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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Tim Cook: ?We Pay All Of The Taxes We Owe, Every Single Dollar?
We are updating this blog during the live congressional testimony of Apple CEO Tim Cook. More details will be added soon. Apple's CEO Tim Cook came out firing during his Congressional grilling, declaring, "we pay all of the taxes we owe, every single dollar". A blistering senate investigation accused Apple of shady tax dodging, helping it avoid $13.8 billion in taxes.
Rare 'Harry Potter' first edition fetches record auction price
Rare "Harry Potter" first edition fetches record auction price
(Reuters) - A unique first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" annotated by author J.K. Rowling has sold for a record 150,000 pounds ($227,421) at a London charity auction, Sotheby's said on Tuesday. The 1997 book, featuring handwritten notes, 22 original illustrations and a 43-page "second thoughts" commentary by the author, fetched the highest price to date for a printed book by Rowling, Sotheby's said in a statement.
China's Ai Weiwei takes inspiration from milk scandal
BEIJING (Reuters) - Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has taken inspiration from fears in China about milk safety for his latest work of art, a huge map of China made out of milk powder tins appearing at an exhibition in Hong Kong which opens on Friday. Ai, whose 81-day detention in 2011 sparked an international outcry, has regularly criticized the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and the rights of citizens.
NY art dealer tied to alleged forgeries charged with tax fraud
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a New York art dealer with tax fraud in connection with the sale of paintings she claimed to be the works of celebrated abstract expressionists, but some of which the government said were fakes. Glafira Rosales, 56, faces three counts of filing false tax returns and five counts of concealing a Spanish bank account from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
DiCaprio's wildlife charity auction brings in $38.8 million
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Christie's auction house raised $38.8 million through a charity art auction and donations, Christie's said on Tuesday, with proceeds to benefit environmental and conservation causes. The 33 works in The 11th Hour Auction organized by the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby" sold for $31.74 million on Monday evening and set 13 records for artists including Carol Bove, Joe Bradley, Mark Grotjahn, Raymond Pettibon and Mark Ryden among others.
Richter painting breaks record for living artist at N.Y. auction
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 1968 oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter sold for some $37 million at Sotheby's contemporary art auction on Tuesday, a new record for a work by a living artist. The sale took in $293,587,000, at the low end of the pre-sale estimate of $284 million to $383 million, with 83 percent of the 64 lots on offer finding buyers.
Vatican to have pavilion at Venice Biennale modern art exhibit
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - For most people, the relationship between contemporary art and the Vatican - home of some of the world's greatest old masterpieces - is like oil and water - they just don't mix. The Vatican's "culture minister," Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, wants to change that perception and so for the first time the Holy See will have its own pavilion this year at the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale, a sacred cow of modern art.
Daylight shines on Tate Britain's 500-year gallop through art
LONDON (Reuters) - Out go the themed rooms and groupings of artists at London's Tate Britain gallery, and in comes a pure, sunlit, chronological walk through British art from 1540 to the present. The world's leading collection of British paintings and sculpture on Monday threw open a permanent gallery so radically refurbished and reorganized that every one of the 500-odd works on display had to be rehung.
New Soutine record set as Christie's meets Impressionist goal
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A record was set for French artist Chaim Soutine on Wednesday at Christie's auction of Impressionist and modern art, which met expectations with a total of just under $160 million. The tightly edited sale of 47 works exceeded Christie's auction a year ago by more than $40 million, but the earlier evening featured only 31 lots. Still, an impressive 94 percent of the works on offer found buyers which officials said was its best sell-through rate since 2006.
New York's Met Museum celebrates punk's influence on fashion
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With their black leather, studded jackets, ripped jeans, bondage trousers and messages of rebellion and anarchy, punks from the 1970s probably never envisioned that a major museum would be celebrating their influence on fashion 40 years later. But the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is doing just that with a new exhibition, "Punk: Chaos to Couture," that opens on May 9 and runs through August 14.
On eve of New York auctions, newer works seen driving the boom
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With a billion dollars worth of art on offer at their spring auctions in New York, Christie's and Sotheby's are looking to the post-war and contemporary works to drive the market this month. The sales of the newer works are expected to exceed those of the once-dominant Impressionist and modern field by anywhere from 50 to 100 percent, according to estimates.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-arts-summary-022039435.html
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See what Microsoft has in store for the Xbox with Windows Phone Central!
CTIA isn't the only event happening today, up in Redmond at Microsoft HQ we're being treated to a first look at what's next for the Xbox. Besides the gaming, the Xbox has steadily been increasing its attack on the living room, and Xbox Live has gone cross-platform with the release of Wordament on iOS. Then of course there's Xbox Smartglass, so already Microsoft has our attention before announcing anything new.
Our good friends over at Windows Phone Central will be covering the whole event with a liveblog, and we've got you hooked up with the link below. Also worth a read is their "What to expect..." post, but keep it locked to Windows Phone Central for all the news as it happens.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/pO2pzX43O4Y/story01.htm
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Climate change and wildfire
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vzAZqbVwEOFttu2-kO2yBINmhczzBtdtzqRIBCLG95U7aOjPw--iHLDi4w8KzS6sx0WaH5s9L5xju5i1-K5yiAjUBtlrhLgoWMEcH_t_U=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 21-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Yongqiang Liu
yliu@fs.fed.us
706-559-4240
USDA Forest Service ? Southern Research Station
Synthesis of recent findings
Concerns continue to grow about the effects of climate change on fire. Wildfires are expected to increase 50 percent across the United States under a changing climate, over 100 percent in areas of the West by 2050 as projected by some studies. Of equal concern to scientists and policymakers alike are the atmospheric effects of wildfire emissions on climate.
A new article published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management by U.S. Forest Service scientists synthesizes recent findings on the interactions between fire and climate and outlines future research needs. Authored by research meteorologists Yongqiang Liu and Scott Goodrick from the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) and Warren Heilman from the Northern Research Station, the article homes in on the effect of emissions from wildfires on long-term atmospheric conditions.
"While research has historically focused on fire-weather interactions, there is increasing attention paid to fire-climate interactions," says Liu, lead author and team leader with the SRS Center for Forest Disturbance Science. "Weather, the day-to-day state of the atmosphere in a region, influences individual fires within a fire season. In contrast, when we talk about fire climate, we're looking at the statistics of weather over a certain period. Fire climate sets atmospheric conditions for fire activity in longer time frames and larger geographic scales."
Wildfires impact atmospheric conditions through emissions of gases, particles, water, and heat. Some of the article focuses on radiative forcing from fire emissions. Radiative forcing refers to the change in net (down minus up) irradiance (solar plus longwave) at the tropopause, the top of the troposphere where most weather takes place.
Smoke particles can generate radiative forcing mainly through scattering and absorbing solar radiation (direct radiative forcing), and modifying the cloud droplet concentrations and lifetime, and hence the cloud radiative properties (indirect radiative forcing). The change in radiation can cause further changes in global temperatures and precipitation.
"Wildfire emissions can have remarkable impacts on radiative forcing," says Liu. "During fire events or burning seasons, smoke particles reduce overall solar radiation absorbed by the atmosphere at local and regional levels. At the global scale, fire emissions of carbon dioxide contribute substantially to the global greenhouse effect."
Other major findings covered in the synthesis include:
- The radiative forcing of smoke particles can generate significant regional climate effects, leading to lower temperatures at the ground surface.
- Smoke particles mostly suppress cloud formation and precipitation. Fire events could lead to more droughts.
- Black carbon, essentially the fine particles of carbon that color smoke, plays different roles in affecting climate. In the middle and lower atmosphere, its presence could lead to a more stable atmosphere. Black carbon plays a special role in the snow-climate feedback loop, accelerating snow melting.
Land surface changes may be triggered that also play into future effects. "Wildfire is a disturbance of ecosystems," says Liu. "Besides the atmospheric impacts, wildfires also modify terrestrial ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, soil fertility, grazing value, biodiversity, and tourism. The effects can in turn trigger land use changes that in turn affect the atmosphere."
The article concludes by outlining issues that lead to uncertainties in understanding fire-climate interactions and the future research needed to address them.
###
Full text of the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037811271300114X
Headquartered in Asheville, NC, the Southern Research Station comprises more than 120 scientists and several hundred support staff who conduct natural resource research in 20 locations across 13 southern states (Virginia to Texas). The Station's mission is "to create the science and technology needed to sustain and enhance southern forest ecosystems and the benefits they provide." Learn more about the Southern Research Station at: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 21-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Yongqiang Liu
yliu@fs.fed.us
706-559-4240
USDA Forest Service ? Southern Research Station
Synthesis of recent findings
Concerns continue to grow about the effects of climate change on fire. Wildfires are expected to increase 50 percent across the United States under a changing climate, over 100 percent in areas of the West by 2050 as projected by some studies. Of equal concern to scientists and policymakers alike are the atmospheric effects of wildfire emissions on climate.
A new article published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management by U.S. Forest Service scientists synthesizes recent findings on the interactions between fire and climate and outlines future research needs. Authored by research meteorologists Yongqiang Liu and Scott Goodrick from the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) and Warren Heilman from the Northern Research Station, the article homes in on the effect of emissions from wildfires on long-term atmospheric conditions.
"While research has historically focused on fire-weather interactions, there is increasing attention paid to fire-climate interactions," says Liu, lead author and team leader with the SRS Center for Forest Disturbance Science. "Weather, the day-to-day state of the atmosphere in a region, influences individual fires within a fire season. In contrast, when we talk about fire climate, we're looking at the statistics of weather over a certain period. Fire climate sets atmospheric conditions for fire activity in longer time frames and larger geographic scales."
Wildfires impact atmospheric conditions through emissions of gases, particles, water, and heat. Some of the article focuses on radiative forcing from fire emissions. Radiative forcing refers to the change in net (down minus up) irradiance (solar plus longwave) at the tropopause, the top of the troposphere where most weather takes place.
Smoke particles can generate radiative forcing mainly through scattering and absorbing solar radiation (direct radiative forcing), and modifying the cloud droplet concentrations and lifetime, and hence the cloud radiative properties (indirect radiative forcing). The change in radiation can cause further changes in global temperatures and precipitation.
"Wildfire emissions can have remarkable impacts on radiative forcing," says Liu. "During fire events or burning seasons, smoke particles reduce overall solar radiation absorbed by the atmosphere at local and regional levels. At the global scale, fire emissions of carbon dioxide contribute substantially to the global greenhouse effect."
Other major findings covered in the synthesis include:
- The radiative forcing of smoke particles can generate significant regional climate effects, leading to lower temperatures at the ground surface.
- Smoke particles mostly suppress cloud formation and precipitation. Fire events could lead to more droughts.
- Black carbon, essentially the fine particles of carbon that color smoke, plays different roles in affecting climate. In the middle and lower atmosphere, its presence could lead to a more stable atmosphere. Black carbon plays a special role in the snow-climate feedback loop, accelerating snow melting.
Land surface changes may be triggered that also play into future effects. "Wildfire is a disturbance of ecosystems," says Liu. "Besides the atmospheric impacts, wildfires also modify terrestrial ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, soil fertility, grazing value, biodiversity, and tourism. The effects can in turn trigger land use changes that in turn affect the atmosphere."
The article concludes by outlining issues that lead to uncertainties in understanding fire-climate interactions and the future research needed to address them.
###
Full text of the article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037811271300114X
Headquartered in Asheville, NC, the Southern Research Station comprises more than 120 scientists and several hundred support staff who conduct natural resource research in 20 locations across 13 southern states (Virginia to Texas). The Station's mission is "to create the science and technology needed to sustain and enhance southern forest ecosystems and the benefits they provide." Learn more about the Southern Research Station at: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/ufs-cca052113.php
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Tim Cook: ?We Pay All Of The Taxes We Owe, Every Single Dollar?
We are updating this blog during the live congressional testimony of Apple CEO Tim Cook. More details will be added soon. Apple's CEO Tim Cook came out firing during his Congressional grilling, declaring, "we pay all of the taxes we owe, every single dollar". A blistering senate investigation accused Apple of shady tax dodging, helping it avoid $13.8 billion in taxes.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Jz17YKepSVs/
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The Quickindicator watch has the world?s quickest minute hand
The Quickindicator from Nord Zeitmachine promises it has the world’s quickest minute hand on a wrist watch. ?I’m not sure what the benefits of a quick minute hand are, but the watch does look very cool. ?These watches are made in Switzerland in a one-man shop. ?Daniel, the owner of Nord Zeitmachine, has a few [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/20/the-quickindicator-watch-has-the-worlds-quickest-minute-hand/
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Myanmar Muslims jailed for killing Buddhist monk
Muslim men shout following their trial at a township court in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A court in Myanmar sentenced seven Muslims to terms ranging from life to two years in prison Tuesday for the killing of a Buddhist monk during sectarian violence that is posing a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
Muslim men shout following their trial at a township court in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A court in Myanmar sentenced seven Muslims to terms ranging from life to two years in prison Tuesday for the killing of a Buddhist monk during sectarian violence that is posing a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
A Muslim man is escorted by police officers following a trial at a township court in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A court in Myanmar sentenced seven Muslims to terms ranging from life to two years in prison Tuesday for the killing of a Buddhist monk during sectarian violence that is posing a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
A horse carriage run by buildings damaged during sectarian violence in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
People gather to hear a news about trial of Muslim men at a township court in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A court in Myanmar sentenced seven Muslims to terms ranging from life to two years in prison Tuesday for the killing of a Buddhist monk during sectarian violence that is posing a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
A Muslim man waves as he is escorted back to a police van following their trial at a township court in Meikhtila, central Myanmar, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A court in Myanmar sentenced seven Muslims to terms ranging from life to two years in prison Tuesday for the killing of a Buddhist monk during sectarian violence that is posing a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
MEIKHTILA, Myanmar (AP) ? A Myanmar court sentenced seven Muslims to prison Tuesday ? one of them to a life term ? in the killing of a Buddhist monk amid deadly sectarian violence that was overwhelmingly directed against minority Muslims but has not led to any criminal trials against members of the country's Buddhist majority.
As the country tries to rebuild democracy after decades of military rule, the issue poses a dilemma for politicians who would lose support if they embraced justice for the unpopular Muslim minority. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent years under house arrest under the former ruling junta but now hopes to bring her party to power, spoke of the law but not of sectarian tensions when asked about the verdict.
At least 44 people were killed and 12,000 displaced, most of them Muslim, in more than a week of conflicts with Buddhists that began March 20 in the central Myanmar city of Meikhtila. A dispute at a Muslim-owned gold shop triggered rioting by Buddhists and retaliation by their Muslim targets, and the lynching of the monk after the gold shop was sacked enflamed passions, leading to large-scale violence.
While the violence is now contained, questions are arising over whether minority Muslims can find justice in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar. Hundreds more Muslims have been killed, and tens of thousands have been made homeless, in violence across the country over the past year.
The sectarian strife has tarnished the image of Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who has been criticized for failing to speak out strongly in defense of the country's Muslims despite her long commitment to human rights. Her supporters, especially abroad, fear she is afraid to take a politically unpopular stand now that her party will mount a bid for power in the next general election in 2015. Prejudice against Muslims is widespread in Myanmar, and it is hard to find public figures willing to speak in defense of the Muslim community.
In a press conference Tuesday in the capital, Naypyitaw, she did not directly address the plight of the Muslim minority. Instead, she spoke in familiar terms about the rule of law when asked about the verdict.
"There is no transparency in Myanmar's justice system and there is too much influence from the administrative branch," she said, echoing the opinions of many human rights groups. "The judicial system has to be independent to be credible."
Suu Kyi has been criticized for failing to take a strong stand on attacks last year against the Muslim Rohingya community in western Rakhine state. Mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razed thousands of homes, leaving hundreds dead and forcing 125,000 people, mostly Muslims, to flee,
When asked whether she was concerned about her reputation over the issue, she said she wasn't worried. "If I had to be concerned about my image, I should not have become a politician right from the beginning," she said.
The issue of ethnic strife also marred this week's Washington trip by President Thein Sein, a trip otherwise filled with accolades for the first leader of Myanmar to visit the White House in 47 years.
President Barack Obama praised Thein Sein on Monday for his efforts to lead his country back on the path to democracy, but also said he expressed concern to his counterpart about violence against Muslims. "The displacement of people, the violence directed toward them needs to stop," he said.
Thein Than Oo, a lawyer defending the men sentenced Tuesday, said one of his clients, Myat Ko Ko, was given life in prison for murder. Myat Ko Ko was also sentenced to an additional two years for unlawful assembly and two for religious disrespect.
Of the remaining defendants, one received a two-year sentence while the others received terms ranging from six to 28 years. Four of them, including a minor tried in a separate court, were convicted of charges including abetting murder. Two were convicted only on lesser counts. Mandalay Advocate General Ye Aung Myint confirmed the sentences.
"It's not fair!" shouted one of the convicted men shouted from inside a prison van as they were being driven away after the trial.
But members of a crowd of about 30 people outside the court house expressed unhappiness over the verdict for a different reason: They said they wished the death penalty had been applied against those who were convicted of killing the monk. Myanmar has the death penalty for premeditated murder, but the defendants were charged under a different murder category.
Thein Than Oo said he would await his clients' instructions on whether to appeal the verdicts.
The lynching of the Buddhist monk enflamed passions in Meikhtila, especially after photos circulated widely on social media of what was purported to be his body after he was pulled off a motorbike, attacked and burned. Monks are highly respected both for their religious devotion and as community leaders.
Entire Muslim neighborhoods were engulfed in flames, and charred bodies piled in the roads. The government declared a state of emergency and deployed the army to restore order, but the unrest later spread to other parts of central Myanmar.
In parliament in Monday, Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint gave the official figures for casualties and damage from March 20 to 28: 44 people killed, 90 injured, 1,818 houses, 27 mosques and 14 Islamic schools destroyed. He said 143 people were arrested in connection with the violence, out of which 47 have been formally charged. Parliament on Tuesday formally approved the state of emergency.
The gold shop owner and two employees, all Muslims, were sentenced in April to 14 years in prison each on charges of theft and causing grievous bodily harm.
Hsan Hsint did not break down arrests and charges by religion, but no major cases involving Buddhist suspects have been announced.
Asked why only Muslims have faced trial in Meikhtila, Ye Aung Myint, the advocate general, said the courts were starting with the initial incidents that triggered the violence, and those involved in later incidents would be tried subsequently.
"There is no discrimination in bringing justice. We dealt with the first two cases and 11 more cases involving Buddhists will be dealt with very soon," he said, adding that about 70 people will face charges for murder, arson and looting.
Thein Sein's administration, which came to power in 2011 after half a century of military rule, has been heavily criticized for not doing enough to protect Muslims or stop the violence from spreading since it began with clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya last year.
In a speech Monday at a university in Washington, Thein Sein vowed to ensure an end to the violence and justice for the perpetrators. He also called for a new era in U.S.-Myanmar relations.
Rights groups have criticized Thein Sein's U.S. visit, saying human rights injustices are still rampant in Myanmar despite progress made in freeing political prisoners, and in granting more freedom to political opponents and the media, among other changes.
U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights released a report Monday detailing a gruesome massacre carried out by Buddhist mobs who hunted down and killed at least 24 Muslim students and teachers from an Islamic school as Meikhtila descended into anarchy in March. The report, based on interviews with survivors, accuses state authorities and police of standing idly by while the killings were carried out.
Richard Sollom, the report's lead author, called for Thein Sein to support an independent investigation into the killings and speak out more forcefully against anti-Muslim violence.
___
AP writers Aye Aye Win in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, and Matthew Pennington and Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report.
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