Will Derek Hough be back on 'Dancing'?

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Michael Maloney TODAY contributor

2 hours ago

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Derek Hough may be back for yet another season of "DWTS."

"Dancing With the Stars" pro Derek Hough seems poised to win his fourth mirror ball trophy Tuesday night with partner Kellie Pickler. But will he return when the show comes back in September for another season?

?I don?t know yet,? he told reporters on the post-show red carpet Monday. ?Next year (2014) is going to be a little different. That?s when these projects I?m working on will come to life. Right now, they?re in the preparation stages. (So) it might be a good idea to do next season.?

As fans of Hough know, the three-time winner almost didn?t partake in this season.

?I was literally within an hour of not doing it,? he shared. ?I called the producers and said I have this weird feeling that I need to do this season. ... They said, ?Well, we need to know within the next hour.? Then, I was like, ?OK, Let?s do it.? Now, I know why.?

That reason? His amazing run with current partner, "American Idol" alum Pickler.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized the pair earlier in the season for not having enough of an emotional connection in their dances.

?That actually stuck with me,? Hough said. ?I wanted (our freestyle) to be an emotional routine. I wanted it to connect with people and connect with us. Afterwards, I looked over and saw Carrie Ann crying. That was the moment to top off the season for us.?

Hough knows he could have gone all out and added more production values to the freestyle routine, but he opted to keep it simple.

?I?m all for big productions,? he told TODAY.com. ?I love putting on shows. I wondered if it was it right to downsize the routine physically and supersize it emotionally? I wanted to make it about Kellie and not wow the audience with a spectacle, but to wow them with heart. I think it paid off, but there was definitely a ping pong match going on in my mind.?

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/will-derek-hough-be-back-dancing-stars-6C10017093

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Rome: Deux papes cohabitent au Vatican

Deux papes cohabitent au vatican
Photo: &copy The Spark

Beno?t XVI, qui a renonc? le 28 f?vrier au tr?ne de saint Pierre, a r?int?gr? jeudi le Vatican pour vivre reclus dans un couvent proche du palais pontifical de son successeur, le pape argentin Fran?ois. Le "pape ?m?rite", ce qui sera d?sormais son titre, est arriv? par h?licopt?re de Castel Gandolfo, la r?sidence d'?t? des papes situ?e au sud de Rome, o? il vivait depuis sa d?mission. D'apr?s un communiqu? du Vatican, les deux hommes ont pri? de concert ? l'int?rieur de la chapelle du petit ?difice, qui comprend ?galement une biblioth?que, un quartier r?serv? ? ses auxiliaires et une chambre d'invit? pour son fr?re a?n?, le pr?tre Georg Ratzinger. "Il est content d'?tre revenu au Vatican (...) o? il compte se consacrer au service de l'?glise, avant tout par la pri?re", indique le communiqu?. Contrairement au jour de son renoncement et ? sa rencontre, le 23 mars, avec le pape Fran?ois ? Castel Gandolfo, la cha?ne de t?l?vision du Vatican a d?cid? cette fois de ne pas diffuser les images du retour de Beno?t XVI. Seules quelques photos d'une br?ve rencontre entre Beno?t XVI et le pape Fran?ois ont ?t? diffus?es. Beno?t XVI avait invoqu? son ?ge (86 ans) et son ?tat de sant? pour renoncer ? sa charge. Il devrait passer la fin de sa vie ? prier au monast?re Mater Ecclesiae, situ? dans les jardins du Vatican et qui vient d'?tre restaur?.

Reuters

Source: http://cameroon-info.net/cmi_show_news.php?id=45809

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Ariel Castro faces kidnap, rape charges

CLEVELAND? A man?accused of holding three young women captive for the past decade at his home has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. The charges came the same day two of the three women were reunited at home with their families.

Ariel Castro, 52, is expected to appear Thursday in Cleveland Municipal Court on the charges. He, along with his brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50, were arrested Monday after victim Amanda Berry, 27, escaped from Ariel Castro?s home on the city?s west side.

After Berry called police, victims Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were able to escape, as well.

Ariel Castro faces four kidnapping charges because Berry's daughter, now 6, was held captive in the house as well. According to court documents, Castro repeatedly raped the women while he held them in captivity.

Court documents also show that authorities will ask the judge to set a high bond to ensure the safety of the victims and other citizens in the community, and ensure he doesn't skip out on court proceedings.

Ariel Castro's brothers have not been charged, but remain in police custody.

Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba told reporters the women had been let outside twice in 10 years to walk from the Castro's house to the garage in the rear of the home. The women were forced to wear disguises on those occasions, he said.

City Councilman Brian Cummins, who told the Associated Press he was briefed by police on the case, said the three women were subjected to prolong sexual and psychological abuse. He said the women suffered multiple miscarriages while kidnapped.

The councilman also told the AP that the women were kept in a basement and were apparently bound with ropes and chains.

While Knight remains in a local hospital, both Berry and DeJesus went home to raucous crowds.

Berry and her daughter, Jocelyn, were taken by police escort to Berry's sister?s home, while DeJesus returned to her parents' tan bungalow. Both families live in the city's west side neighborhood, just a few miles from the ramshackle row house where they were were apparently held as prisoners.

Berry had been expected to address the crush of press awaiting her arrival after she and her daughter were taken home. But her sister, Beth Serrano, spoke briefly instead, saying Berry needed time to recover first.

?I want to thank the public and the media for their support,? Serrano said. ?At this time our family would request privacy so my sister, niece and I have time to recover. We appreciate all you have done for us for the past 10 years. Please respect our privacy until we are ready to make our statement."

DeJesus, wearing a bright yellow hoodie was quickly taken inside without speaking or showing her face. She was seen giving a thumbs up to the crowd of reporters and onlookers assembled outside.

Her parents, Felix DeJesus and Nancy Ruiz, and aunt Sandra Ruiz thanked the police and FBI for their assistance in the investigation. They asked for patience and promised to take reporter questions soon.

"The three of them are doing great. Those were miracles," Nancy Ruiz said of her daughter, Berry and Knight.

Editor's note: Stacklin reported from Cleveland and Fouhy from New York.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/amanda-berry-6-old-daughter-escorted-sister-home-162611126.html

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Abduction victims will need privacy, therapy, survivors say

By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) - The three young women imprisoned for around a decade in a white two-story house in Ohio are going to need support and, most of all, privacy as they re-integrate into society, survivors of other long-term kidnapping ordeals said on Tuesday.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, who went missing in separate incidents about a decade ago, were found alive on Monday in a home in the same blue-collar Cleveland neighborhood where they had gone missing.

Three men, all brothers, have been arrested as suspects in the case.

But even as neighbors celebrated and media from around the world converged on the Seymour Avenue block where Berry led the escape, survivors Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard urged people to leave the three women alone.

"It is so important to respect their privacy, to give them every chance they can to find their own way back, their own path to happiness and well being," Smart said in an interview with ABC News on Tuesday.

Now married and an activist for missing and exploited children, she was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002, at age 14. She was rescued nine months later.

Jaycee Dugard, who was taken from a California bus stop at age 11 and held for 18 years before she was freed in 2009, had a similar message.

"These individuals need the opportunity to heal and connect back into the world," Dugard said in a statement.

She urged the women not to let their ordeals define them. "This isn't who they are," Dugard said. "It is only what happened to them."

Their rescue, she said, "reaffirms we should never give up hope."

WROTE BOOK BUT GUARDS PRIVACY

Dugard wrote a book about her captivity, "A Stolen Life," and in 2011 filed a lawsuit accusing the federal government of failing to properly monitor and track her captor, Phillip Garrido, a convicted sex offender.

Still, she guards her privacy. As an honoree at a dinner on Tuesday night by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington D.C., Dugard planned to deliver a simple, "Thank you," instead of a detailed speech, a spokesman said.

Rebecca Bailey, author of "Safe Kids, Smart Parents" and a therapist who has worked with Dugard, urged the public and the press not to speculate about what may have happened to the three Ohio women during their imprisonment.

"Please avoid labels and conjecture in order to prevent further stress and pressure," she said in a statement. "For you this is news, for them this is real life."

Privacy, said Marsha Gilmer-Tullis, a social worker with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, provides the quiet space that survivors need to come to grips with what happened to them and begin to move on.

They will undoubtedly also need help from a trained therapist, she said.

"There are incredible complexities that are very unique to this type of trauma," Gilmer-Tullis said. "It really requires an understanding of a treatment professional who can understand and help that child or young adult move forward."

Family members of victims have sometimes found purpose in creating foundations to help look for missing children or provide support to survivors, Gilmer-Tullis said.

The family of Shawn Hornbeck, who was abducted as an 11-year-old in Missouri and held for four years before he was rescued with another boy in 2007, started a foundation to help other missing and exploited children. Elizabeth Smart's family also started a foundation.

Gary Toelke, sheriff of Franklin County, Missouri, was at the center of the investigation that led to discovery of Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, who was abducted when he was 13.

Toelke said that he and a deputy sheriff recently attended an Eagle Scout ceremony for Ownby, and said that he was attending college.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Los Angeles and Tim Bross in St. Louis.; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abduction-victims-privacy-therapy-survivors-221131722.html

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Sunshine could benefit health and prolong life, study suggests

May 7, 2013 ? Exposing skin to sunlight may help to reduce blood pressure, cut the risk of heart attack and stroke - and even prolong life, a study suggests.

Researchers have shown that when our skin is exposed to the sun's rays, a compound is released in our blood vessels that helps lower blood pressure.

The findings suggest that exposure to sunlight improves health overall, because the benefits of reducing blood pressure far outweigh the risk of developing skin cancer.

The study has been carried out by the University of Edinburgh.

Heart disease and stroke linked to high blood pressure are estimated to lead to around 80 times more deaths than those from skin cancer, in the UK.

Production of this pressure-reducing compound - called nitric oxide - is separate from the body's manufacture of vitamin D, which rises after exposure to sunshine. Until now it had been thought to solely explain the sun's benefit to human health, the scientists add.

The landmark proof-of-principle study will be presented on Friday in Edinburgh at the world's largest gathering of skin experts.

Researchers studied the blood pressure of 24 volunteers who sat beneath tanning lamps for two sessions of 20 minutes each. In one session, the volunteers were exposed to both the UV rays and the heat of the lamps. In the other, the UV rays were blocked so that only the heat of the lamps affected the skin.

The results showed that blood pressure dropped significantly for one hour following exposure to UV rays, but not after the heat-only sessions. Scientists say that this shows that it is the sun's UV rays that lead to health benefits. The volunteers' vitamin D levels remained unaffected in both sessions.

Dr Richard Weller, Senior Lecturer in Dermatology at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We suspect that the benefits to heart health of sunlight will outweigh the risk of skin cancer. The work we have done provides a mechanism that might account for this, and also explains why dietary vitamin D supplements alone will not be able to compensate for lack of sunlight.

"We now plan to look at the relative risks of heart disease and skin cancer in people who have received different amounts of sun exposure. If this confirms that sunlight reduces the death rate from all causes, we will need to reconsider our advice on sun exposure."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/vQBS6eepQKU/130507195807.htm

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Why America's 'hacker generation' can thrive as teachers

Today marks Teacher Appreciation Day in the United States, but it?s fair to say many teachers ? veterans and newcomers alike ? aren?t feeling much appreciation lately.

Nearly half of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Recently, two veteran teachers ? Gerald Conti in New York and Randy Turner in Missouri ? have decided to call it quits with recent public resignations on Facebook and in the Huffington Post. Their high-profile statements speak to their frustration and disillusionment with teaching.

Both of their resignations contain numerous unfortunate truths about the challenges facing today?s public school teachers. I have been teaching high school science for five years and I, too, have experienced the stress and devaluation they describe so poignantly. Despite this, I still believe it is possible to be a good teacher in America ? and worth the effort to try. What?s more, the shift toward data-driven instruction and innovation is creating an environment where the ?hacker generation? can thrive.

OPINION: How to keep talented teachers from leaving

To understand why American public education is in such a state of turmoil, one need only consider how much the end goal of education has shifted since the late 1800s when our current system was put into place. We are no longer preparing just a tiny percentage of students for college and high-skill careers and expecting the rest to be ready for industrial, low-skill jobs.

Tony Wagner reports in his book, ?The Global Achievement Gap,? that employers are dissatisfied with many recent graduates? lack of critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills, in addition to their inability to think in the kinds of creative and innovative ways the current economy requires. The initial design of American schools and teaching methods has largely become obsolete, and as a result, everyone is casting about for solutions.

This is exactly why I feel that I got into the profession just as it?s starting to get interesting. While negative attitudes toward teachers don?t make it easy for us to have our voices heard, it is critical for teachers to continue to elbow their way into the debate about how to redesign public education in this country.

Ideally, the US education system?s top priority would be to foster wonder, creativity, inquisitiveness, and love of learning in every child. Teachers would be empowered to use curriculum that showed students the relevance and real-world applications of what they?re learning. Schools would recognize many ways of being intelligent, and would reward students for pooling their intellectual resources, and for thinking outside the box.

Standards (and assessments of students? progress toward meeting them) would require that students engage in the practices of professionals in their discipline, rather than memorization of facts and ideas removed from any context. (An encouraging move in this direction is the Next Generation Science Standards.)

While this vision is still a way off, I am encouraged by the fact that many new teachers today are part of the hacker generation. We are comfortable tinkering with the rules of the game to produce a ?win,? or simply to explore the limits of what?s possible. Teaching currently offers plenty of opportunities for this ethos to thrive.

For instance, the trend toward ?data-driven? decision making seems like it would pressure educators into conformity. Yet it actually forces clear communication about the goals of education and encourages teachers to creatively "hack" the system to figure out the best way to achieve these goals.

I?ve met plenty of teachers (through the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, and at all the schools where I?ve taught) who happily spend hours analyzing assessment data to find out where things might be going wrong with their practice. This allows us to spend less time trying to fix things that might not be broken and more time testing innovative methods.

While there are many reasons to be optimistic, there may come a day when I, too, will feel overwhelmed by new demands and worn down by policy flip-flops. Should I find myself lacking the energy to insist on being treated as a professional, I will gracefully make my exit. But here are a few things I promise to do first ? and encourage all retiring teachers to do before they go.

Digitize as much of your work as possible and give one copy to a new teacher. Pick what you think are your best lessons, activities, and tests and make a digital copy available. This would greatly reduce the stress on novice teachers that comes with reinventing the wheel.

Share methods you employed that allowed you to be more efficient. Tell new teachers about the short cuts you invented to grade students? work faster, or the norms you set up so that students wouldn?t have to ask what they missed when they were absent. Consider convening a meeting between novice and veteran teachers at your school to discuss efficiency practices.

Share your list of professional contacts. Pass along the list of peers with whom you collaborated and the names of local experts in your subject area (parents, university professors) who have helped with projects or the extracurricular club you ran. The next generation of teachers loves having other people who can be resources and mentors for our students as they work on more authentic, real-world problems.

Tell your story about challenges you faced and overcame as a new teacher. Talk to beginning teachers about the difficulties you faced, especially in your first year, and how you dealt with them. It is always encouraging to know we are not alone.

Most important, share constructive thoughts and solutions. Telling young people that teaching is no longer a worthwhile, respected profession becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if we all encourage smart, idealistic youth to give teaching a try (and get properly trained), our country is bound to see more positive results.

EDITOR'S BLOG: Teachers who excel: A lesson from Miss Smoot

Lindsay Wells is a 2009 Knowles Science Teaching Fellow with The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation. She is collaborating with D-Lab at MIT to recruit more high school students into STEM with classroom experiences that matter.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-americas-hacker-generation-thrive-teachers-141559680.html

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Senate bill lets states tax Internet purchases

This photo taken May 2, 2013, shows Sarah Davis, co-owner of Fashionphile.com, posing with her bags in a company warehouse in the Carlsbad, Calif. The Internet company sells rare, vintage, and discontinued previous owned bags and is facing the complicated task of dealing with new state regulations on Internet sale taxes. (AP photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

This photo taken May 2, 2013, shows Sarah Davis, co-owner of Fashionphile.com, posing with her bags in a company warehouse in the Carlsbad, Calif. The Internet company sells rare, vintage, and discontinued previous owned bags and is facing the complicated task of dealing with new state regulations on Internet sale taxes. (AP photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

This photo taken May 2, 2013, shows Sarah Davis and Ben Hemmnger, co-owners of Fashionphile.com, posing in the lobby of their Carlsbad, Calif. office. The Internet company sells rare, vintage, and discontinued previous owned bags and is facing the complicated task of dealing with new state regulations on Internet sale taxes. (AP photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Chart shows U.S. online sales and projections

This photo taken May 2, 2013, shows Sarah Davis and Ben Hemmnger, co-owners of Fashionphile.com posing in the lobby of their Carlsbad, Calif. office. The internet company sells rare, vintage, and discontinued previous owned bags and is facing the complicated task of dealing with new state regulations on Internet sale taxes. (AP photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Attention online shoppers: The days of tax-free shopping on the Internet may soon end for many of you.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on a bill that would empower states to collect sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The measure is expected to pass because it has already survived three procedural votes. But it faces opposition in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase. A broad coalition of retailers is lobbying in favor of it.

Under current law, states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state.

That means big retailers with stores all over the country like Walmart, Best Buy and Target collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But online retailers like eBay and Amazon don't have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers.

As a result, many online sales are tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

The bill would empower states to require businesses to collect taxes for products they sell on the Internet, in catalogs and through radio and TV ads. Under the legislation, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

The measure pits brick-and-mortar stores against online services.

As Internet sales have grown, "It's putting pressure on the brick-and-mortar competitors and it's putting pressure on state and local sales tax revenues," said David French, senior vice president of government relations for the National Retail Federation. "It's time for Congress to create a level playing field so that all retailers are treated fairly."

On the other side, eBay says the bill doesn't do enough to protect small businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million in online sales would be exempt. EBay wants to exempt businesses with up to $10 million in sales or fewer than 50 employees.

"Complying and living under the tax laws of 50 states is a major undertaking because the process of complying with tax law goes far beyond just filling out the right forms," said Brian Bieron, eBay's senior director of global public policy.

"You have to deal with the fact that all of these government agencies can audit you and can question you and can actually take you into court and sue you if they think you are doing something wrong," Bieron said.

Supporters say the bill makes it relatively easy for Internet retailers to comply. States must provide free computer software to help retailers calculate sales taxes, based on where shoppers live. States must also establish a single entity to receive Internet sales tax revenue, so retailers don't have to send them to individual counties or cities.

Opponents say online businesses would still have to use resources to account for the taxes they collect and to periodically send the money to each state.

Support for the legislation crosses party lines: The main sponsor, Sen. Mike Enzi, is a conservative Republican from Wyoming. He has worked closely with Sen. Dick Durbin, a liberal Democrat from Illinois.

Supporters say the bill is not a tax increase. In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales tax when they file their state income tax returns. However, states complain that few taxpayers comply.

In the Senate, lawmakers from three states without income taxes are leading the opposition. They argue that businesses based in their states should not have to collect taxes for other states.

Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon and Delaware have no state or local sales taxes, though Delaware's two senators support the bill.

Delaware has long benefited from shoppers in neighboring states visiting Delaware to take advantage of the tax-free shopping, said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. Tax-free Internet shopping threatens Delaware's advantage, he said.

Many governors ? Republicans and Democrats ? have been lobbying the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales.

The issue is getting bigger for states as more people make purchases online. Last year, Internet sales in the U.S. totaled $226 billion, up nearly 16 percent from the previous year, according to Commerce Department estimates.

States lost a total of $23 billion last year because they couldn't collect taxes on out-of-state sales, according to a study by three business professors at the University of Tennessee. About $11.4 billion was lost from Internet sales; the rest was from purchases made through catalogs, mail orders and telephone orders, the study said.

The study was done for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-06-Internet%20Sales%20Tax/id-38870924eb4140db9f4cd92ba6be050b

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MBIA, Bank of America reach legal settlement: sources

By Karen Freifeld

(Reuters) - Bond insurer MBIA Inc and Bank of America Corp have reached a settlement in an ongoing legal dispute, and BofA will pay MBIA $1.6 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Bank of America will also provide MBIA with a $500 million credit line and receive a 4.9 percent stake in the company as part of the deal, said one of the sources.

MBIA shares, which were temporarily halted, rose 50 percent in afternoon trading to their highest since September 2008.

Representatives of the two companies were not immediately available to comment.

The agreement came together after MBIA's board hired Blackstone Group LP as an advisor and kept Chief Executive Jay Brown out of negotiations, one of the sources said. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Bank of America litigation represented a major hurdle MBIA had to overcome to restructure itself after facing billions of dollars' in potential losses on residential mortgage securities it backed in the run-up to the financial crisis.

MBIA had sold credit default swaps to banks to protect them against losses on those securities. As the underlying loans went bad and the bonds lost value, banks argued MBIA was on the hook for losses. MBIA argued that the quality of the underlying loans had been misrepresented and litigation ensued.

In 2009, the insurer received approval to split itself into two separate businesses: a municipal bond insurer that would underwrite new deals and a guarantor of structured finance products that would handle old claims. A group of 18 banks objected to the restructuring, saying it would leave MBIA insolvent and unable to pay their mortgage-related claims.

All but two of the banks have since settled with MBIA. Bank of America and Societe Generale sued MBIA and the state insurance department seeking to annul the restructuring. A judge dismissed the case and the banks appealed.

In its annual report on February 27, MBIA said its structured finance unit could be forced into liquidation or rehabilitation if litigation with Bank of America was not settled. The settlement avoids that risk.

Benjamin Lawsky, financial services superintendent for the state of New York, was involved in the Bank of America-MBIA settlement, with sides working through the weekend to reach a deal, one source said. Lawsky's office also worked on another big settlement between Morgan Stanley and MBIA in December 2011.

A spokesman for Lawsky's office declined to comment.

News of the Bank of America settlement was first reported by Dow Jones.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York.; Additional reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mbia-bank-america-settle-legal-disputes-source-164845611.html

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NASA opens new era in measuring western U.S. snowpack

May 6, 2013 ? A new NASA airborne mission has created the first maps of the entire snowpack of two major mountain watersheds in California and Colorado, producing the most accurate measurements to date of how much water they hold.

The data from NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory mission will be used to estimate how much water will flow out of the basins when the snow melts. The data-gathering technology could improve water management for 1.5 billion people worldwide who rely on snowmelt for their water supply.

"The Airborne Snow Observatory is on the cutting edge of snow remote-sensing science," said Jared Entin, a program manager in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Decision makers like power companies and water managers now are receiving these data, which may have immediate economic benefits."

The mission is a collaboration between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the California Department of Water Resources in Sacramento.

A Twin Otter aircraft carrying NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory began a three-year demonstration mission in April that includes weekly flights over the Tuolumne River Basin in California's Sierra Nevada and monthly flights over Colorado's Uncompahgre River Basin. The flights will run through the end of the snowmelt season, which typically occurs in July. The Tuolumne watershed and its Hetch Hetchy Reservoir are the primary water supply for 2.6 million San Francisco Bay Area residents. The Uncompahgre watershed is part of the Upper Colorado River Basin that supplies water to much of the western United States.

The mission's principal investigator, Tom Painter of JPL, said the mission fills a critical need in an increasingly thirsty world, initially focusing on the western United States, where snowmelt provides more than 75 percent of the total freshwater supply.

"Changes in and pressure on snowmelt-dependent water systems are motivating water managers, governments and others to improve understanding of snow and its melt," Painter said. "The western United States and other regions face significant water resource challenges because of population growth and faster melt and runoff of snowpacks caused by climate change. NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory combines the best available technologies to provide precise, timely information for assessing snowpack volume and melt."

The observatory's two instruments measure two properties most critical to understanding snowmelt runoff and timing. Those two properties had been mostly unmeasured until now.

A scanning lidar system from the Canadian firm Optech Inc. of Vaughan, Ontario, measures snow depth with lasers to determine the first property, snow water equivalent. Snow water equivalent represents the amount of water in the snow on a mountain. It is used to calculate the amount of water that will run off.

An imaging spectrometer built by another Canadian concern, ITRES of Calgary, Alberta, measures the second property, snow albedo. Snow albedo represents the amount of sunlight reflected and absorbed by snow. Snow albedo controls the speed of snowmelt and timing of its runoff.

By combining these data, scientists can tell how changes in the absorption of sunlight cause snowmelt rates to increase.

The Airborne Snow Observatory flies at an altitude of 17,500 to 22,000 feet (5,334 to 6,705 meters) to produce frequent maps that scientists can use to monitor changes over time. It can calculate snow depth to within about 4 inches (10 centimeters) and snow water equivalent to within five percent. Data are processed on the ground and made available to participating water managers within 24 hours.

Before now, Sierra Nevada snow water equivalent estimates have been extrapolated from monthly manual ground snow surveys conducted from January through April. These survey sites are sparsely located, primarily in lower to middle elevations that melt free of snow each spring, while snow remains at higher elevations. Water managers use these survey data to forecast annual water supplies. The information affects decisions by local water districts, agricultural interests and others. The sparse sampling can lead to large errors. In contrast, the NASA observatory can map all the snow throughout the entire snowmelt season.

"The Airborne Snow Observatory is providing California water managers the first near-real-time, comprehensive determination of basin-wide snow water equivalent," said Frank Gehrke, mission co-investigator and chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program for the California Department of Water Resources. "Integrated into models, these data will enhance the state's reservoir operations, permitting more efficient flood control, water supply management and hydroelectric power generation." Gehrke said the state will continue to conduct manual surveys while it incorporates the Airborne Snow Observatory data. "The snow surveys are relatively inexpensive, help validate observatory data and provide snow density measurements that are key to reducing errors in estimating snow water equivalent," he said.

Painter plans to expand the airborne mapping program to the entire Upper Colorado River Basin and Sierra Nevada.

"We believe this is the future of water management in the western United States," he said.

For more information about the Airborne Snow Observatory, visit: http://aso.jpl.nasa.gov/ . For more on NASA's Airborne Science program, visit: http://airbornescience.nasa.gov .

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/s3cb_NgMbIY/130506161342.htm

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Clabo agrees with Dolphins

Getty Images

As former West Virginia/current Jets quarterback Geno Smith embarks on his NFL career, he?s getting advice from a couple of former West Virginia players who went to the NFL before him.

Former NFL defensive tackle John Thornton and former NFL cornerback Charles Fisher, both of whom played college football in Morgantown, have been advising Smith as he transitions to the NFL.? Thornton, whom we?ve known for several years, confirmed in a telephone interview that he and Fisher are indeed working with Smith.

Currently, that entails organizing the upcoming process of interviewing agents, which will occur on Tuesday and Wednesday.? In addition to Rick Smith of Priority Sports, David Dunn and Joby Branion of Athletes First, and Joel Segal, Eugene Parker also is expected to make a presentation.? The fledgling CAA/Roc Nation joint venture could be part of the process, but we?ve gotten mixed information on that point.? (It?s possible that Roc Nation will be involved, without CAA.)

Thornton also addressed persistent rumors that he and Fisher will be steering Smith to Priority Sports.

?I know people think we?re sending him to Priority, but that?s not the case,? Thornton said.? He explained that the decision of another one of his clients, Chiefs receiver Jon Baldwin, to hire Priority Sports has fueled speculation that Smith will, too.? Thornton pointed out that other players he is advising, including former Marshall receiver Aaron Dobson, a second-round pick of the Patriots, did not hire Priority Sports.

Thornton said he?s in the process of becoming certified by the NFLPA, so that he can become a full-service agent for the players he assists.? And he?s sensitive to the perceptions and the realities of the business.

?I?m trying to protect these kids,? Thornton said.? ?At the end of the day, everybody says they?re trying to help these guys and they?re not.?

With plenty of negative information piling up regarding Geno Smith and no one (including the Jets) working the media to push the other side of it, the sooner Smith hires an agent who can not only stop but also reverse the feeding frenzy, the better.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/05/dolphins-to-sign-clabo-signaling-martin-move/related/

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Speed up your grilling with the BBQ Dragon

One of the perks of a charcoal grill is the charred taste that comes from the searing heat of the coals. The most annoying part of a charcoal grill is waiting for the coals to heat up. With the BBQ Dragon, your wait time is reduced to a mere ten minutes. The BBQ Dragon clips [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/05/speed-up-your-grilling-with-the-bbq-dragon/

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Debug 14: Ben Lachman and Robert Cantoni have a Nice Mohawk

Ben Lachman and Robert Cantoni join Guy and Rene to talk about their list manager app, Ita, and the possibilities of it coming to the Mac, blogging as a duet, the importance of accessibility, and how to have a really Nice Mohawk.

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Show notes

• SousChef for Mac: Your cooking assistant
• Ita - A list app with which to do lists
• Nice Mohawk blog
• TwUI: Fast core animation UI for the Mac
• Chameleon: UIKit for Mac development
• Facebook Home

Guests

• Brian Lachman of Nice Mohawk
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• Guy English of kickingbear
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Yell at us via the Twitter accounts above (or the same names on ADN). Loudly.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/WXurauOKnFY/story01.htm

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Train passes through Bangkok slum (wait for it?) (Americablog)

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Texas plant that blew up carried $1M policy

FILE - This April 18, 2013 file photo shows mangled debris of a West Fertilizer Company's fertilizer plant a day after an explosion leveled the plant in West, Texas. Burglars occasionally sneaked into the plant in the years before its deadly explosion last month ? sometimes looking for a chemical fertilizer that can be used to make methamphetamine, according to local law enforcement records. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

FILE - This April 18, 2013 file photo shows mangled debris of a West Fertilizer Company's fertilizer plant a day after an explosion leveled the plant in West, Texas. Burglars occasionally sneaked into the plant in the years before its deadly explosion last month ? sometimes looking for a chemical fertilizer that can be used to make methamphetamine, according to local law enforcement records. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

File - In this April 17, 2013, file photo provided by Joe Berti, a plume of smoke rises after an explosion at West Fertilizer Company's fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Burglars occasionally sneaked into the plant in the years before its deadly explosion last month ? sometimes looking for a chemical fertilizer that can be used to make methamphetamine, according to local law enforcement records. (AP Photo/Joe Berti, File)

Texas A&M University freshman Heather Warfield collects baseball cards from a nearby apartment complex, Saturday, May 4, 2013, in West Texas. Over 124 students donated their time to help cleanup parts of West devastated by the fertilizer plant explosion. The plant exploded during a fire April 17, killing at least 14 people and injuring about 200. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Rod Aydelotte)

Texas A&M students clean debris at a home in West, Texas, Saturday, May 4, 2013, that was damaged due to the explosion at a fertilizer plant in West on April 17. The plant that exploded, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area, had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Rod Aydelotte)

Texas A&M students walk past an apartment complex in West, Texas, Saturday, May 4, 2013, that was damaged due to the explosion at a fertilizer plant on April 17. The plant that exploded, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area, had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Rod Aydelotte)

McALLEN, Texas (AP) ? The Texas fertilizer plant that exploded last month, killing 14 people, injuring more than 200 others and causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to the surrounding area had only $1 million in liability coverage, lawyers said Saturday.

Tyler lawyer Randy C. Roberts said he and other attorneys who have filed lawsuits against West Fertilizer's owners were told Thursday that the plant carried only $1 million in liability insurance. Brook Laskey, an attorney hired by the plant's insurer to represent West Fertilizer Co., confirmed the amount Saturday in an email to The Associated Press, after the Dallas Morning News first reported it.

"The bottom line is, this lack of insurance coverage is just consistent with the overall lack of responsibility we've seen from the fertilizer plant, starting from the fact that from day one they have yet to acknowledge responsibility," Roberts said.

Roberts said he expects the plant's owner to ask a judge to divide the $1 million in insurance money among the plaintiffs, several of whom he represents, and then file for bankruptcy.

He said he wasn't surprised that the plant was carrying such a small policy.

"It's rare for Texas to require insurance for any kind of hazardous activity," he said. "We have very little oversight of hazardous activities and even less regulation."

On April 17, a fire at the West Fertilizer Co. in West, a town 70 miles south of Dallas, was quickly followed by an earth-shaking explosion that left a 90-foot wide crater and damaged homes, schools and nursing home within a 37-block blast zone. Among those killed were 10 emergency responders.

State and federal investigators haven't determined what caused the blast.

The plant had reported just months before the blast that it had the capacity to store 270 tons of ammonium nitrate, but it was unknown how much was there at the time of the explosion.

Roberts said that even without a conclusive cause, negligence lawsuits can proceed.

"The law allows courts to presume negligence when something happens that would not ordinarily occur but for negligence," Roberts said. "A fire might be an unavoidable accident, but a fire of this magnitude resulting from a fire is not an unavoidable accident."

Lawyers will look for any other assets the company might have and search for other responsible parties, he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-04-Plant%20Explosion-Insurance/id-3a4fe25b513c43d4a44bdc29586e81bf

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Unusual Risk Factors for Colorectal Cancer - Emaxhealth

It?s not hard to understand how a poor diet can be a risk factor for colorectal cancer. But researchers have uncovered some new and unusual risk factors for colorectal cancer, and they leave you wondering why they pose a risk.

More than 140,000 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer or rectal cancer during 2013, according to the National Cancer Institute, and more than 50,000 will die of the disease. A list of risk factors (described later in this article) has been established to help individuals identify their chances of developing the disease and prompt them to be screened.

That said, scientists have identified a few new potential risk factors for colorectal cancer to add to the existing list, and they seem a bit unusual. The new additions come from researchers at Harvard Medical School and are described in a new edition of Sleep.

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It appears that people who sleep at least 9 hours a night and who either snore or who are overweight are at increased risk of the disease. This finding was the result of an analysis of data from two long-running studies (22-year follow-up) that involved more than 106,000 health professionals.

A total of 1,973 cases of colorectal cancer developed over the study period. Although sleeping 9 or more hours per night, compared with 7 hours, was associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer, that risk increased when snoring or a body mass index greater than 25 was added in. For example:

• Men who slept 9 or more hours and who snored had a nearly twofold increased risk of colorectal cancer
• Women who slept 9 or more hours and who snored had nearly a 2.5-fold increased risk
• Long-sleeping men who were overweight had a 1.5-fold increased risk while long-sleeping overweight women had a slightly less increased chance of developing colorectal cancer

Why did researchers see this greater risk of colorectal cancer in people with these specific factors? According to a statement by Xuehong Zhang, MD, ScD, of Harvard Medical School, this ?novel observation? suggests ?the possibility that sleep apnea and its attendant intermittent hypoxemia [insufficient level of oxygen in the blood] may contribute to cancer risk.?

Other risk factors for colorectal cancer
It may be too early to add long-sleeping plus snoring and being overweight to the list of colorectal cancer risk factors. For now, here are the factors generally recognized by the medical community.

• Age: Although colorectal cancer can develop in young people, it is most common in individuals older than 50.
• Gender: Men are more likely to develop rectal cancer and women have a higher risk for colon cancer.
• Presence of polyps: The presence of noncancerous growths called polyps on the inner walls of the colon or rectum are common in people older than 50. One type of polyp, known as an adenoma, is considered a precursor toward colorectal cancer.
• Diet: A high-fat, low-fiber diet has been associated with an increased risk.
• Lifestyle habits: Smoking and alcohol use, being sedentary, and carrying excess weight are all risk factors for colorectal cancer.
• Cancer history: Women with a history of breast, ovarian, or uterine cancer have a greater risk of developing colorectal cancer.
• Diabetes: Having diabetes increases your risk of developing colorectal cancer by 30 to 40 percent.
• Family history: If two or more of your family members have had colorectal cancer, your chances of developing the disease rise by about 20 percent.
• Race: Individuals who are African-American have the highest incidence of colorectal cancer, while the lowest risk of the disease is among Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans.

Also Read:
Spread of Colon Cancer Stopped by Tapeworm Drug
Osteoporosis Drugs May Reduce Colorectal Cancer Risk

This new study introduces the possibility that sleeping more than 9 hours a night, along with snoring or being overweight, may increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Everyone should be aware of all the risk factors for developing this often fatal disease.

SOURCE:

Zhang X et al. Associations of self-reported sleep duration and snoring with colorectal cancer risk in men and women. Sleep 2013 May 1; 36(5): 681-88

Source: http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/unusual-risk-factors-colorectal-cancer

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Campaign finance within constitutional bounds | Harvard Gazette

Obert C. Tanner, a jewelry store magnate who grew up herding sheep in Utah, put himself through college in the 1920s by getting up early every morning to light furnace fires. He died in 1993, but his philanthropy is still creating light and heat, predominantly through the Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Established in 1976, they are delivered annually at nine universities.

At Harvard this year, the Tanner Lectures were delivered May 1-2 by Dean Robert C. Post of Yale Law School. He took up an issue that generates a lot of heat but could use some extra light: the constitutional debate over campaign finance reform.

In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a case so starkly contentious that ?constitutional arguments slide past each other with scarcely a moment of mutual engagement,? said Post. The issue centered on a single question: Should corporations be allowed to give political campaigns unlimited amounts of money? The Supreme Court, by 5-4, said yes.

At issue was the constitutionality of section 441b of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which banned corporations from funding ?electioneering communication.? But a majority of the justices wondered: What was the government?s ?compelling interest? in requiring the prohibition? Didn?t it violate free speech?

Arguments in favor of the reform law cited ?three major state interests,? said Post: to promote equality, to remove the ?distortion? that immense corporate wealth could invite, and to eliminate corruption. In the end, though, none of these interests was powerful enough in constitutional terms to sway a majority of justices.

To this day, Post said in his opening lecture, campaign finance reform remains ?among the most vexing constitutional issues of our time.? Reformers still call the influx of cash a threat to political integrity. Advocates still argue that limiting contributions would limit free speech.

Constitutional law ?is meant to affirm common principles of agreement,? said Post. But Citizens United was ?instantly controversial and unpopular,? he said, and merely hardened positions in an already intractable debate. The majority opinion held that it was ?stranger than fiction for our Government to make ? political speech a crime.? On the other side, one critic declared that Citizens United ?practically supplanted Dred Scott as the worst Supreme Court decision of all time.? The line was so bright between the two sides, said Post, it was as if they ?inhabited entirely different constitutional universes.?

He called the divide ?a horrifying disjunction,? but offered two reasons why it was a reality. For one, the Supreme Court has so far failed to clearly explain First Amendment jurisprudence, and for 80 years or more has relied on abstractions and rhetoric. So it is not possible for the court to ?think carefully? about First Amendment principles and how they can be reconciled with campaign finance reform, said Post.

For another, he said, jurists who favor campaign finance reform have so far failed to show how the idea of such regulation is compatible with the idea of free speech.

To smooth the waters, Post offered his Tanner Lectures ? rapidly paraphrased from a version 158 pages long, with copious footnotes ? as a way for constitutional scholars to find common ground and to recast the debate. Perhaps ?practical reform? would result from his Tanner ideas someday, said Post, but that was not his intent; nor would the lectures offer a concrete plan for mobilizing change.

Instead, he offered a strategy to get to common ground. First, establish that the First Amendment?s purpose is to make self-government possible. After all, he said, the 18th century bedrock of the United States was ?the premise of self-government? and ?the value of self-determination? ? reactions to coercive and unrepresentative British rule.

After that, establish ?a managerial domain? within the First Amendment ? a way that ?speech may be regulated as necessary to maintain the fundamental constitutional value of electoral integrity,? he said.

Without a sense of electoral integrity, ?we are at risk,? said Post, especially in an era of increasingly expensive electoral contests. ?The public cannot help but worry that he who pays the piper will call the tune.?

Source: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/05/campaign-finance-within-constitutional-bounds/

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Few roadblocks to equities' climb after new high

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With Friday's payrolls report serving as a springboard to lift Wall Street stock indexes to fresh all-time highs, investors are left to contemplate whether the gains will fizzle or if the upward momentum will continue.

Investors cheered the jobs report on Friday, which showed employment rose at a faster than anticipated pace an April and hiring in the prior two months was much stronger than previously thought.

The report eased investor concerns after a raft of soft data, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and sent the S&P 500 hurtling past what was viewed as its final resistance level of 1,600 to a fresh all-time closing high of 1,614.42.

With little in the way of economic data on tap next week and earnings season moving into the home stretch, there appears to be little that could derail a move higher.

"That's the $64,000 question - without a micro or macro focus, what do we shift our attention to?" said Art Hogan, managing director of Lazard Capital Markets in New York.

"I would argue in a lack of critical information this market has found a path of least resistance to the upside."

The economic calendar for next week is extremely light, with consumer credit and wholesale inventories for March among the few notables.

Earnings season continues its wind down, with Walt Disney Co the only Dow component scheduled to report for the week. Its results could also provide a glimpse into the health of consumer spending.

Other notable S&P 500 companies expected to post earnings include Tyson Foods Inc , Dean Foods Co , Electronic Arts Inc , Whole Foods Market , Nvidia Corp and Priceline.com .

Corporate earnings have improved from earlier market expectations, with the expected earnings growth now at 5.2 percent, up from 1.5 percent at the start of earnings season.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday, of the 404 companies in the benchmark 500 index that have reported earnings, 68.3 percent have topped analyst expectations, above the 63 percent average since 1994 and the 67 percent average for the past four quarters.

But revenue remains disappointing, with only 46.3 percent of S&P 500 companies topping Wall Street expectations, well below the 62 percent beat rate since 2002 and shy of the 52 percent average for the past four quarters.

With the S&P easily breezing past what was seen as its final resistance point of 1,600, the index is now in uncharted waters for investors to try and predict when a pullback may occur or gains may slow.

"(The S&P 500) broke through that 1,600 resistance level like it wasn't even there based on the payrolls report," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

"Generally you don't want to fight a 52-week high, you definitely don't want to fight an all-time high."

For the week, the Dow rose 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 gained 2 percent, and the Nasdaq advanced 3 percent.

With the gains on Friday, the S&P 500 put together its first consecutive weekly advances since a seven-week run that ended in mid-March, a possible sign of a further move higher. Markets now head into the traditionally weaker summer months. The index has fallen in May for the past three years.

"The key now is, you want to see the bulls continue to push higher, you don't want to see the slip back," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio.

"The ultimate contrarian would say a lot of that very well could be priced in, the thing most people aren't expecting is a continued rally in the normally weak summer months.

By the same token, the lofty levels for equities could make them ripe for a pullback, with investors resuming the battle between booking profits and buying dips. That battle caused the index to alternate between weekly gains and losses throughout the latter portion of March and most of April.

"It is a bipolar market. It is either all on or all off," said Mendelsohn. "Either things are great and we are going to the moon, or everything is falling apart and it's all over."

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-week-ahead-few-roadblocks-equities-climb-202605520.html

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Presidents Bush and Obama, and the Faith Divide (ABC News)

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Michael B. Jordan in Talks for Fantastic Four

Josh Trank?s Fantastic Four reboot is slated to hit theatres in 2015, so casting is likely going to fall into place very soon. The latest actor rumoured to be up for a role in the film is?Chronicle star Michael B. Jordan, who may play Johnny Storm.

Considering Trank was able to land this gig largely based on his success with Chronicle, it makes sense that he?d want to work with some of those actors again. Dane DeHaan is busy hanging around with Peter Parker right now, so Jordan is a logical choice.

I actually think that Jordan would be a really solid fit for the role. Chris Evans wasn?t horrible, but his move to playing Captain America was definitely a good call, both for Evans? career and for the character. Jordan, whose career began with roles on Friday Night Lights and The Wire, has been doing quite well with features recently. In addition to Chronicle, he delivered a solid performance in Red Tails?and most critics say he?s excellent in Fruitvale Station. In terms of his ability to play a superhero, and specifically the Human Torch, I really don?t see why he can?t do it. He?s certainly got the build and athleticism to work as a superhero, and he also does quite well with the arrogance and wit that audiences have come to love so dearly for today?s comic heroes.

Of course, this potential casting again raises questions about color-blind casting when it comes to these beloved comic book heroes. Johnny Storm has always been white in the comics and therefore some would argue that he should be in the films as well. I say that if Jordan has the chops to pull off the role and make it a fun one for audiences to watch, it really doesn?t matter what color his skin is. Look at Michael Clarke Duncan who so effectively played?the Kingpin. That was color-blind casting that paid off immensely.

It?s important to remember this film still hasn?t been green-lit. It does already have a March 6, 2015 release date, and principle photography is expected to begin this fall, but there?s always a chance that the film still won?t happen. That being said, a solid actor like Jordan that audiences can get behind will definitely help the project along.

What do you think of Jordan as the Human Torch for Fantastic Four? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927386/news/1927386/

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Democrats in decent shape for '14 elections, new poll finds (Washington Bureau)

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FBI: 3 removed backpack from Boston suspect's room

This photo released May 1, 2013 by the U.S. Attorney's office in a federal criminal complaint, shows fireworks, which the complaint said federal agents recovered from inside a backpack belonging to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaeva, found in a landfill in New Bedford, Mass. Three men who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with Tsarnaeva, were charged Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in connection with the case. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office)

This photo released May 1, 2013 by the U.S. Attorney's office in a federal criminal complaint, shows fireworks, which the complaint said federal agents recovered from inside a backpack belonging to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaeva, found in a landfill in New Bedford, Mass. Three men who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with Tsarnaeva, were charged Wednesday, May 1, 2013, in connection with the case. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office)

A Department of Homeland Security police officer patrols with his dog outside the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Three suspects were taken into custody in the Boston Marathon bombing case including two college friends of Dzhokhar Tsarneav, according to officials. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FILE - In this April 15, 2013 file photo, medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following a bomb explosion in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. In addition to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died after a gunfight with police, and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was captured and lies in a hospital prison, three more suspects in the bombings were taken into custody, Boston police said Wednesday, May 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)

BOSTON (AP) ? Three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were arrested and accused Wednesday of removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the attack to keep him from getting into trouble.

In court papers, the FBI said one of them threw the backpack in the garbage ? it was later found in a landfill by law enforcement officers ? after the young men concluded from news reports that Tsarnaev was one of the bombers.

Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both 19-year-olds from Kazakhstan, were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by concealing and destroying evidence. Robel Phillipos, 19, who graduated from the prestigious Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School with Tsarnaev, was charged with lying to investigators about the visit to Tsarnaev's room.

The three were not accused of any involvement in the bombing itself. But in a footnote in the court papers outlining the charges, the FBI said that about a month before the bombing, Tsarnaev told Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev that he knew how to make a bomb.

The lawyers for the Kazakh students said their clients had nothing to do with the bombing and were just as shocked by the crime as everyone else. Phillipos' attorney, Derege Demissie, said outside court: "The only allegation is he made a misrepresentation."

At a court appearance in the afternoon, the Kazakh students did not request bail and will be held for another hearing May 14. Phillipos was held for a hearing on Monday.

Three people were killed and more than 260 injured on April 15 when two bombs exploded near the finish line. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with police days later. His younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, was captured and lies in a prison hospital.

Investigators have not said whether the pressure cooker bombs used in the attacks were made with gunpowder extracted from fireworks.

Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev have been held in jail for more than a week on allegations they violated their student visas by not regularly going to class at UMass. All three men charged Wednesday began attending UMass with Tsarnaev in 2011, according to the FBI.

If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov could get up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Phillipos faces a maximum of eight years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.

Authorities allege that on the night of April 18, after the FBI released surveillance-camera photos of the bombing suspects and the three men suspected their friend was one of them, they went to Tsarnaev's dorm room.

Before Tsarnaev's roommate let them in, Kadyrbayev showed Tazhayakov a text message from Tsarnaev that read: "I'm about to leave if you need something in my room take it," according to the FBI. When Tazhayakov learned of the message, "he believed he would never see Tsarnaev alive again," the FBI said in the affidavit.

It was not clear from the court papers whether authorities believe that was an instruction from Tsarnaev to his friends to destroy evidence.

Once inside Tsarnaev's room, the men noticed a backpack containing fireworks, which had been opened and emptied of powder, the FBI said.

The FBI said that Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the empty fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the bombings and decided to remove the backpack from the room "in order to help his friend Tsarnaev avoid trouble."

Kadyrbayev also decided to remove Tsarnaev's laptop "because he did not want Tsarnaev's roommate to think he was stealing or behaving suspiciously by just taking the backpack," the FBI said in court papers.

After the three men returned to Kadyrbayev's and Tazhayakov's apartment with the backpack and computer, they watched news reports featuring photographs of Tsarnaev.

The FBI affidavit said Kadyrbayev told authorities the three men then "collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble."

Kadyrbayev said he placed the backpack and fireworks along with trash from the apartment into a large trash bag and threw it into a garbage bin near the men's apartment.

When the backpack was later found in a landfill last week, inside it was a UMass-Dartmouth homework assignment sheet from a class Tsarnaev was taking, the FBI said.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov lived at an off-campus apartment in New Bedford, about 60 miles south of Boston, and got around in a car registered to Kadyrbayev with a souvenir plate that read "Terrorista (hash)1." The car was pictured on Tsarnaev's Twitter feed in March.

The plate was a gag gift from some of Kadyrbayev's friends, meant to invoke his penchant for late-night partying rather than his political sentiments, a lawyer for Kadyrbayev said last week.

Michael McKeown, 20, went to high school with Dzhokjar and Phillipos and served with Phillipos on the Cambridge Kids' Council.

"He wasn't a stupid kid," the Boston University sophomore said of Phillipos. "I'm surprised he would do something this foolish."

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C., Michelle R. Smith in Providence, R.I.; and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-01-US-Boston-Marathon-Explosions/id-7fac50e9d9084914a0ccf3e2c5483d2d

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