Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_V4uL4UyNik/how-to-design-like-apple
বুধবার, ১২ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১২
How To Design Like Apple
US: Afghans resisting efforts to track cash exodus
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A U.S. watchdog agency said Tuesday that Afghan officials were resisting U.S. efforts to help track billions of dollars being flown out of Kabul airport every year, some likely linked to crime and drugs.
The U.S. and other nations have long expressed concern about the amount of cash being flown out of the country ? an estimated $4.5 billion last year, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. Afghanistan has a cash-based economy and moving large bundles of cash is common, yet it raises the risk of money laundering and cash smuggling to finance terrorist, narcotics and other illicit activities.
Hundreds of millions of dollars from the collapsed Kabul Bank were flown out of Afghanistan ? some in airplane food trays ? to more than two dozen other countries, a recent report on the collapse said. The demise of the bank, the nation's largest financial institution, became a symbol of endemic corruption that plagues Afghanistan.
"The persistent delays in instituting basic anti-money laundering procedures by the Afghan government at Kabul International Airport are deeply troubling," the report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said. "Although proper controls to monitor cash flows are important for any country to institute, they are particularly critical for a country fraught with corruption, narcotics trafficking and insurgent activity."
To help Afghanistan track the cash moving through the airport, the U.S. purchased $117,275 worth of bulk currency counting equipment. Though the contract to install them was awarded in July 2010, they were not put in until April 2011, the report said.
SIGAR staff made follow-up visits to the airport in September and November but never saw the cash counters being used. Moreover, the report said VIPs ? some carrying cash ? continue to bypass controls.
The report said the cash counters were in a small, closet-like area not easily accessible to customs or banking officials in the international terminal.
While they were plugged in and appeared to be in working order, they were not connected to the Internet or a computer server. The report said that being connected is essential for sending the serial numbers of the bills and other data to the Financial Transactions and Records Analysis Center of Afghanistan, which is part of the Afghan central bank.
"U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials told us that their efforts to address these problems have stalled, even though the use of bulk currency counters to record and transmit data is critically important for their law enforcement activities," the report said. "According to one official, Afghan officials have neither committed to connecting the machines to the Internet nor agreed to establish a working link to FinTRACA."
During the visit, Afghan customs and banking officials were unable to explain why the machines remained without Internet connectivity, the report said.
"However, one DHS official told us that Afghan customs at Kabul airport were afraid that they would experience negative repercussions from the Afghan government if progress in instituting controls at the airport was made," the report said.
SIGAR expressed dismay that cash being carried by VIPs was being declared, but still not scanned.
"No bulk currency counter was available for the counting or data collection of currency declared by VIPs, who do not undergo main customs or security screenings. According to a DHS official, many of the individuals who traffic money leave from the VIP area," the report said. "A new Very Very Important Persons (VVIPs) lounge was built to provide easier boarding access for high-ranking officials, again allowing transit without main customs screenings or use of a bulk currency counter."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-afghans-resisting-efforts-track-cash-exodus-155753873.html
Tagliabue overturns Goodell on Saints suspensions
FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints football defensive end Will Smith, left, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma arrive at an attorney's office in Washington, for a hearing on their appeals of bounties suspensions. Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was appointed to handle a second round of player appeals to the league, has informed all parties he planned to rule by Tuesday, Dec. 11, and his decision could affect whether two current Saints ? Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith ? get to play out the season. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012, file photo, New Orleans Saints football defensive end Will Smith, left, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma arrive at an attorney's office in Washington, for a hearing on their appeals of bounties suspensions. Former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who was appointed to handle a second round of player appeals to the league, has informed all parties he planned to rule by Tuesday, Dec. 11, and his decision could affect whether two current Saints ? Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith ? get to play out the season. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - This Feb. 4, 2012 file photo shows former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in Indianapolis. Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. (AP Photo/David Stluka, File)
FILE - This Oct. 21, 2012 file photo shows New Orleans Saints football linebacker Jonathan Vilma (51) running onto the field in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. Vilma and fellow player Will Smith, who were suspended said they plan to attend. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
FILE - This Sept. 9, 2012 file photo shows New Orleans Saints football defensive end Will Smith (91) warming up before an NFL football game in New Orleans. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. Smith and fellow player Jonathan Vilma, who were suspended said they plan to attend. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2011 file photo, then-New Orleans Saints football team defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is seen at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and lawyers for the league and the players' union have arrived in Washington, Thursday for a hearing in the Saints bounties case. Tagliabue is overseeing the latest round of player appeals in Washington. Williams has been suspended from the league. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? In a sharp rebuke to his successor's handling of the NFL's bounty investigation, former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned the suspensions of four current and former New Orleans Saints players in a case that has preoccupied the league for almost a year.
Tagliabue, who was appointed by Commissioner Roger Goodell to handle the appeals, still found that three of the players engaged in conduct detrimental to the league. He said they participated in a performance pool that rewarded key plays ? including bone-jarring hits ? that could merit fines. But he stressed that the team's coaches were very much involved.
The entire case, he said, "has been contaminated by the coaches and others in the Saints' organization."
The team's "coaches and managers led a deliberate, unprecedented and effective effort to obstruct the NFL's investigation," the ruling said.
Tagliabue oversaw a second round of player appeals to the league in connection with the cash-for-hits program run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from 2009-2011. The players initially opposed his appointment.
Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma had been given a full-season suspension, while defensive end Will Smith, Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita and free agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove each received shorter suspensions.
Tagliabue cleared Fujita of conduct detrimental to the league.
"I affirm Commissioner Goodell's factual findings as to the four players. I conclude that Hargrove, Smith and Vilma ? but not Fujita ? engaged in 'conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football,'" the ruling said.
"However, for the reasons set forth in this decision, I now vacate all discipline to be imposed upon these players. Although I vacate all suspensions, I fully considered but ultimately rejected reducing the suspensions to fines of varying degrees for Hargrove, Smith and Vilma. My affirmation of Commissioner Goodell's findings could certainly justify the issuance of fines. However ... this entire case has been contaminated by the coaches and others in the Saints organization," it said.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees offered his thoughts on Twitter: "Congratulations to our players for having the suspensions vacated. Unfortunately, there are some things that can never be taken back."
None of the players sat out any games because of suspensions. They have been allowed to play while appeals are pending, though Fujita is on injured reserve and Hargrove is not with a team.
Shortly before the regular season, the initial suspensions were thrown out by an appeals panel created by the league's collective bargaining agreement. Goodell then reissued them, with some changes, and now those have been dismissed.
Now, with the player suspensions overturned, the end could be near for a nearly 10-month dispute over how the NFL handled an investigation that covered three seasons and gathered about 50,000 pages of documents.
"We respect Mr. Tagliabue's decision, which underscores the due process afforded players in NFL disciplinary matters," the NFL said in a statement.
"The decisions have made clear that the Saints operated a bounty program in violation of league rules for three years, that the program endangered player safety, and that the commissioner has the authority under the (NFL's collective bargaining agreement) to impose discipline for those actions as conduct detrimental to the league. Strong action was taken in this matter to protect player safety and ensure that bounties would be eliminated from football."
Meanwhile, the players have challenged the NFL's handling of the entire process in federal court, but U.S District Judge Ginger Berrigan had been waiting for the latest round of appeals to play out before deciding whether to get involved.
NFL investigators found that Vilma and Smith were ring leaders of a cash-for-hits program that rewarded injurious tackles labeled as "cart-offs" and "knockouts." The NFL also concluded that Hargrove lied to NFL investigators to help cover up the program.
Goodell also suspended Williams indefinitely, while banning Saints head coach Sean Payton for a full season.
Tagliabue's ruling comes after a new round of hearings that for the first time allowed Vilma's attorneys and the NFL Players Association, which represents the other three players, to cross-examine key NFL witnesses. Those witnesses included Williams and former Saints assistant Mike Cerullo, who was fired after the 2009 season and whose email to the league, accusing the Saints of being "a dirty organization," jump-started the probe.
"We believe that when a fair due process takes place, a fair outcome is the result," the players' union said in a statement. "We are pleased that Paul Tagliabue, as the appointed hearings officer, agreed with the NFL Players Association that previously issued discipline was inappropriate in the matter of the alleged New Orleans Saints bounty program.
"Vacating all discipline affirms the players' unwavering position that all allegations the League made about their alleged 'intent-to-injure' were utterly and completely false.
"We are happy for our members."
A statement released on Vilma's behalf said the linebacker is "relieved and gratified that Jonathan no longer needs to worry about facing an unjustified suspension.
"On the other hand, Commissioner Tagliabue's rationalization of Commissioner Goodell's actions does nothing to rectify the harm done by the baseless allegations lodged against Jonathan. Jonathan has a right and every intention to pursue proving what really occurred and we look forward to returning to a public forum where the true facts can see the light of day."
Associated Pressমঙ্গলবার, ১১ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১২
Military Spending Way Down In Wisconsin | Red Rock On Air
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 at 7:12 am
Federal spending in Wisconsin is declining, mainly due to reduced military costs.
Preliminary figures from the Wisconsin Procurement Institute show federal contract awards for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 declined about 52 percent to $3.4 billion compared to last year. The figures could be adjusted upward because of routine delays in federal reporting of contract awards.
As the U.S. winds down the war in Afghanistan, the military?s needs are changing. Spending by the Army in Wisconsin is down more than 75 percent. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Army was the biggest buyer of Wisconsin goods and services, with roughly more than $1 billion in purchases in fiscal 2012. It?s unknown exactly how this will affect the State?s economy over the long run.
Source: http://redrockonair.com/news/2012/12/11/military-spending-way-down-in-wisconsin/
Getting Control Of Neglected Tropical Diseases
The diseases have impossibly tongue-twisting, unfamiliar, or even disgusting names: cutaneous leishmaniasis, helminthiases, schistosomiasis, yaws, Guinea worm disease. These are just a few of numerous ailments now known as ?neglected tropical diseases.?
And while these diseases may technically be ?neglected,? every low-income country is affected by five or more neglected tropical diseases at once, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These diseases cause misery and suffering?and they kill more than 500,000 people worldwide every year.
Now, governmental and advocacy groups, including the World Health Organization (WHO), are stepping up efforts to control and banish these killers.
RELATED:?Germ Airways, You?re Cleared for Takeoff: The U.S. Airports Most Likely to Spread Pandemics
"There is a growing number of organizations, including a host of non-governmental organizations, that are spending money for raising awareness, advocacy, operational research, and implementation of control measures," Dr. Juerg Utzinger, professor of epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, affiliated with the University of Basel, tells TakePart. His update of the management of neglected tropical diseases was published in November in Swiss Medical Weekly.
Neglected tropical diseases weren't even ''branded'' until 2005, Utzinger says; since then, the initial list of 13 has grown to more than 40. Tracking the diseases has given WHO a road map to overcoming these killers, which are caused by viruses, fungi, parasites, and bacateria. In a report, WHO says it has ?produced overwhelming evidence to show that the burden caused by many of the 17 diseases [mentioned in the report] that affect more than 1 billion people worldwide can be effectively controlled and, in many cases, eliminated or even eradicated."
The goals of controlling, and eventually eradicating, 17 of these diseases are ambitious, but WHO and other experts contend they are possible, pointing to the encouraging example of a WHO campaign against yaws, a bacterial infection that affects skin, bones, and cartilage and is spread by contact with open skin sores, and for which there is no vaccine.
The campaign, which calls for global eradication of?yaws by 2020, was made far easier thanks to the recent discovery that a single dose of the oral antibiotic azithromycin can cure the disease. That works as well, experts now know, as penicillin injections. Even more encouraging, treatment for most mass drug programs to eradicate these diseases is about 50 cents (U.S.) per person per?year, says the CDC.
Success in lowering rates of yaws isn?t the only sign of progress: Cases of Guinea worm disease fell from nearly 900,000 in 12 countries to just about 3,000 in four counties over two decades?a decrease of 99 percent. And in 2007, the People's Republic of China became the first endemic country to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem; also known as elephantiasis, the parasitic infection can cause severe disfigurement. Ten West African countries have also eliminated onchocerciasis, a parasitic infection that can cause blindness.
If you?re traveling internationally, it?s good to be aware of these diseases, but there?s no need for grave concern, says Utzinger. "The risk?of becoming infected by any of the neglected tropical diseases is very small,'' he says. To learn more and find out how you can help, visit WHO or the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.?
More on Pandemics:
Swine Flu Survivors May Hold Key to "Universal" Flu Vaccine
Awareness of HIV Risk Has Dropped Among Gay Men Even As Infection Rates Rise
Can We Build an Early Warning System for Pandemics?
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Kathleen Doheny is a Los Angeles journalist who writes about health. She doesn't believe in miracle cures, but continues to hope someone will discover a way for joggers to maintain their pace.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/getting-control-neglected-tropical-diseases-191519437.html
The Rich's Favorite Tax Deductions
CNNMoney:
The wealthy could see their tax burden go up by an average of $14,000 if lawmakers limit itemized deductions as part of a fiscal cliff deal.
Read the whole story at CNNMoney
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সোমবার, ১০ ডিসেম্বর, ২০১২
Part-time workers dream of full-time jobs
2 hrs.
Bonnie Gray knows there are people out there who are worse off than she is. After all, at least she has a job.
?It?s just not a full-time gig.
Like many other Americans, she works part time and it?s barely enough to pay for food, fuel and shelter.
Millions of?Americans were working part?time in November but they?would like to have been working full time. These so-called ?involuntary part-time workers? are an example of some of the stubborn pockets of weakness that remain in the labor market even as the jobs picture improves very slowly.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that nearly 8.2 million people classified themselves as involuntary part-time workers in November, meaning that they settled for less work because they couldn?t get more. That?s around double the number of involuntary part-timers in 2006, before the nation went into recession and entered a prolonged period of weak recovery.
A separate group of more than 18?million people were working part-time in November?for noneconomic reasons, either because they are in school or they?want to spend more time with their children, for example.
The number of people who are involuntarily underemployed has gone down since it hit 9 million in?the depths of the recession, but progress has been slow and rocky.
'A demand problem'
For people like Gray, 63,?improvement can?t come soon enough.
Gray, who lives in Cary, Ill., for years worked two jobs: a full-time administrative job and, for extra money, a part-time cashier job at a major home retailer. She was laid off from her full-time position, which paid close to $16 an hour, in January of 2012.
She was left with a part-time job that?pays $12.40 an hour. That plus some unemployment compensation she receives is barely enough to cover her mortgage and other expenses. She sometimes relies on her church for food, and worries about what will happen when the unemployment runs out at the end of the year.
She?s spent nearly a year looking for another receptionist or administrative position.
?I?m on the computer, it seems, 24/7. I am networking. I?ve walked out my resume to 83 companies,? she said. She?s also?taken classes on how to interview and on invoicing, and she?plans to take another one on PowerPoint.
She?s had many job interviews in the past 12 months, but no full-time job offer.
Gray said she can?t work any more hours as a cashier because a tumor on her foot makes it difficult to stand for a long time.
According to her doctor, the mass isn?t cancerous, she said, but she can?t afford to have it removed. Her insurance as a part-time worker wouldn?t be enough to cover the procedure and rehabilitation.
Gray will turn 64 in February, which means she won?t qualify for Medicare for another year. Until then, she said, she needs a job that offers health insurance.
She?s hoping to avoid dipping into Social Security for as long as possible because the longer she waits, the more she stands to collect.
?I was actually hoping to hang on until 70,? she said.
She may still be in for a tough slog. Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist with the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said the basic issue plaguing involuntary part-time workers like Gray is the same one plaguing the overall labor market: There?s just not enough demand to compel employers to add to their labor costs?substantially.
Shierholz said she expects involuntary part-time workers to gradually see improvements?but ?it is a going to take a long time.?
?I think by far the dominant reason that we aren?t seeing employment in both dimensions ? full (time)? people or ramping up hours for workers that already are there -- is just a demand problem,? she said.
Once employers have more work that needs to be done, they?ll add more hours for people to do it.
'Now I have to watch everything'
Debbie Fiore doesn?t see that happening any time soon at the small company where she works.
Fiore, who lives in Nottingham, Md., lost her full-time job with a long-term care company nearly two years ago, and has?struggled for more than a year to find another job.
A friend connected her with a small company that hired and trained her for an accounts payable and receivable job. She works about 25 hours a week and makes about half what she used to.
Fiore, who turns 57 this week, and her husband struggle to pay their bills. It?s not the situation she envisioned they would be in heading into their golden years.
?We?re basically living paycheck to paycheck. We?re not able to save anything for the future at this point. There?s hardly any emergency money if an emergency comes up,? she said.
She?s immensely grateful for the job she has, and said she loves the work. But financial worries weigh heavily on her.
?I think my attitude, my demeanor has changed,? she said. ?I used to be a very carefree, fun person, and now I have to watch everything.?
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