covering product design.

Apple first asked for an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in July last year. Judge Koh denied the injunction in December, ruling that Apple was likely to suffer irreparable harm as a result of Samsung infringing the '889 design patent but that the patent itself was likely invalid.

The ruling ended up in the appeals court, which upheld Judge Koh's initial finding of infringement and irreparable harm with respect to the '889 Patent, but disagreed with her finding on the validity of the patent. That appeals court finding opened the door to this week's injunction.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/270/f/3555/s/20d78121/l/0Lnews0Btechworld0N0Cmobile0Ewireless0C336710A20Csamsung0Eappeals0Eapple0Einjunction0Eagainst0Egalaxy0Etab0E10A10C0Dolo0Frss/story01.htm

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Some people think that orange county pe - Pest Control in Orange ...

Some people think that orange county pest control is something they can do on their own. While you may be able to buy some supplies from a local store and attempt to solve the problem, you never truly know what is right and what is wrong until you hire a professional. With the right team on your side, you will be well on your way to getting rid of pests once and for all - and that is what you truly want.

The main reason for wanting to solve this problem on your own is simple: you are looking for a way to save money. But before you start thinking this way, you need to keep a few things in mind.

First and foremost, hiring an Orange County pest control company is not nearly as expensive as many people believe. In fact, it can be quite affordable in many cases. You will never truly know how much it costs until you contact a qualified provider and ask for a quote. This is a great way to learn more about your problem while also picking up valuable information on the cost.

Secondly, you are going to spend a lot of money buying the supplies and equipment that you need in order to treat your own home. And guess what? You still may not get the level of results you are hoping for. There is no guarantee of success when you treat your own home. With this in mind, you could end up spending a lot of money and not seeing any change. How would that make you feel?

If you don't know the first thing about pest control, you need to contact a company in your area that is able to review your problem and lay out a plan that you are going to be comfortable with.

The time that it takes a professional to control your pest problem will be much quicker than what you are faced with.

This may sound like a do it yourself job on the surface, but think twice before you make the mistake of taking on this task without the help of a professional.

Remember, it may cost more money to hire a professional Orange County pest control company but in the long run you know that you are getting a high level of service. Along with this, you can be confident that your pest troubles will be solved sooner rather than later.

Before you do anything on your own, contact a company in your area to see what they have to offer somebody in your position. Soon enough, you will have more information on what you should and should not be doing. Along with this, you will have a clear understanding of how much it will cost to have your property treated.

For the most part, you need to hire a pest control company. This is the best way to solve your problem without tasking any risks. This is not a do it yourself job for most people. Instead, hire an Orange County pest control company that has a good reputation for getting the job done the first time around. No matter if you are interested in bee control Orange County or some other service, you will find that a pro can help.

Learn why orange county pest control is not something you should attempt to do on your own - this is a job for a professional!

Learn why orange county pest control is not something you should attempt to do on your own - this is a job for a professional!

Keywords: Some people think that orange county pest control is something they can do on their own. While you may be able to buy some supplies from a l

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Flow International's 4Q results up, top forecasts

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Gutters: Issue #312 - Mark Dos Santos

As someone who spent 7 years prior to my comics life working in a newsroom, today's page brings a smile to my face.

The internet has given everyone a voice and a platform to share that voice, which is a beautiful thing. But the opportunity to use that voice without proper diligence is rampant. I'm not saying that people aren't entitled to their opinions, but I am of the belief that opinions aren't necessarily journalism, and good journalism isn't without opinion. It's learning to understand the difference that makes for great reporters, columnists, and anchors. It takes talent, hard work and the ability to listen to what's happening around you.

Edward R. Murrow. Barbara Walters. Lloyd Robertson. These are journalists. They have reported on and witnessed moments that have changed the world. They have had their share of stories that didn't of course, but they know how to get to the humanity of a story and how to report it accurately, compassionately and with integrity.

Having a blog you update twice a month and using it to get free passes to Comicon is not the same thing.

Just sayin'...

Also, I can confirm with many independent sources that the artist of today's page is Mark Dos Santos:

Mark Dos Santos, a Kubert School Alumni, left New Jersey for sunny California to pursue a career in animation as a storyboard artist and character designer. He quickly became involved in comics producing independent titles. Mark has done work for Western Tales of Terror, Monkey vs Lemur, Zenescopes Grimm Fairy Tales, Fall of Cthulhu Godwar, Eureka : Dormant Gene for Boom Studios, IT! The Terror from Beyond Space for IDW and cover work for Hack/Slash from Devil's Due. He has also done sketch cards for Inkworks, Strictly Ink and Rittenhouse on such properties as Hellboy Animated, Family Guy, 2000AD, Ray Harryhousen, Marvel and DC COMICS.

Have a great New Comics Day, folks! See you back here Friday!

-Moss

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95% Marley

Director Kevin MacDonald and co-producer Ziggy Marley bring forth the most definitive look back at the life of Bob Marley, in the new documentary "Marley". From the formation of "The Wailers" and the comings and goings of different members of the band (including Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff), to Marley's dealings in Rastafarian and how it bled into his Reggae music; and also from his controversial lifestyle punctuated by being a "womanizer" (eleven children from seven different women) to his humanitarian nature, this in-depth (two and a half hour) documentary will immensely satisfy fan and novice alike. I, like many other younger American non-Rasta's, had grown up knowing Bob Marley for his more commercially catchy hits and from his countless depictions on a multitude of shirts worn by numerous Bay Area potheads. But, being a novice, going into this film I wasn't particularly interested in seeing a two and a half hour movie about the life and times Bob Marley. A story I thought I knew, and had heard, countless times before. But that notion changed rather abruptly within the first few minutes of this movie. And by the end, due to the brilliant investigative journalistic nature of MacDonald which elevates "Marley" from an average movie to a MUST SEE documentary, audiences who see this film will walk out with an in-depth appreciation for the man who wrote some of the most poetic and revolutionary lyrics in music history. "Marley" is the no holds barred dissection of a particular subject (or subject matter) which fans of great documentaries will crave (and in fact, was nowhere to be found in the films of 2011). And for a documentary that was originally supposed to be directed by Martin Scorsese, after seeing what MacDonald has accomplished here, it would be hard to imagine "Marley" being more perfectly executed in anybody else's hands. What truly sets "Marley" apart from other bio-documentaries and A&E specials is how, in a very PBS way, MacDonald uses a seemingly endless amount of archival footage, as well as interviews with almost everybody (still alive) who had anything to do with Marley's upbringing and his life as a world famous musician, as the narration. It was quite apparent that MacDonald had full access to any and all information he wanted, and as far as I could see, he thankfully took complete advantage of this fact. As audiences, we hear from Marley's family and peers about how as a young boy he was an outcast because of his mixed-race. We also hear from notable Jamaican artists and record executives, who saw his maturation into a musician that worked to bridge the gaps, not only in Jamaica (during times of war) but nationwide as well. In this way, MacDonald enables audiences to intimately know Bob Marley on every level (get your mind out of the gutter). But all the pure information aside, what MacDonald does very well here is not creating a documentary which totally sanctifies Bob Marley, much as many movies (tributes) do when celebrities with checkered pasts die. MacDonald captures recollections of Marley from both those who loved the man and those who thought him to be nothing more than a womanizing zealot, who was sadly not as politically motivated as he should have been. Final Thought: Overall "Marley" is a brilliant example of an archetype onto how all biographical documentaries should be made. Grade "A" filmmaking, in conjunction with a larger than life subject (subject matter) is what elevates "Marley" into one of the most entertaining two and a half hour documentaries I have ever seen. If you are at all a Bob Marley fan (casual or otherwise) and if you are able to, see "Marley", any way you can, before Hollywood makes a more commercialized (legacy ruining) feature film version of his life in a few years; starring Mekhi Phifer no doubt. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

May 29, 2012

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Android 4.1 SDK hands-on

Too lazy to download and install the brand new Android SDK yourself, don't feel like tweaking an AVD for optimal operation? Don't know what an AVD is? We don't blame you, and that's why we're here. We fired up Jelly Bean in the Android emulator and started poking around a bit. Sadly, most of the most exciting new features -- offline speech recognition, Google Now -- don't work. And we couldn't really delve deep into the new notifications system thanks to some limitations on the SDK. We could, however, play with the new version of Maps and demo the new widget placement tweaks. Most of the UI should look familiar. In fact, the only obvious changes we noticed were the new search widget and a few tweaked buttons, like notification clearing option. You'll also notice a new layout for the clock and date in the notification pull down. Mostly, from a aesthetic point of view, the refinements are minor, but welcome. Everything feels a little more spacious, less cramped, without becoming overly simple. Want to see it for yourself? Check out the gallery below and the video after the break.

Gallery: Android 4.1 SDK hands-on

Continue reading Android 4.1 SDK hands-on

Android 4.1 SDK hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spain pays sharply higher rates in debt auction

Ministro de Econom?a espa?ol Luis de Guindos habla con su colega austr?aca Maria Fekter en la reuni?n de ministros de la UE, Luxemburgo, 22 de junio de 2012. De Guindos dijo el m,artes 26 de junio de 2012 que se impondr? "condiciones" al sector bancario, incluso a los que no soliciten dinero del fondo de rescate europeo, cuyo monto no revel?. (AP Foto/Virginia Mayo)

Ministro de Econom?a espa?ol Luis de Guindos habla con su colega austr?aca Maria Fekter en la reuni?n de ministros de la UE, Luxemburgo, 22 de junio de 2012. De Guindos dijo el m,artes 26 de junio de 2012 que se impondr? "condiciones" al sector bancario, incluso a los que no soliciten dinero del fondo de rescate europeo, cuyo monto no revel?. (AP Foto/Virginia Mayo)

MADRID (AP) ? Spain's borrowing costs soared in a pair of short-term auctions Tuesday as investors worried that the country would not be able to manage an expensive rescue of its ailing banking sector.

The Treasury auctioned ?3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) in the two maturities, just above its target range, and demand was strong.

But the cost was very high ? an indication that investors are concerned that the Spanish government will be stuck with huge expenses after a European bailout of its fragile banking system.

The interest rate on 3-month bills was 2.36 percent, nearly triple the 0.85 percent paid in the last such auction on May 22. The rate on the 6-month bills was 3.24 percent, nearly twice as much as the 1.7 percent paid in May.

The auction came a day after Spain formally requested financial aid for its banks from its partners in the eurozone. The move was a formality ? it had expressed its intent a week early.

Once again, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos did not say how much of the ?100 billion ($125 billion) lifeline on offer the country planned to use.

While the bailout will help the banks, the government is ultimately responsible for repaying the money. That has raised fears that it will be stuck with huge liabilities and that's evident in the country's borrowing costs.

Addressing a parliamentary commission Tuesday, de Guindos also said no new austerity measures have been set by Brussels as conditions for the loan.

That could irk other bailed-out countries that did have string attached to their rescues. However, on Monday Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy did say Monday that new "economic measures" were in the works even though the Spanish economy is back in recession. These are widely understood to include an increase in the sales tax, a tax on goods and services.

The new conservative Spanish government has already enacted a wave of spending cuts, raised income and property taxes and frozen civil servant wages.

De Guindos reiterated that Spain's three biggest banks -- Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank -- will not need aid to meet new capitalization requirements. He said the aid requested will not surpass the ?100 billion the government has available, and that terms of the loan are being negotiated. These terms are expected to be announced by July 9.

The minister said that banks which do accept loan money might have to separate toxic assets from clean ones, although he did not go so far as to say Spain will create a bad bank. So far the government has resisted such a step, which de Guindos said the EU wants.

He said this asset separation would be an additional step for individual banks that need it, aside from measures applying to the whole banking sector in Spain. He did not elaborate.

A key problem for Spain is that its banks hold massive amounts of its government bonds. So as those bonds lose value, the banks take losses, fueling a vicious cycle of uncertainty over the banks' and the government's finances.

Those concerns were evident in Moody's decision Monday to downgrade 28 Spanish banks, including international heavyweights Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA. The agency cited the banks' exposure to the government's bonds and said they are vulnerable to further losses from Spain's real-estate bust.

"The problem facing Spanish banks, which is again being reflected in rising Spanish bond yields, is that no-one is clear on how much bailout money Spanish banks will end up needing," said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

Hewson noted that it also remains unclear what conditions will come attached to the aid for Spain's banks. If, in the event one of the rescued banks fails, the eurozone bailout fund gets the right to be repaid before other creditors.

The Moody's downgrade had been widely expected and stock markets were mostly steady on Tuesday.

But tensions remained high in bond markets. In the secondary bond market, where auctioned debt is traded freely, the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds edged up 0.07 percentage points to 6.65 percent, a painfully expensive rate. The yield last week punched through the 7 percent level, a level seen as unsustainable over the long term.

Associated Press

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Twisted light could let you download 70 DVDs per second

An international team of researchers has developed a method of manipulating beams of to transmit information at astonishing speeds.

By InnovationNewsDaily Staff,?InnovationNewsDaily / June 25, 2012

Twisted light beams have opened the door for wireless communication 85,000 times faster than broadband Internet speeds. The breakthrough could allow NASA missions or military space satellites to exchange data at ultrahigh speeds.

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Lab tests have shown how twisted laser beams can?transmit data?at speeds up to 2.56 terabits per second ? roughly the equivalent of beaming 70 DVDs worth of data in a single second through free space. Such speed easily put broadband Internet's 30 megabits per second to shame.

"We didn't invent the twisting of light, but we took the concept and ramped it up to a terabit-per-second," said Alan Willner, electrical engineering professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

The international team hailing from the U.S., China, Pakistan and Israel used beam-twisting "phase holograms" that are able to twist light beams into a helical shape similar to that of DNA. Each beam's individual twist can effectively create the equivalent of a new data stream channel ? similar to a radio having separate channels ? without the need for more bandwidth.

The lab test beamed the data across open space rather than through fiber-optic cables, so that researchers could simulate space communication between satellites. Such testing had funding from the U.S. military's Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its "Information in a Photon" program. [Secret Codes Ready to Take Quantum Leap in Space]

The twisted light concept remains limited to deep space missions or near-Earth satellite communication because of the Earth's atmospheric interference, but the technology of adaptive optics can help offset such interference to some degree. Such free-space beaming could also work over short distances on Earth.

But the concept could someday also boost data speeds over fiber-optic cables ? Boston University researchers have already tested the method in a fiber ring stretching 0.6 miles (1 kilometer).

Jian Wang, a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, was lead author on the new research paper detailed in the June 24 issue of the journal?Nature Photonics.

Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter @News_Innovation, or on?Facebook.

Copyright 2012?InnovationNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Get 'E-ed' and Be Social for Business ? MegaInsights

Jun
25
2012

This piece is a contribution by Lekan Stephen, an e-business expert. He can be reached via Twitter @iamlosa. Enjoy? it.

The internet represents one of the biggest phenomenal inventions in human history. Its components which include the World Wide Web,?electronic business and e-commerce have changed virtually everything about our entire existence?and humanity.

E-business simply means doing business online or deploying internet technologies to sell products and services, as well as optimizing business processes and breaking?geographical barriers that is associated with offline businesses. E-business is often used interchangeably with E-commerce.? Really, the two terms are closely related but quite different in definition and representation. E-commerce is actually the process of buying, transferring, exchanging products, services and/or information via the internet or other forms of networks.

Just like E-business, the word ?E?? now precedes many part of our lives such as e-consultancy, e-procurement, e-environment and e-CRM; to name a few.? This emphasizes the?clear indication of how electronically-based and dependent our humanity and endeavors have become over the years. That may be interpreted that any business or human endeavor without some form of online presence or activities is simply driving against the lanes of the new civilization.

However, E-business like the traditional business setup is not without its own challenges such as security, privacy infringements and piracy. Therefore, it is important for e-business systems managers to guide against these risks by employing?the services of professionals to design and implement measures to keep business and customers? information private and confidential. Authenticity and data integrity is also implemented by deploying physical security, firewalls and encryption amongst other measures.

Just as traditional business systems often require marketing and some measures of advertisement, online businesses also require visibility projection perhaps because the size of the world wide web upon which online businesses seat increases by the day. In fact, as I write this piece today Friday, 22 June 2012, there are about 7.67 billon web pages on the internet. That?s where social media (for business) comes in.

Social Media is one of the newest components of the internet world phenomenon and its design and implementation has further dismantled the geographical barriers and connects us better together in a way that has never been experienced by man. It has turned the world into a small village where communication is instant, direct and real-time regardless of geographical location.

With over 1.5 billion people who are able to communicate, social media network creates an unprecedented viral effects on shared content and information. With the ability to demographically group audiences and users, harnessing the power of social media marketing on e-business system remains the vital component of successful organizational strategies.

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Cyprus becomes next eurozone state to seek bailout

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus on Monday became the fifth eurozone country to request financial aid from its partners in the European currency union as it struggles to shore up its banks, which took heavy losses on Greek debt.

The island nation's government said in a terse statement that it required assistance following "negative spillover effects through its financial sector, due to its large exposure in the Greek economy."

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou wouldn't say how much Cyprus would ask from the European bailout fund, saying that the amount would be subject to negotiations in the coming days. The 27 leaders of the European Union will meet in Brussels on Thursday.

Analysts estimate the sum would likely be around ?5 billion ($6.2 billion) but could reach ?10 billion. That is a fraction of the bailouts given to the other countries ? Spain has asked for as much as ?100 billion for its banks.

Cyprus needs about ?1.8 billion ($2.26 billion) - or about 10 percent of its gross domestic product - by a June 30 deadline to recapitalize its second largest lender, Cyprus Popular Bank. The lender is the most heavily exposed of the country's banks to Greek government debt, which lost most of its value this year in a writedown.

Over the past weeks it became clear that the bank would not find the money from the private sector and would need to get it from the government, itself strapped for cash and unable to raise money in bond markets, where its borrowing rates are too high.

Stefanou said that despite its demand for European aid, the Cypriot government would continue negotiations for a possible loan from a country outside the EU, such as Russia or China.

"One doesn't preclude the other," Stefanou told the Associated Press. "Our efforts to secure a bilateral loan will continue."

Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said last week that clinching a loan from another country would strengthen Cyprus' bargaining position with its eurozone partners in negotiating the terms that would come attached with a bailout loan.

"It could be a combination of sources of funding, on the understanding that the terms offered for these loans ? either from the (EU bailout fund) or a bilateral loan are satisfactory and to the state's benefit," Shiarly said.

The Cypriot government has been apprehensive about turning solely to the EU bailout fund because of the tough spending cuts and tax increases that it may be forced to enact in exchange for the money, as debt-crushed Greece has had to.

The Cypriot economy has thrived on foreign businesses setting up shop in the island due to its low, 10 percent corporate tax rate which the government is keen to protect.

Greece, Ireland and Portugal, which have needed European bailouts to finance their government debt, are on strict austerity plans. Spain, which has demanded money to rescue its banks, is still negotiating the terms of its aid deal.

It's not clear whether the Cyprus government will be able to fend off tough, EU-imposed austerity terms. A European Commission report last month said the island is "experiencing very serious macroeconomic imbalances which need to be urgently addressed," including slashing spending on a bloated public sector and pension reform.

Earlier Monday, ratings agency Fitch became the third agency to downgrade Cyprus' credit rating to junk status, estimating that the island will need another ?4 billion ($5 billion) to recapitalize its banking sector. It cited the banks' exposure to Greek debt as well as a rise in bad loans over the last year as the Cypriot economy has shrunk while unemployment has hit a record high of 10 percent.

Fitch predicts that Cyprus' government debt will shoot above 100 percent of GDP, more than 12 points more than its previous estimate. The agency said that a government target to bring the budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP through another round of spending cuts and tax increases will be missed by as much as a percentage point.

Cypriot banks could suffer further losses from a possible Greek eurozone exit since they also hold an estimated ?22 billion in Greek business and household loans.

Compounding the island's banking troubles are projections that its economy will shrink by 1 percent of GDP this year.

___

Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.

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Recycle those packing peanuts (Offthekuff)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Utah Sen. Hatch seems to have weathered GOP storm

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? It was an entertaining exchange, as one-man debates go.

Dan Liljenquist, hoping to shock the political world on Tuesday, didn't let Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch's absence this month stop him. The GOP challenger opened his show with the usual call for new leadership in Washington, took questions from a pretend moderator and used a video recording of old Hatch interviews and speeches to provide the incumbent's response.

Hatch had his own play for the cameras the next afternoon. He met Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Salt Lake City airport and walked with him to an awaiting car as TV stations got the shot.

If there's one political endorsement that matters in Utah, it's Romney's. He graduated from Brigham Young University, oversaw the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and carried more than 90 percent of the vote in the state's GOP presidential primary in 2008.

The two scenes captured the political dynamics at work leading up to Tuesday's Senate primary.

Liljenquist, 37, had no alternative but to undertake some unorthodox moves to get voters' attention, Hatch, 78, let his campaign treasury of nearly $10 million and other GOP leaders make his case for a seventh and final term. Sensing he's far ahead in a state where the Republican primary winner is the heavy favorite in November, Hatch has bobbed, weaved and carefully avoided any mistakes that could lead to a surprise loss.

Hatch's strategy underscores the diminished threat to his 36-year tenure in Washington.

Under Utah's unique system for picking GOP Senate candidates, delegates to the party's state convention get the first crack. If any one candidate gets 60 percent of them, there is no primary. Hatch won 59.2 percent of the more than 3,900 convention delegates in April, 32 votes short of the number needed to avoid a runoff with Liljenquist. He had told activists, "It will be my last six years in the U.S. Senate, but they'll be the best six years and the most critical six years of all."

After watching then-Sen. Robert Bennett go down to defeat at the Utah GOP convention two years ago, Hatch was concerned enough that he spent most of April in the state and skipped two weeks of votes in Washington.

When Liljenquist pressed for a televised debate after the convention, Hatch's campaign said the incumbent's Senate duties in Washington allowed time for only one radio debate. It took place June 15.

"Their strategy is to very much keep him away and out of the state," Liljenquist said. "We're not surprised by that. We think he has a hard time justifying many points of his record."

Kelly Patterson, the former director of the Centers for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, said Hatch's strategy makes sense.

"Liljenquist doesn't have a lot of money to draw attention to himself and make a go of it," Patterson said.

Hatch has spent the past two years reaching out to his critics while shifting his votes and commentary to the right. The American Conservative Union gives him a lifetime score of voting right on nearly 90 percent of its issues; the past two years it was 100 percent.

"People around here really support Hatch, but they were discouraged by some of his votes," said Joni Crane, GOP chairwoman for Uintah County in eastern Utah. "They always intended on voting for him, but they wanted to get their pound of flesh. People are sending him a message: We want you there, but we're not happy."

Outside forces played a big role in defeating Republican Bennett in 2010, but have been less united in taking on Hatch. The conservative Club for Growth, for example spent about $250,000 to oust Bennett, but stayed on the sidelines in Hatch's race. Barney Keller, a spokesman for the group, said it views Hatch as a moderate who "has moved to the right to save his skin."

"In a lot of ways we already have had an effect," Keller said. "It's not always the win-loss record."

A political action committee affiliated with the tea party movement, FreedomWorks for America, has spent nearly $900,000 so far to orchestrate Hatch's defeat. Yet even that amount puts only a dent in the financial edge that Hatch enjoys.

As the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Hatch has taken in $3.9 million in PAC contributions from corporations and trade groups. His campaign has spent about $10 million so far, including $1.9 million just in the past two months.

Liljenquist's campaign has spent $614,000, largely due to $400,000 he loaned it. He served three years in the state Senate before resigning to challenge Hatch. He notes that he led efforts to overhaul the state's Medicaid program and its pension system for state employees

Hatch has confronted Liljenquist's calls for new leadership by emphasizing that he's in line to run the Senate Finance Committee if Republicans take control of the Senate. The committee has oversight over tax issues and trade as well as Medicare, Social Security and other big drivers of government spending.

"Let's be honest about it, Utah is going to have a great advantage with me as chairman," Hatch said in the one post-convention debate with Liljenquist, on KSL Radio in Salt Lake City.

Liljenquist's case is that Hatch has used his influence to increase government spending through pet projects, his partnership with the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., in creating a $9-billion-a-year health care program for children and his vote for Medicare prescription drug benefits.

"I am running, senator, because you could become chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, not in spite of it," Liljenquist said.

___

Freking reported from Washington.

Associated Press

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At least 2 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza

Adel Hana / AP

A Palestinian firefighter tries to extinguish a fire following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, early Saturday.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

GAZA -- Israel launched air raids on Hamas security targets in Gaza on Saturday, reportedly killing at least two Palestinians and injuring at least 21 others, including four children.

The raids were launched after militants in Gaza stepped up rocket attacks, wounding an Israeli man.

---

The escalating violence threatened to unravel Wednesday's shaky Egyptian-brokered truce which had temporarily calmed violence that erupted on Monday after a raid across Egypt's Sinai border in which an Israeli man and two gunmen were killed.

The Israeli Defense Force said in a statement that it had "targeted a terrorist squad during preparations to fire a rocket at Israel from the central Gaza Strip" Friday, according to BBC News.

The BBC said that attacked killed a man called Bazel Ahmed and that a second air strike killed an 18-year-old, who the IDF said had been part of a group firing rockets.

Hamas: Boy, 6, dies
Hamas medical officials said a third Israeli air raid killed a six-year-old boy at a soccer field near the town of Khan Younis, and wounded two other people. They said a baby was wounded in a separate attack in Rafah, at the Egypt border.

An Israeli military spokeswoman, commenting on the boy's death, said: "an initial examination shows the military was not involved in this incident." She had no immediate comment on the report about the baby.

At least two killed in attack on Israel-Egypt border

The Israeli strikes were reported after the worst rocket assault in six days of fighting. One projectile slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot wounding an Israeli man in the neck just as he was trying to enter a concrete shelter.

The rocket was one of more than 50 fired into Israel, nearly 10 times the number fired on Friday, the military said. At least six other rockets were intercepted by an Israeli missile defense system.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Last rescued climber leaves Mount Rainier

SEATTLE (AP) ? The last of four Waco, Texas, climbers rescued on Mount Rainier in an effort that cost a ranger his life walked down off the Washington peak on Friday while blizzard conditions high on the mountain delayed efforts to retrieve the body.

The final climber, Stacy Wren, descended the mountain with Mount Rainier National Park rangers and was whisked away by car Friday evening. Three other climbers were plucked off the mountain by helicopter Thursday after the group fell and two of them ended up in a crevasse.

Eight other rangers trying to retrieve the body of climbing ranger Nick Hall, 33, from the 10,000-foot level of the 14-411-foot mountain were pinned down in a ground blizzard. They planned to spend the night at Camp Schurman at the 9,500-foot level and hope for a weather window on Saturday, park spokeswoman Fawn Bauer said.

Hall slid more than 3,000 feet to his death as he was helping evacuate the Texas climbers.

His family both grieved and celebrated his life Friday.

Hall, a four-year veteran of the park's climbing program, came from a family of EMTs who aided soldiers in Iraq and car crash victims in his small hometown of Patten, Maine. He was not married and had no children.

His father, Carter Hall, recalled his son as a loner when he was a child, but flourished in high school through a shared love of the wilderness.

"For good and bad, it was my influence of the outdoors," Hall told The Associated Press in a call from his Maine home, his voice breaking.

A Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord removed three of the four climbers and rangers stayed on the mountain Thursday night with Wren.

The Texas climbers had reached the summit and were on their way down, roped together, when two women fell into a crevasse on Emmons Glacier. Two men were able to stop the group, and one called for help by cellphone.

Rangers and the helicopter responded to the site at the 13,700-foot level. A helicopter airlifted the three to Madigan Army Medical Center at the military base near Tacoma, where they were hospitalized in fair condition Friday, said spokesman Jay Ebbeson.

The climbers were bruised with possible broken bones, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said earlier.

Park spokeswoman Patti Wold identified the climbers as Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith, Ross Vandyke and Wren.

Hall had helped put three climbers into the helicopter when he fell. The park is investigating exactly how he fell, Bacher said.

"We don't want what happened to Nick to happen again," he said. "There's no urgency today; nobody's life is at risk today. Let's take it slow and make sure nobody else is hurt."

"We're a very small team and particularly the climbing team ? basically 15 people under the climbing foreman," said Bacher, who also is a ranger. "And they work very close together and train close together and depend on each other for their lives and become very close."

The last time a climbing ranger was killed was 1995, when two rangers died after falling 1,200 feet during a glacier rescue.

Hall's family said they were proud of his involvement in mountain rescues, and hoped that his death will draw attention to the profession's dangers.

Hall's father is a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Patten, and his older brother, Aaron, served in the National Guard as an EMT in Iraq. Aaron Hall celebrated his birthday on the day his brother died on the mountain.

Nick Hall had worked as an avalanche forecaster at Yellowstone National Park and as an emergency medical responder for the ski patrol at Washington's Stevens Pass Ski Area, his father said.

When he spoke to him about risks, Carter Hall said, his son responded that dying by heart attack "was also a risk in life."

Hall was the second Mount Rainier National Park ranger to die this year. Margaret Anderson was fatally shot on New Year's Day as she tried to stop a suspect in a Seattle shooting who drove through a tire-chain checkpoint. Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was found dead the next day in the snow.

Rescuers are still looking for four other people ? two climbers and two campers ? who disappeared on the mountain in January. "We're keeping our eyes out for them as the snow melts out," Bacher said.

About 10,000 climbers attempt to reach the summit of the volcano about 85 miles southeast of Seattle each year and about half make it, he said.

___

Dininny contributed to this story from Yakima, Wash.

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Negative radiation pressure in light could make some tractor beams real, we're already sucked in

Developing a real, working tractor beam has regularly been an exercise in frustration: it often relies on brute force attempts to induce a magnetic link or an air pressure gap, either of which falls a bit short of science fiction-level elegance. The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Mordechai Segev has a theory that would use the subtler (though not entirely movie-like) concept of negative radiation pressure in light to move objects. By using materials that have a negative refraction index, where the light photons and their overall wave shape move in opposite directions, Segev wants to create a sweet spot where negative radiation pressure exists and an object caught in the middle can be pushed around. His early approach would use extremely thin crystals stacked in layers to manipulate the refraction. As it's theorized, the technology won't be pulling in the Millennium Falcon anytime soon -- the millimeters-wide layer intervals dictate the size of what can be pulled. Nonetheless, even the surgery-level tractor beams that Segev hopes will ultimately stem from upcoming tests would bring us much closer to the future that we've always wanted.

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Pa. monsignor becomes 1st US Catholic official convicted for covering up abuse complaints

PHILADELPHIA - A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said.

Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

"Many in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia hierarchy had dirty hands," Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said. "They failed to realize that the church is its people."

Williams said he did not have sufficient evidence last year to charge other officials, including Bevilacqua, who died in January at age 88.

Lynn had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced ? conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted of only a single endangerment count, which carries a possible 3 1/2- to seven-year prison term.

The jury could not reach a verdict for Lynn's co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1999.

Despite Lynn's acquittal on the conspiracy charge, the trial exposed how deeply involved the late cardinal was in dealing with accused priests.

Bevilacqua had the final say on what to do with priests accused of abuse, transferred many of them to new parishes and dressed down anyone who complained, according to testimony. He also ordered the shredding of a 1994 list that Lynn prepared, warning that the archdiocese had three diagnosed pedophiles, a dozen confirmed predators and another 20 possible abusers in its midst.

Church lawyers turned over a surviving copy of the list days after Bevilacqua died.

Lynn didn't react when the verdict was read, or acknowledge the siblings and other friends and relatives who have accompanied him to court for much of the three-month trial. Several of them were weeping.

The judge revoked his bail and he was taken to jail, although his lawyers plan to ask on Monday that he be granted house arrest until sentencing. No date was set, but the judge scheduled an Aug. 13 presentencing hearing.

The defence also pledged to appeal the conviction.

"He's upset. He's crushed. He's in custody and he didn't want anything else but to help kids," defence lawyer Jeffrey M. Lindy said.

With the verdict, after 13 days of deliberations, jurors concluded that prosecutors failed to show that Lynn was part of a conspiracy to move predator priests around.

The jury, however, did find that Lynn endangered the victim of defrocked priest Edward Avery, who pleaded guilty before trial to a 1999 sexual assault.

Lynn had deemed Avery "guilty" of an earlier complaint on the 1994 list, and helped steer him into an inpatient treatment program run by the archdiocese. But Lynn knew that Avery later was sent to live in a northeast Philadelphia parish, where the altar boy was assaulted.

The victim alleges that he was also assaulted by another priest and his Catholic school teacher. They are expected to be tried later this year.

After the verdict, the archdiocese apologized to clergy-abuse victims and said the church was on a "journey of reform and renewal that requires honesty and hope."

"We are committed to providing support and assistance to parishioners as they and the church seek to more deeply understand sexual violence, and to create an environment that is safe and welcoming to all, including past victims," read the church's statement, which did not reference Lynn directly.

Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, called the verdict "a watershed moment" in the priest sex-abuse crisis.

"Lynn was a smart, able manager who at any time could have called the police, warned parishes, or threatened to blow the whistle," McKiernan said. "He was not a helpless good guy. The only helpless people in this ongoing catastrophe were the children, the many hundreds of boys and girls who were sodomized and terrorized by the men Lynn managed."

More than 500 Roman Catholic priests have been convicted of abuse charges across the U.S., according to his group's count. Lynn is the first church official to be convicted for his administrative actions.

Defence lawyers say Lynn alone tried to document the complaints, get priests into treatment and alert the cardinal to the growing crisis. Church documents show therapists had called one accused priest a ticking "time bomb" and "powder keg."

During the 10-week trial, more than a dozen adults testified about wrenching abuse they said they suffered at the hands of revered priests.

A former seminarian said he was raped by a priest throughout high school at the priest's mountain house.

A nun testified that she and two female relatives were sexually abused by a priest described by a church official as "one of the sickest people I ever knew."

A troubled young man described being sexually assaulted in the church sacristy in 1999 by Avery after the 10-year-old altar boy served Mass. Avery is serving a 2 1/2- to five-year prison term.

"I can't explain the pain, because I'm still trying to figure it out today, but I have an emptiness where my soul should be," another accuser testified.

Seven men and five women sat on the jury, along with eight alternates. Many have ties to Catholic schools or parishes, but said they could judge the case fairly. There are about 1.5 million Catholics in the five-county archdiocese.

Defence lawyers argued that Lynn was merely a middle manager, and perhaps a fall guy for the archdiocese. Lynn himself, during three grueling days on the stand, mused about a question he was asked: "You want me to answer for the whole church?"

Jury foreman Isa Logan, a bank employee and deacon at his independent West Philadelphia church, said he'd have taken a court-martial during his Army service rather than follow unjust orders.

"I'm a human being before I'm a soldier," said Logan, a 35-year-old father of three.

He described the deliberations as sometimes tense.

Philadelphia prosecutors have been investigating the archdiocese for 10 years, since the national crisis erupted in the Boston archdiocese.

"I can assure you, as Monsignor Lynn sits in a holding cell right now, he got the message, and others will get the message as well," Williams said.

___

Associated Press writers JoAnn Loviglio and Kathy Matheson contributed to this report.

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