130 degrees? Death Valley could hit 100-year high as deadly heat wave bakes West

Parts of the country are experiencing triple-digit temperatures as Sunday marked day three of a heat wave that has punished much of the western United States. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.

By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

The Southwest again saw soaring temperatures on Sunday, with Las Vegas tying an all-time high of 117 degrees and forecasters predicting the aptly named Furnace Creek in the heart of Death Valley, Calif., might hit a 100-year high of 130 degrees.

The deadly scorcher in the West led the National Weather Service to post excessive heat warnings for large parts of California as well as Nevada and?Arizona, and heat advisories for other parts of Nevada as well four other western states.

David McNew / Getty Images

Death Valley National Park employee Anna Gilay makes her usual seven-mile morning run at 6:55 a.m. with the unofficial temperature already reaching 103 degrees as a heat wave spreads across the West on Sunday.

In Las Vegas, the temperature hit 117 degrees at McCarran International Airport on Sunday, tying an all-time high for any month of the year, Weather.com reported. That temperature was last reached on July 24, 1942 and July 19, 2005.?The normal high temperature for this time of year in Vegas is 103 degrees.

Seven people were hospitalized for heat-related health illnesses on Sunday, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

The heat wave turned deadly in Sin City Saturday when a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue crew responded to a report of an elderly man in cardiac arrest at a residence without air conditioning.

When paramedics arrived, they found the man was dead,?NBC station KSNV reported. The man, who was not identified, did have medical issues, but paramedics characterized his death as heat-related.

In Furnace Creek ??one of the hottest places on Earth ??temperatures didn't quite reach the forecast 130. Instead, the weather station at Death Valley National Park reported a high of 128 degrees, still tying the record for the highest reading in the United States during the month of June. The Weather Service extended the excessive heat warning for parts of California and Nevada into the July 4 holiday.

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?If it does hit 130, that would be the hottest it?s been in a century,? Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Las Vegas, told NBC News.

Saturday?s high at Furnace Creek was also 128 degrees.

The highest-ever recorded air temperature on the planet, according to the Weather Service, was 134 degrees on July 10, 1913, in Death Valley?s Greenland Ranch.

Heat advisories were also in effect Sunday into Tuesday for the Pacific Northwest, where highs in Seattle and Portland could reach into the 90s. East of the Cascade Mountains and into the Columbia River Gorge temperatures could even soar to more than 105 degrees, according to the Weather Service.

In Arizona on Sunday, 50 homes in the central Arizona community of Yarnell had to be evacuated as searing temperatures, low humidity and winds allowed a wildfire to spread.

And in Pasadena, Calif., where temperatures soared into triple digits, at least 12 runners in a marathon event experienced heat-related illnesses, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian told NBCLosAngeles.com. Four men in their 20s were transported to hospitals in serious condition during the race, she said.

Saturday saw a slew of weather records broken, Weather.com reported, including in Phoenix, Ariz., which saw its fourth-hottest day in history, with a?temperature of 119 degrees.

Salt Lake City, Utah, had its hottest June day on record ? 105 degrees ? for the second day in a row.

It was so hot that two forecasters with the Weather Service in Phoenix decided to demonstrate the oven-like temperatures Saturday and baked cookies on?the dash of a 2008 Dodge van.

Two guys from the National Weather Service harnessed the power of the sun and took advantage of the extreme heat wave scorching the Western U.S. to bake up some fresh cookies on the dashboard of their car. TODAY's Dylan Dreyer reports.

?We were joking around that we should bake some cookies, because that sounds a lot better than frying an egg,? meteorologist Charlotte Dewey told the Los Angeles Times. ?More tasty, anyway.?

One report recorded the temperature in the van at 200 degrees. It took about four hours to bake the cookies ? when the temperature hit 116, the cookies were done. Apparently frying an egg on the sidewalk was seen as pass?.

In an another unusual occurrence, commuter airline US Airways Express was forced to ground some planes out of Phoenix on Saturday afternoon when temperatures soared above 115, NBC station KPNX reported.

The extreme heat creates less dense air, which does not allow some planes to get the lift they need to fly, according to the station?s meteorologist Matt Pace.

NBC News' Tracy Jarrett and Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

Dozens of people have been hospitalized due to heat-related injuries in the high temperatures that are gripping the Western U.S. Some cities have seen temperatures soar far past the hundred-degree mark, while the heat continues. TODAY's Dylan Dreyer reports.

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This story was originally published on Sun Jun 30, 2013 4:39 PM EDT

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BSkyB wins trademark case against Microsoft over SkyDrive name

While many can tell the difference between Sky TV services and Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage, that's not necessarily true for everyone. A British court certainly thinks there's room for confusion: it has ruled that SkyDrive infringes BSkyB's trademarks on the Sky name in both the UK and the European Union. The presiding judge didn't believe that Microsoft's use of the "sky" prefix was absolutely necessary, and she showed evidence that at least some of the general public didn't understand which company made what. Microsoft says it plans to appeal the verdict, although there's no guarantee that it will have to relabel SkyDrive if the appeal falls through. Some past trademark lawsuits have led to fines instead of name changes, and we suspect Microsoft would rather pay out than lose brand recognition across a whole continent.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage, Internet, HD, Microsoft

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Tips For Surviving A Mega-Disaster

Patong beach in Phuket, Thailand, was destroyed by the tsunami on Dec. 25, 2004. More than 230,000 people died.

Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Patong beach in Phuket, Thailand, was destroyed by the tsunami on Dec. 25, 2004. More than 230,000 people died.

Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The U.S. is ready for tornadoes, but not tsunamis.

That's the conclusion of a panel of scientists who spoke this week on "mega-disasters" at the American Geophysical Union's science policy meeting in Washington, D.C.

The nation has done a good job preparing for natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, which occur frequently but usually produce limited damage and relatively few casualties, the panelists said. But government officials are just beginning to develop plans for events like a major tsunami or a large asteroid hurtling toward a populated area.

The difference between a disaster and a mega-disaster is scope, the scientists say. For example, Hurricane Sandy was defined as a disaster because it caused significant flooding in New York and New Jersey last year, says Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey. But the flooding was nothing like what happened to California in the winter of 1861 and 1862, she says.

"It rained for 45 days straight," Jones says, creating a lake in the state's central valleys that stretched for 300 miles. The flooding "bankrupted the state, destroyed the ranching industry, drowned 200,000 head of cattle [and] changed California from a ranching economy to a farming economy," she says.

This lithograph from 1862 shows a flooded downtown street in Sacramento, Calif.

Wikimedia Commons

This lithograph from 1862 shows a flooded downtown street in Sacramento, Calif.

Wikimedia Commons

That was a classic mega-disaster, Jones says. So she and others have been studying the event in an effort to make the state better prepared for the next big flood.

One thing they've learned is that the California flood was caused by something known as an atmospheric river, a ribbon of concentrated water vapor that can produce extreme storms. "They have the rain potential of hurricanes ? or even more so because they go on for weeks," she says.

Today, though, meteorologists know how to detect the formation of these atmospheric rivers, Jones says. Also, California now has an extensive system of dams and flood control channels that didn't exist in the 1860s.

So it should be possible to start releasing water before the system gets overwhelmed, Jones says. "There's always something you can do to make it less of a disaster than it might otherwise be if you've got enough information. And that's the point of the science."

Even so, Jones says, studies show a storm slightly smaller than the one in the 1860s would cause flood damage in nearly a quarter of the homes in California.

Another threat from the skies comes in the form of asteroids and comets. And in this case, the damage can be global. It was an asteroid, after all, that is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs and many other species about 66 million years ago.

An asteroid impact like the one in this illustration may have killed off the dinosaurs.

David A. Hardy/Science Source

That asteroid was probably several miles across, scientists now believe. But an asteroid just half a mile across could still create a dust cloud that would circle the globe, says NASA's Lindley Johnson.

NASA's strategy for big asteroids is to "find them before they find us," Johnson says. And so far, the agency has found more than 10,000 of these "near earth objects," he says.

The idea is to identify any large object headed toward Earth, and then deflect it, Johnson says. "Hit it with something really hard and fast and the change in velocity would change the orbit enough that it would not hit the Earth."

The ocean is another source of mega-disasters. In 2004, a tsunami in the Indian Ocean killed more than 230,000 people. And in 2011, another tsunami killed more than 15,000 people in Japan and destroyed a nuclear power plant.

? There's always something you can do to make it less of a disaster than it might otherwise be, if you've got enough information. And that's the point of the science.

- Lucy Jones, U.S. Geological Survey

Even Japan, which has been preparing for tsunamis for decades, was overwhelmed by the damage to coastal cities, says Eddie Bernard of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The event "exceeded their capacity to recover because in many cases the city was washed away," he says, adding that tens of thousands of people who lost their homes are still living in government housing.

But the result would have been much worse in the U.S., Bernard says. "Japan was much better prepared and they are recovering much easier than perhaps we would because they've thought this thing through," he says. For example roads were restored in weeks and communities that survived had electricity again within 10 days, he says.

A government study found that if a similar tsunami struck the coast of Oregon, some areas would be without electricity for months and without water for more than a year.

If that happened, Bernard says, residents would abandon their homes and businesses would fail, leaving nothing but a ghost town.

To avoid that scenario, the Oregon Legislature has been holding hearings on how to make communities more resilient in the event of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/28/195630480/tips-for-surviving-a-mega-disaster?ft=1&f=1007

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Analysis: Clashing visions weigh on U.S. drive for Taliban talks

By Matthew Green

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - As the United States makes a fresh attempt to start talks with the Taliban, competing visions in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan over what an eventual peace process might look like have emerged as one of the biggest hurdles.

Washington's hopes of negotiating with the insurgents to stabilize Afghanistan before most foreign troops leave by the end of 2014 had appeared to achieve a breakthrough last week when the Taliban opened an office in the Qatari capital Doha.

But the process was plunged into uncertainty when Afghan President Hamid Karzai refused to send negotiators to the Gulf state after the Taliban raised a flag at its new premises, infuriating the Afghan government and prompting frantic attempts by U.S. officials to resuscitate the planned dialogue.

While global attention has focused on the debacle in Doha, tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan - whose cooperation will be vital to any deal - have made the prospects of meaningful progress towards a settlement even less sure.

Since the Doha office was opened, Pakistani officials have made a series of comments suggesting that Karzai, who is due to step down at elections in April, 2014, is already irrelevant to what should be wide-ranging talks on Afghanistan's future.

"His expiry date has come," said a Pakistani government official, who is close to Pakistan's discussions with the U.S. and other allies on Afghanistan. "The principle is a fundamental overhaul."

Pakistan is in a position to influence the talks because its security forces backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and continue to serve as gatekeepers to insurgent commanders living on its territory.

While the government official's view does not reflect the public position of Pakistan, which has pledged to support the Afghan government's reconciliation drive on the basis of the existing Afghan constitution, it does provide a window into a strand of thinking within Islamabad's ruling establishment.

However, it is unusual for senior officials in the government to discuss Afghan policy in detail.

The view that Karzai is a hindrance to talks was reflected in comments made to Reuters by three senior Pakistani officials occupying key positions in the foreign ministry and the army, which holds sway over relations with Afghanistan, in recent months. Karzai was installed as president after U.S.-backed troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.

"Right now, Karzai is the biggest impediment to the peace process," a top Pakistani Foreign Ministry official told Reuters in March. "In trying to look like a savior, he is taking Afghanistan straight to hell."

The thrust of Pakistan's criticism is that Karzai is too erratic to handle negotiations. Pakistani officials also argue that the most important protagonists for any peace process are the United States, the Taliban, and the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghan ex-warlords who fought the Taliban in the 1990s and now wield significant influence in Kabul.

This view was laid out in detail in a front-page story published in Pakistan's privately owned Express Tribune newspaper after the Taliban office opened, quoting Pakistani military and diplomatic sources as saying Karzai had no place in any deal.

The sources described the Afghan president as "unstable" and a "poisonous roadblock."

"HOSTILE AND EVIL"

Afghan officials and commentators suspect that Pakistan's frustration with Karzai stems from its desire to ensure that any future government in Kabul overturns the Afghan president's policy of cultivating warmer ties with India, Pakistan's nuclear rival. They also maintain that Pakistan has backed the Taliban through the 12 years of war against U.S.-backed troops.

"We pleaded with Pakistan for peace, but Pakistan's policy and intentions towards Afghanistan have always been hostile and evil," said Bashir Bezhan, a Kabul-based political analyst.

Washington praised Pakistan last week for helping to nudge insurgents towards the negotiating table in Doha, a contrast with acrimonious exchanges in previous years over allegations that Pakistan continued to covertly support the Taliban.

Against this backdrop of suspicions of Pakistan, an attack by the Taliban on the presidential palace in Kabul on Tuesday cast fresh doubt on whether Karzai would be prepared to participate in peace talks.

U.S. President Barack Obama later called Karzai and the two agreed on the need for an Afghan-led peace process and to support the presence of the Taliban office in Doha, the White House said. But no date has been set for any negotiations.

Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said Islamabad remained committed to supporting reconciliation in Afghanistan. "The official position of the government is to support an all inclusive, inter-Afghan dialogue," he said.

BONN 2

The Pakistani government official who is close to Islamabad's thinking on Afghanistan, said one possible way forward at Doha would be far-reaching talks akin to the conference held in the German city of Bonn in December, 2001, which laid the foundations of Karzai's administration.

The key players would be the United States, the Taliban and members of the Northern Alliance, who Pakistan has been carefully courting for more than a year - but not Karzai.

"It would be in a real sense a Bonn 2," the government official said. "Pakistan will have a ringside view...In the ring you'll have Americans and Afghans."

Such a view cuts a complete contrast with the position of Karzai's government, which believes the insurgents must lay down their arms, accept the constitution and find a role within the new Afghanistan that grew from the ashes of the Taliban theocracy toppled by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

The "Bonn 2" proposal may, however, just be wishful thinking within Pakistan's military, which might see such a conference as a chance to promote its preferred factions.

There would also seem to be little appetite among Karzai's Western allies to go back to the drawing board in Afghanistan at a time when NATO countries are seeking to scale back their engagement.

The Afghan government declined to comment on any "Bonn 2" kind of meeting. Washington has repeatedly said the Taliban must accept the Afghan constitution and U.S. officials said they were unaware of any proposal for a new Bonn-style conference.

For now, the United States is sticking to its plan to coax Karzai's government and the Taliban together in Qatar, even as the tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan remain unresolved.

"In the Pakistani military's eyes, Karzai is a lame duck, irrelevant," said Cyril Almeida, a columnist with Pakistan' Dawn newspaper. "The problem is that his is the only Afghan government there is."

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in KABUL, Warren Strobel in WASHINGTON; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-clashing-visions-weigh-u-drive-taliban-talks-210731480.html

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Kenyan shilling steady ahead of June inflation data release

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling held steady on Friday, with traders eyeing monthly inflation data from the central bank later in the day.

The shilling was posted at 85.90/86.10 per dollar at 0712 GMT, unchanged from Thursday's close.

Traders expected the currency to hold firm as the data is likely to show only small changes in the price of goods in east Africa's largest economy.

"The market is expecting a slight up in inflation," said Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading for Commercial Bank of Africa.

"The currency may stabilise around (this level). The end-month is coming, so most of the dollar demand has been met, so we expect the currency to trade in a 85.80-86.20 range."

The shilling has lost 1.1 percent this month, partly due to investors buying dollars as they exit Kenyan shares in a broad pull-back from emerging markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled plans to reduce its stimulus programme.

"With the weekend around the corner we expect today to be quiet ... within a range of 85.80 -86.10," Bank of Africa said in a daily note.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyan-shilling-steady-ahead-june-inflation-data-release-082701588.html

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Marathon speech helps Democrats block Texas abortion bill

By Corrie MacLaggan

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas state Democrats blocked a drive for new abortion restrictions on Wednesday after a marathon speech in the capitol in Austin caused some Republican backers of the bill to cast votes after a midnight deadline.

Democrat Senator Wendy Davis spoke for more than 10 hours in a bid to pull down the voting window on a measure that would place a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Her filibuster attempt stalled about two hours short of the deadline over a complaint that she violated rules, and the Republican-controlled Senate then began voting on the bill to cries of protests from spectators.

Republicans said they met the deadline but Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, after meeting with lawmakers, said some of their votes came in after midnight (0500 GMT), the effective close for the 30-day special session.

Dewhurst also bemoaned the "unruly mob" at the capitol, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The bill called for stricter standards for abortion clinics.

Republican backers said it would protect women's health and that the ban on late-term abortions would protect the fetus, based on disputed research that suggests pain is felt by 20 weeks of development.

Opponents said it would force nearly all Texas abortion clinics to close or be rebuilt.

Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic party, said Davis displayed courage in her filibuster bid.

Davis, who began speaking at 11:15 a.m. local time, was prevented by procedural rules from deviating off-topic or taking a break by eating, leaning against her desk, sitting down or using the rest room.

Republicans tried to disrupt her by charging that she meandered off-topic and, at one point, received help adjusting a supportive back brace.

Davis whittled away chunks of time by reading testimony and messages from women and others decrying the legislation, reciting previously suggested changes to the bill and tapping into her own life history as a single mother at 19.

She said the bill would have choked off her own access to a local Planned Parenthood clinic.

"I was a poor, uninsured woman, whose only care was provided through that facility. It was my medical home," said Davis, now 50, several hours into her speech.

Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, who is Senate president, suspended the filibuster after roughly 10 hours, to cries of "let her speak" from supporters.

Democrats appealed the ruling, sparking a row over parliamentary rules.

After the session, Davis said on social media: "An incredible victory for Texas women and those who love them."

But Republican Governor Rick Perry, a strong opponent of abortion, could still revive the proposal by calling the legislature into a new special session.

NATIONWIDE DEBATE

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, but conservative states have enacted laws in recent years that seek to place restrictions on the procedure, especially on abortions performed late in pregnancy.

Twelve states have passed 20-week bans, including two states where the bans take effect later this year, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Courts have blocked the bans in three of the 12 states - Arizona, Georgia and Idaho.

Earlier this month, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill banning abortions 20 weeks after fertilization. The measure is extremely unlikely to become law because Democrats control the U.S. Senate and the White House.

The Texas proposal would allow exemptions for abortions to save a woman's life and in cases of severe fetal abnormalities.

"In Texas, we value all life, and we've worked to cultivate a culture that supports the birth of every child," Perry said.

The abortion debate simmers elsewhere in the United States.

North Dakota's only abortion clinic on Tuesday filed a federal challenge to a new state law, the most restrictive in the country, one that would ban procedures to end pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks.

A Philadelphia jury last month convicted abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell of murdering three babies during abortions at a clinic in a high-profile case that focused national attention on late term abortions.

(Writing and additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republican-disrupt-texas-state-democrats-filibuster-over-abortion-043413723.html

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Friend: Trayvon Martin encounter racially charged

Rachel Jeantel, the witness that was on the phone with Trayvon Martin just before he died, gives her testimony to the prosecution during George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jacob Langston, Pool)

Rachel Jeantel, the witness that was on the phone with Trayvon Martin just before he died, gives her testimony to the prosecution during George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jacob Langston, Pool)

Rachel Jeantel, the witness that was on the phone with Trayvon Martin just before he died, gives her testimony during George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla., Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jacob Langston, Pool)

George Zimmerman glances back at the courtroom during his trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jacob Langston, Pool)

Rachel Jeantel, the witness that was on the phone with Trayvon Martin just before he died, gives her testimony during George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla., Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jacob Langston, Pool)

George Zimmerman, right, talks to attorney Don West during his trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Jacob Langston, Pool)

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? A friend of Trayvon Martin's who was on the phone with him shortly before his fatal fight with George Zimmerman testified Thursday that she thought the encounter was racially charged.

Rachel Jeantel testified for the second day in a row, saying she thought race was an issue because Martin told her he was being followed by a white man.

"He was being followed," Jeantel said.

Her answer came in response to questioning from defense attorney Don West about why she had given differing accounts about what she had heard over the phone when Martin first encountered Zimmerman on a rainy night on Feb. 26, 2012, at the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex.

West suggested in his cross-examination that 18-year-old Jeantel had raised the racial issue in some accounts but not others. In some accounts, West implied, Jeantel said Zimmerman responded one way when he first encountered Martin, but in other accounts she said he responded another way. Jeantel gave her version of events in a deposition, in a letter to Martin's mother and in a recorded interview with an attorney for the Martin family.

Jeantel is one of the prosecution's most important witnesses because she bolsters the contention that Zimmerman was the aggressor. She was on the phone with Martin moments before he was fatally shot.

Jeantel testified Wednesday that her friend's last words were "Get off! Get off!" before the phone went silent. But on Thursday, under cross-examination, she conceded that she hadn't mentioned that in her account of what happened to Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton.

Jeantel recounted to jurors on Wednesday how Martin told her he was being followed by a man as he walked through the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex on his way back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.

She testified that Martin described the man following him as "a creepy-ass cracker" and that he thought he had evaded him. But she said Martin told her a short time later the man was still behind him, and she told him to run.

Martin said Zimmerman was behind him and she heard Martin ask: "What are you following me for?"

In one account, according to West, she said Zimmerman responds, "What are you doing around here?" In another account, according to West, she says Zimmerman said, "What are you talking about?"

She then heard what sounded like Martin's phone earpiece dropping into wet grass, and she heard him say, "Get off! Get off!" The phone then went dead, she said.

Later, she bristled and teared up when West asked her why she didn't attend Martin's funeral and about lying about her age. She initially told Martin's parents she was a minor when she was 18. She said she didn't want to get involved in the case.

The exchanges also turned testy, including one moment when she urged West to move on to his next question: "You can go. You can go." And she gave him what seemed like a dirty look as he walked away after he had approached her on the stand to challenge her on differences between an initial interview she gave to Martin family attorney, Benjamin Crump, and a later deposition with the defense. Jeantel explained it by saying she "rushed" the interview with Crump because she didn't feel comfortable doing it.

And when the judge asked if both sides wanted to break for the day, prosecutors said they'd like to continue, believing the testimony could take another two hours, to which Jeantel reacted with surprise, repeating, "Two hours?" Instead, the judge decided to continue the cross examination Thursday, carefully instructing Jeantel to return at 9 a.m. and not discuss her testimony with anyone.

Jeantel's testimony was more subdued on Thursday and West took note of her calmer demeanor.

Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Zimmerman followed Martin in his truck and called a police dispatch number before he and the teen got into a fight.

Zimmerman has said he opened fire only after the teenager jumped him and began slamming his head against the concrete sidewalk. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic and has denied the confrontation had anything to do with race, as Martin's family and their supporters have claimed.

___

Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KHightower

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-27-US-Neighborhood-Watch/id-4b310173e75e44d8b79e34916fdaac10

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Devo drummer Alan Myers has died of brain cancer - Reverb

Longtime Devo drummer, Alan Myers, has died after a battle with cancer at 58. Photo courtesy of the Devo official website.

By the Associated Press

The longtime former drummer of the band Devo, best known for the 1980 song ?Whip It,? has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 58.

Alan Myers died Monday in Los Angeles, where he lived. Devo spokesman Michael Pilmer confirmed the death Wednesday.

Myers was the band?s drummer from 1976 to 1985, during Devo?s heyday.

Fellow band member and bassist Gerald Casale told The Associated Press that he?s never worked with a better drummer and called Myers ?the human metronome,? after the time-marking instrument.

Devo was formed in Akron, Ohio, in the early 1970s by Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh. Myers came aboard early on, long before the group became an MTV staple.

Devo is short for devolution, the idea that man was devolving into its monkey state.

Follow our news and updates on?Twitter,?our relationship status on?Facebook?and our search history on?Google +. Or send us a telegram.

Source: http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2013/06/26/devo-drummer-alan-myers-has-died-of-brain-cancer/71822/

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Sony's unannounced Reader PRS-T3 leaks out at the FCC

Last summer, Sony's PRS-T2 e-reader was leaked when it visited the FCC, and was available for pre-order a week ahead of its official launch. Therefore, it's with a sense of deja-vu that we tell you that Sony's annual update, the PRS-T3, has now passed through the FCC's hallowed halls and been deemed fit for human consumption. There's not much we can glean from the documents, except to say that it's got a 3.6Wh battery, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and will probably be available in stores about a month or two from now.

Filed under: Sony

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GOHMERT! Kids Don't Need Sex-Ed Because This Isn't the Soviet Union (Little green footballs)

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Adidas Springblade: Shoes with Actual Springs Might Be a Good Idea?

Adidas has another new running shoe, this one even more divergent than its Boost shoe and its new foam. It's a bunch of springs, basically, strapped to your foot. And it sort of makes a lot of sense.

They also look like hell to clean.

The Springblade's 16 blades are made form a propietary polymer, which has been in development for six years and is designed to be hard enough to provide the bounce-back energy return Adidas wanted, but soft enough so it doesn't just break from being brittle.

Beyond style, there are a few differences between the Springblade and the Boost, despite both being part of Adidas's Energy Running umbrella. According to Steve Vincent, Adidas's head of Innovation, Boost is more for "unlimited energy"?think long runs?while the Springblade is "explosive energy" you'll feel with every step.

Who would benefit most from this style of shoe? "A heel striker will probably get a little more out of it," Vincent says, "Since you're engaging all of the blades, but it will return energy for any style of runner." That's similar to our experience with the Boost, though the forward propulsion of all of the blades?as opposed to the upward bounce from foam soles?should be a bit more useful for forefoot runners. Also, the Springblades aren't really designed for trail running, and are probably best left for the road.

Like Adidas's CrazyQuick basketball shoes, the Springblade has a modular midsole that allows it to give different parts of your foot different feedback. The rear blades are thicker than those at the front of the foot, and even from side to side, the thickness of the blades differs. That sounds a little worrisome for extreme heat and cold, actually, but Adidas promises the thermoplastic material holds up to the elements. You'll want to keep an eye on actual tests for this, though.

Adidas says that it's even calibrated the blades to respond to the average weight of a person wearing each size shoe?so a size 10 men's shoe will have different reflexive properties than a size 7 women's.

The Springblade isn't going to be out until August 1st?meaning it misses most of the summer-running season. That's unfortunate, especially since it looks so great. But we've also got plenty of reservations about how well this is going to perform, since we haven't been able to try on a pair, and the entire Springblade line is being launched with significantly less pomp than the gigantic Boost/Energy Running event earlier this year.

The upper is a fairly standard treatent, with Adidas's TechFit four-way stretch snug on the foot. Robbie Fuller, Design Director of Advanced Concepts at Adidas, said the idea from the start was to keep things simple, since the blades are so striking on their own. At one point there was an idea to match lines to each blade, but that ended up camouflaging them too much. So, the basic design is simple, but with "inferno red" on black as the launch color.

The material underwent a bunch of official-sounding tests, like having ballistic steel balls fired at the shoes, but the best thing Adidas said was that a bunch of people ran hundreds of miles in them and felt great and didn't get hurt. Which, of course, we'll want to test for ourselves, but that's all that really should matter here. We'll have samples in for a full review soon.

The Springblade will be out on August 1st for $180.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/adidas-springblade-shoes-with-actual-springs-might-be-563449885

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Tightrope walk over Ariz. gorge draws 13M viewers

Aerialist Nik Wallenda near the end of his quarter mile walk over the Little Colorado River Gorge in northeastern Arizona on Sunday, June 23, 2013. The daredevil successfully traversed the tightrope strung 1,500 feet above the chasm near the Grand Canyon in just more than 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped around him and the cable swayed. (AP Photos/Discovery Channel, Tiffany Brown)

Aerialist Nik Wallenda near the end of his quarter mile walk over the Little Colorado River Gorge in northeastern Arizona on Sunday, June 23, 2013. The daredevil successfully traversed the tightrope strung 1,500 feet above the chasm near the Grand Canyon in just more than 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped around him and the cable swayed. (AP Photos/Discovery Channel, Tiffany Brown)

In this photo provided by the Discovery Channel, aerialist Nik Wallenda walks a 2-inch-thick steel cable taking him a quarter mile over the Little Colorado River Gorge, Ariz. on Sunday, June 23, 2013. The daredevil successfully traversed the tightrope strung 1,500 feet above the chasm near the Grand Canyon in just more than 22 minutes, pausing and crouching twice as winds whipped around him and the cable swayed. (AP Photos/Discovery Channel, Tiffany Brown)

Daredevil Nik Wallenda smiles during a news conference after crossing a tightrope 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge Sunday, June 23, 2013, on the Navajo reservation outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. Wallenda completed the tightrope walk that took him a quarter mile across the gorge in just more than 22 minutes. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Daredevil Nik Wallenda crosses a tightrope 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge Sunday, June 23, 2013, on the Navajo reservation outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

LITTLE COLORADO RIVER GORGE, Ariz. (AP) ? Aerialist Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk over a gorge near the Grand Canyon drew nearly 13 million viewers to the live television broadcast.

The Discovery Channel said Monday that the quarter-mile stunt at the Little Colorado River Gorge was among the most highly viewed shows in the station's history.

It also prompted 1.3 million tweets Sunday, making it one of the top trending topics.

Wallenda took 22 minutes to cross the 2-inch-thick steel cable, 1,500 feet above the dry river bed. He did it without a harness or safety net.

The well-known daredevil contended with the wind and repeatedly called on God to calm the swaying cable.

He wore a microphone and two cameras, one that looked down on the river bed and one that faced straight ahead.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-24-Wallenda-Ratings/id-89d2fc05b4c14795a78afba649e08611

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Documents show IRS also screened liberal groups

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Internal Revenue Service's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency acknowledged Monday. Terms including "Israel," ''Progressive" and "Occupy" were used by agency workers to help pick groups for closer examination, according to an internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press.

The IRS has been under fire since last month after admitting it targeted tea party and other conservative groups that wanted the tax-exempt designation for tough examinations. While investigators have said that agency screening for those groups had stopped in May 2012, Monday's revelations made it clear that screening for other kinds of organizations continued until earlier this month, when the agency's new chief, Danny Werfel, says he discovered it and ordered it halted.

The IRS document said an investigation into why specific terms were included was still underway. It blamed the continued use of inappropriate criteria by screeners on "a lapse in judgment" by the agency's former top officials. The document did not name the officials, but many top leaders have been replaced.

Neither the IRS document obtained by the AP or a separate IRS list of terms that workers searched for, released by House Democrats, addressed how many progressive groups received close scrutiny or how the agency treated their requests. Dozens of conservative groups saw their applications experience lengthy delays, and they received unusually intrusive questions about their donors and other details that agency officials have conceded were inappropriate.

In a conference call with reporters, Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered varied and improper terms on the lists and said screeners were still using them. He did not specify what terms were on the lists, but said he suspended the use of all such lists immediately.

"There was a wide-ranging set of categories and cases that spanned a broad spectrum" on the lists, Werfel said. He added that his aides found those lists contained "inappropriate criteria that was in use."

Werfel ordered a halt in the use of spreadsheets listing the terms ? called BOLO lists for "be on the lookout for? on June 12 and formalized their suspension with a June 20 written order, according to the IRS document the AP obtained. Investigators have previously said that the lists evolved over time as screeners found new names and phrases to help them identify groups to examine.

Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee released one of the lists, dated November 2010, that the IRS has provided to congressional investigators. That 16-page document, with many parts blacked out, shows that the terms "Progressive" and "Tea Party" were both on that list, as well as "Medical Marijuana," ''occupied territory advocacy" and "Healthcare legislation."

Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Ways and Means panel, said he was writing a letter to J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose audit in May detailed IRS targeting of conservatives, asking why his report did not mention other groups that were targeted.

"The audit served as the basis and impetus for a wide range of congressional investigations and this new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way," Levin said.

Republicans said there was a distinction. A statement by the GOP staff of House Ways and Means said, "It is one thing to flag a group, it is quite another to repeatedly target and abuse conservative groups."

George's report criticized the IRS for using "inappropriate criteria" to identify tea party and other conservative groups. It did not mention more liberal organizations, but in response to questions from lawmakers at congressional hearings, George said he had recently found other lists that raised concerns about other "political factors" he did not specify.

Democratic staff on Ways and Means said in a press release that they had verified that of the 298 groups seeking tax-exempt status that George's audit had examined, some were liberal organizations ? something George's report did not mention.

Many organizations seeking tax-exempt designation were applying for so-called 501(c)(4) status, named for its section of the federal revenue code. IRS regulations allow that status for groups mostly involved in "social welfare" and that don't engage in election campaigns for or against candidates as their "primary" activity, and it is up to the IRS to judge whether applicants meet those vaguely defined requirements.

Werfel's remarks came as he released an 83-page examination he has conducted of his embattled agency. The conclusions, which Werfel cautioned are preliminary, have so far found there was "insufficient action" by IRS managers to prevent and disclose the problem involving the screening of certain groups, but no specific clues of misconduct.

"We have not found evidence of intentional wrongdoing by anyone in the IRS or involvement in these matters by anyone outside the IRS," he told reporters.

The report found no indication so far of improper screening beyond the IRS offices, mostly in Cincinnati, that examine groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Werfel's report describes several new procedures the agency is installing to prevent unfair treatment of taxpayers in the future. They include a fast-track process for groups seeking tax-exempt status that have yet to get a response from the IRS within 120 days of applying. He is also creating an Accountability Review Board, which within 60 days is supposed to recommend any additional personnel moves "to hold accountable those responsible" for the targeting of conservative groups, Werfel's report said.

The top five people in the agency responsible for the tax-exempt status of organizations have already been removed, including the former acting commissioner, Steven Miller, whom President Barack Obama replaced with Werfel.

"The IRS is committed to correcting its mistakes, holding individuals accountable as appropriate" and establishing new controls to reduce potential future problems, Werfel told reporters.

IRS screening of conservative groups had sparked investigations by three congressional committees, the Justice Department and a Treasury Department inspector general.

Werfel's comments and report drew negative reviews from one of the IRS's chief critics in Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Issa said the review "fails to meaningfully answer the largest outstanding questions about inappropriate inquiries and indefensible delays. As investigations by Congress and the Justice Department are still ongoing, Mr. Werfel's assertion that he has found no evidence that anyone at IRS intentionally did anything wrong can only be called premature."

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., whose panel is also investigating the agency, said the IRS "still needs to provide clear answers to the most significant questions ? who started this practice, why was it allowed to continue for so long, and how widespread was it? This culture of political discrimination and intimidation goes far beyond basic management failure and personnel changes alone won't fix a broken IRS."

Werfel had promised to produce a report within a month of taking over the agency.

Werfel said he briefed Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on the report earlier Monday.

Werfel, initially named the IRS's acting commissioner, is now the agency's deputy principal commissioner because federal law limits the time an agency can be led by an acting official.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/documents-show-irs-screened-liberal-groups-224239890.html

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Dakar Fashion Week targets city's working class

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? Organizers of Dakar Fashion Week have staged a show in a working-class suburb as part of a bid to democratize high fashion.

The show on Friday night attracted thousands of residents, who offered vocal, real-time assessments of the clothes on display while cheering loudly for the more famous models.

Organizer Adama Ndiaye, who launched Dakar Fashion Week 11 years ago, said she hoped the project would further her dream of making high fashion as accessible to the working-class as it is for the wealthy.

The show was part of a six-day event featuring 18 designers, seven from Senegal and others from as far away as Germany and Brazil. Shows were scheduled to be held in three different locations throughout Dakar.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dakar-fashion-week-targets-citys-working-class-145325716.html

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Light up: Casper repeals smoking ban for bars

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? Not all of America is moving toward banning smoking indoors and out. Months after prohibiting it, Casper, Wyo., is now telling smokers that it's OK to light up in some public spaces.

The City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday to repeal part of an indoor smoking ban in effect since September. The vote lifted the ban for bars, but kept it in place for restaurants.

Bar owners had complained they were losing business to competitors in two nearby towns that allowed smoking. Repeal supporters also said it was an example of government getting too involved in civic life, citing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to ban super-sized soft drinks.

"Just like what Mayor Bloomberg has done, or tried to do, with sugared drinks. It's just not going to stop unless somebody stands up and says, 'Wait a minute,' and 'Let's use some common sense here,'" said Pat Sweeney, owner of a hotel with a bar now smoke-free because of the ban.

There have been efforts in recent years to overturn smoking bans.

In North Carolina, a legislative committee last month approved a bill that would have prevented local communities and community colleges from enacting smoking bans stricter than in state law. Health advocates said the measure would have overturned local bans on smoking in certain outdoor areas.

The measure didn't meet a key deadline and failed to advance.

Last year, voters in Springfield, Mo., had a chance to repeal a year-old smoking ban enacted there. They voted against repeal by an almost 2-to-1 margin.

Casper is a rare example of a ban ? albeit a partial one ? being repealed. A new crop of City Council members elected last fall made the difference. Three of the four new members voted for the changes.

"The more liberal side of our populace is trying to get too much into touchy-feely and government control of everything," said one of the new councilmen, Steve Cathey.

Proponents of amending the ordinance said the changes apply to relatively few businesses. They include only about half a dozen bars. Most of Casper's dozens of other bars are within restaurants or already prohibited smoking before the ban took effect.

Smoking now will also be allowed in nursing homes (one nursing home in town had a designated smoking area that was closed) and areas of industrial shops and auto service centers not open to the public.

The changes take effect June 28 but could be short-lived if opponents gather 2,465 valid signatures to put the matter before voters.

"It's unfortunate because a new council came in and they listened to a small group of people and didn't listen to the majority of the people," said Pam Evert, a local anti-smoking organizer.

People on both sides of the issue said they expect a successful petition drive and a hard-fought campaign to win over their fellow citizens.

"They're trying to socially engineer us," said Sweeney. "And a lot of us have had enough."

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Kardish in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/light-casper-repeals-smoking-ban-bars-130218864.html

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Kerry trip starts with tough Syrian, Afghan issues

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of State John Kerry begins an overseas trip plunging into two thorny foreign policy problems facing the Obama administration: unrelenting bloodshed in Syria and efforts to talk to the Taliban and find a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan.

Midway through his two-week trip to at least seven countries, Kerry also will try to make progress on an elusive peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians and will visit India, the world's biggest democracy and a rising power often viewed as a counterweight to China. He ends his trip attending a Southeast Asia security conference in Brunei.

Kerry lands Saturday in Doha, Qatar, where representatives of 11 nations in the so-called Friends of Syria group will discuss how to coordinate military and other aid to rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad and "change the balance" on the ground, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama announced that in addition to nonlethal aid, the United States would begin sending arms and ammunition to the rebels, who are engaged in a tough fight against Assad's better-equipped air and ground forces. That announcement came after Assad's military dealt the rebels serious setbacks and a U.S. intelligence assessment claimed the regime had used chemical weapons ? a "red line" for the Obama administration.

On Thursday, Kerry went to Capitol Hill to brief members of Congress on the two-year civil war that has claimed an estimated 93,000 lives. The meeting in Doha also aims to gain momentum for starting peace talks in Geneva to end the crisis.

Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said that as long as there's a conflict, there remains a need to find a framework for a dialogue because ultimately the Syrian opposition and some parts of the government are going to have to find a political solution. Geneva is the only framework that exists right now.

"We are trying to find a way for the Russians to play some type of constructive role and to stay engaged in the process," Rhodes said, referring to Moscow's continued support of Assad's government.

Kerry arrives in Qatar ahead of planned U.S. talks with representatives of the Taliban at a new political office they opened this week in Doha. The secretary himself was not expected to meet with the Taliban, but other U.S. officials are to sit down with members of the militant group in coming days. The discussions would be the first U.S.-Taliban talks in nearly 1 1/2 years.

The way the Taliban unveiled their new political office, however, angered Afghan President Hamid Karzai. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, the Taliban hoisted their flag and a banner emblazoned with "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." That was the name the Taliban used when they were in power more than a decade ago and made it appear that the office was an embassy and rival to the Afghan government.

The U.S. said it was disappointed with the rollout, which the administration believes was a Taliban game of one-upmanship. In response, Karzai halted negotiations with the U.S. on a bilateral security agreement governing America's future military footprint in his country and said he would not send members of his peace council to Doha to talk with Taliban representatives. Kerry called Karzai twice this week to allay his concerns.

The diplomatic rift temporarily delayed James Dobbins, the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, from leaving for Doha, but State Department officials say he will hold talks with the Taliban there in coming days. It's unclear if Afghan officials will be talking with the Taliban in Doha following the group's discussions with the Americans.

In India, Kerry will be giving a policy speech and meeting with officials to discuss economic, trade, energy, climate change, education and security and counterterrorism issues. It will be his first visit to India as secretary of state. Talks in New Delhi also are to address India's cooperation with Pakistan's new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed archrivals, but while they have fought three major wars since their partition in 1947, they have taken steps to improve relations in recent years.

Kerry also is to hold meetings with officials in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Israel.

In Saudi Arabia, senior State Department officials told reporters in a pre-trip briefing that Kerry would talk about how the U.S. can address concerns over extremists inside Syria, the intervention of foreign fighters from Iran and from Hezbollah. U.S. officials estimate that 5,000 Hezbollah members are fighting alongside Assad's regime, while thousands of Sunni foreign fighters are also believed to be in Syria ? including members of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida affiliate that is believed to be among the most effective rebel factions.

___

Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-trip-starts-tough-syrian-afghan-issues-074720292.html

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Calgary flooding forces 75,000 from homes

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) ? Flooding forced the western Canadian city of Calgary to order the evacuation of its entire downtown Friday, as the waters reached the 10th row of the city's hockey arena.

Overflowing rivers washed out roads and bridges, soaked homes and turned streets into dirt-brown waterways around southern Alberta. Police say as many as four people might have died. A spokesman for Canada's defense minister said 1,300 Army soldiers from Edmonton were being deployed to the flood zone.

About 350,000 people work in downtown Calgary on a typical day. However, officials said very few people need to be moved out, since many heeded warnings and did not go to work Friday.

Twenty-five neighborhoods in the city, with an estimated population of 75,000, have already been evacuated due to floodwaters in Calgary, a city of more than a million people that hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and serves as the center of Canada's oil industry.

Outside the city, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said two men were seen floating lifeless in the Highwood River near the hard-hit community of High River on Thursday, but no bodies have been found. They also say a woman who was swept away with her camper has not been located. And it wasn't clear whether a man who was seen falling out of a canoe in the High River area was able to climb back in.

In downtown Calgary, water was inundating homes and businesses in the shadow of skyscrapers. Water has swamped cars and train tracks.

The city said the home rink of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames flooded and the water inside was 10 rows deep.

"I think that really paints a very clear picture of what kinds of volumes of water we are dealing with," said Trevor Daroux, the city's deputy police chief.

At the grounds for the world-famous Calgary Stampede fair, water reached up to the roofs of the chuck wagon barns. The popular rodeo and festival is the city's signature event. Mayor Naheed Nenshi said it will occur no matter what.

About 1,500 have gone to emergency shelters while the rest have found shelter with family or friends, Nenshi said.

Nenshi said he's never seen the rivers reach so high or flow so fast, but said the flooding situation was as under control as it could be. Nenshi said the Elbow River, one of two rivers that flow through the southern Alberta city, has peaked.

The mayor suggested that levels on the Bow River ? which, in Nenshi's words, looked like an ocean ? would remain steady for the rest of the day as long as conditions didn't change.

Police urged people to stay away from downtown and not go to work.

The flood was forcing emergency plans at the Calgary Zoo, which is situated on an island near where the Elbow and Bow rivers meet. Lions and tigers were being prepared for transfer, if necessary, to prisoner holding cells at the courthouse.

Schools and court trials were cancelled Friday and residents urged to avoid downtown. Transit service in the core was shut down.

Residents were left to wander and wade through streets waist-deep in water.

"In all the years I've been down here, I've never seen the water this high," resident John Doherty said.

"I've got two antique pianos in the garage that I was going to rebuild and they're probably under water," he said. "We're shell-shocked."

Alberta Premier Alison Redford promised the province would help flood victims put their lives back together and provide financial aid to communities that need to rebuild. The premier said at a briefing that she had spoken to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who travelled to Calgary and promised disaster relief. Harper met with the premier and mayor.

Redford urged people to heed evacuation orders, so authorities could do their jobs. She called the flooding that has hit most of southern Alberta an "absolutely tragic situation."

The premier warned that communities downstream of Calgary had not yet felt the full force of the floodwaters.

It had been a rainy week throughout much of Alberta, but on Thursday the Bow River Basin was battered with up to four inches (100 millimeters) of rain. Environment Canada's forecast called for more rain in the area, but in much smaller amounts.

Calgary was not alone in its weather-related woes. Flashpoints of chaos spread from towns in the Rockies south to Lethbridge.

More than a dozen towns declared states of emergency. Entire communities, including High River and Bragg Creek, near Calgary, were under mandatory evacuation orders.

Some of the worst flooding hit High River, where an estimated half of the town's residents experienced flooding in their homes.

Military helicopters plucked about 30 people off rooftops in the area. Others were rescued by boat or in buckets of heavy machinery. Some even swam for their lives from stranded cars.

Further west, in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, photos from the mountain town of Canmore depicted a raging river ripping at house foundations.

___

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies contributed from Toronto.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/calgary-flooding-forces-75-000-homes-222623755.html

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Federal nullification efforts mounting in states

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) ? Imagine the scenario: A federal agent attempts to arrest someone for illegally selling a machine gun. Instead, the federal agent is arrested ? charged in a state court with the crime of enforcing federal gun laws.

Farfetched? Not as much as you might think.

The scenario would become conceivable if legislation passed by Missouri's Republican-led Legislature is signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.

The Missouri legislation is perhaps the most extreme example of a states' rights movement that has been spreading across the nation. States are increasingly adopting laws that purport to nullify federal laws ? setting up intentional legal conflicts, directing local police not to enforce federal laws and, in rare cases, even threatening criminal charges for federal agents who dare to do their jobs.

An Associated Press analysis found that about four-fifths of the states now have enacted local laws that directly reject or ignore federal laws on marijuana use, gun control, health insurance requirements and identification standards for driver's licenses. The recent trend began in Democratic leaning California with a 1996 medical marijuana law and has proliferated lately in Republican strongholds like Kansas, where Gov. Sam Brownback this spring became the first to sign a measure threatening felony charges against federal agents who enforce certain firearms laws in his state.

Some states, such as Montana and Arizona, have said "no" to the feds again and again ? passing states' rights measures on all four subjects examined by the AP ? despite questions about whether their "no" carries any legal significance.

"It seems that there has been an uptick in nullification efforts from both the left and the right," said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who specializes in constitutional law.

Yet "the law is clear ? the supremacy clause (of the U.S. Constitution) says specifically that the federal laws are supreme over contrary state laws, even if the state doesn't like those laws," Winkler added.

The fact that U.S. courts have repeatedly upheld federal laws over conflicting state ones hasn't stopped some states from flouting those federal laws ? sometimes successfully.

About 20 states now have medical marijuana laws allowing people to use pot to treat chronic pain and other ailments ? despite a federal law that still criminalizes marijuana distribution and possession. Ceding ground to the states, President Barack Obama's administration has made it known to federal prosecutors that it wasn't worth their time to target those people.

Federal authorities have repeatedly delayed implementation of the 2005 Real ID Act, an anti-terrorism law that set stringent requirements for photo identification cards to be used to board commercial flights or enter federal buildings. The law has been stymied, in part, because about half the state legislatures have opposed its implementation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

About 20 states have enacted measures challenging Obama's 2010 health care laws, many of which specifically reject the provision mandating that most people have health insurance or face tax penalties beginning in 2014.

After Montana passed a 2009 law declaring that federal firearms regulations don't apply to guns made and kept in that state, eight other states have enacted similar laws. Gun activist Gary Marbut said he crafted the Montana measure as a foundation for a legal challenge to the federal power to regulate interstate commerce under the U.S. Constitution. His lawsuit was dismissed by a trial judge but is now pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"The states created this federal monster, and so it's time for the states to get their monster on a leash," said Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that local police could not be compelled to carry out provisions of a federal gun control law. But some states are now attempting to take that a step further by asserting that certain federal laws can't even be enforced by federal authorities.

A new Kansas law makes it a felony for a federal agent to attempt to enforce laws on guns made and owned in Kansas. A similar Wyoming law, passed in 2010, made it a misdemeanor. The Missouri bill also would declare it a misdemeanor crime but would apply more broadly to all federal gun laws and regulations ? past, present, or future ? that "infringe on the people's right to keep and bear arms."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter in late April to the Kansas governor warning that the federal government is willing to go to court over the new law.

"Kansas may not prevent federal employees and officials from carrying out their official responsibilities," Holder wrote.

Federal authorities in the western district of Missouri led the nation in prosecutions for federal weapons offenses through the first seven months of the 2013 fiscal year, with Kansas close behind, according to a data clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

Felons illegally possessing firearms is the most common charge nationally. But the Missouri measure sets it sights on nullifying federal firearms registrations and, among other things, a 1934 law that imposes a tax on transferring machine guns or silencers. Last year, the federal government prosecuted 83 people nationally for unlawful possession of machine guns.

So what would happen if a local prosecutor actually charges a federal agent for doing his or her job?

"They're going to have problems if they do it ? there's no doubt about it," said Michael Boldin, executive director of the Tenth Amendment Center, a Los Angeles-based entity that promotes states' rights. "There's no federal court in the country that's going to say that a state can pull this off."

Yet states may never need to prosecute federal agents in order to make their point.

If enough states resist, "it's going to be very difficult for the federal government to force their laws down our throats," Boldin said.

Missouri's governor has not said whether he will sign or veto the bill nullifying federal gun laws. Meanwhile, thousands of people have sent online messages to the governor's office about the legislation.

Signing the measure "will show other states how to resist the tyranny of federal bureaucrats who want to rob you of your right to self-defense," said one message, signed by Jim and Arlena Sowash, who own a gun shop in rural Stover, Mo.

Others urged a veto.

"Outlandish bills like this ? completely flouting our federal system ? make Missouri the laughingstock of the nation," said a message written by Ann Havelka, of the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone.

___

Follow David A. Lieb at: http://www.twitter.com/DavidALieb

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/federal-nullification-efforts-mounting-states-070843059.html

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