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শনিবার, ২ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Putin submits election law condemned by opponents

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin has submitted legislation to change the way the Russian parliament is elected, a move he says will advance democracy but critics say is aimed at bolstering his United Russia party.

The bill calls for half of the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to be filled by voters choosing individual candidates in districts. Currently all seats are filled by voting for parties.

The legislation is expected to pass. The United Russia party, loyal to Putin, has a majority in parliament despite losing seats in the December 2011 election that set off the biggest protests of his 13-year rule.

Putin, who returned to the presidency for a six-year term last May and could run for re-election in 2018, pointed to the legislation as part of efforts to improve democracy in his state of the nation speech in December.

But opponents say the bill is aimed at ensuring United Russia wins as many seats as possible. The party is much less popular than Putin and had its reputation damaged by allegations of fraud in the 2011 election.

The next Duma election is to be held late in 2016.

Kremlin critics say the party-list system has become dangerous for United Russia, which won less than 50 percent of the vote in 2011.

They say the party and the Kremlin could use the levers of power they hold nationwide to win seats, through methods ranging from pressuring state employees to vote and backing wealthy businessmen with the cash to mount effective campaigns.

"Practically everything in this law is aimed at preserving the monopoly of the 'party of power'," the leader of liberal opposition party Yabloko, Sergei Mitrokhin, said in a comment posted on the party's website.

Sergei Udaltsov, an opposition leader who is under house arrest on charges of plotting unrest that he says are part of a Kremlin crackdown, criticized the bill on Twitter for its lack of a provision allowing the creation of electoral blocs, which would increase the ability of Kremlin opponents to win seats.

Igor Lebedev, a Duma deputy from Vladimir Zhirinovsky's LDPR party, called the bill "a step back" and told the daily Vedomosti he believed United Russia would seek to boost its Duma presence by naming popular figures such as athletes and actors as candidates in district races.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-submits-election-law-condemned-opponents-105357226.html

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'Skyfall' critics highlight 62 errors in movie

By Cody Delistraty, NBC News.com contributor

Even Roger Moore, a former James Bond himself, has called ?Skyfall,? the best ?Bond film?ever made. The 2012 movie?based on Ian Fleming?s debonair spy racked up five Oscar nominations and won two -- for best original song and best sound editing.

Yet like all films, it has a few flaws. The fellows over at Cinema Sins have been poking holes in big-time movies like ?The Hunger Games,? ?Avatar,? ?The Dark Knight Rises,? and now take on ?Skyfall" in a fun viral video.

The video is breezy, clocking in around 4 minutes, but the lighthearted mockery moves a mile a second.

The video pokes fun at the film's insistence that Bond could be shot off of a moving train, fall limply into the water below and somehow survive with minimal injuries. It also zeroes in on huh-I-didn't-notice-that-questions. When Bond is fighting for his life on top of that speeding train, the video asks, ?Why is there a random broken piece of chain just sitting atop this rapidly moving train car?? Um, it was in the script?

Francois Duhamel / AP

Oh, Mister Bond: Did you really survive that fall?

Some of the critiques are absolutely hilarious, asking viewers to think about the unbelievably in-depth evil plan of villain Silva (Javier Bardem). ?After the Joker and Loki this is the third stupidest get-yourself-captured-and-then-escape-with-no-real-other-objective plan I?ve ever heard of in my life," cracks the video's narrator.

Do you like to find goofs and ridiculous plots in films, or do you prefer not to question a movie? Tell us on Facebook.

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Husband and wife behind 'The Bible' miniseries

This publicity image released by History shows Roma Downey as Mother Mary in a scene from "The Bible," premiering Sunday, March 3 at 8 p.m. EST on History. (AP Photo/History, Casey Crawford)

This publicity image released by History shows Diogo Morcaldo as Jesus, right, in a scene from "The Bible," premiering Sunday, March 3 at 8 p.m. EST on History. (AP Photo/History, Joe Alblas)

This publicity image released by History shows Diogo Morcaldo as Jesus, center, being baptized by Daniel Percival, as John, in a scene from "The Bible," premiering Sunday, March 3 at 8 p.m. EST on History. (AP Photo/History, Joe Alblas)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Mark Burnett was taken aback by the scale of what his wife, actress Roma Downey, had in mind when she suggested over tea one morning four years ago that they make a television miniseries based on the Bible.

"Momentarily, I think he thought I'd lost my mind," Downey recalled. "He went out on his bicycle and he prayed on it and he came back and said, 'You know what, I think it's a good idea. I think we should do it together.' We shook hands and haven't looked back."

The series debuts on History Sunday at 8 p.m. EST, the first of five two-hour chunks that will air each weekend. The finale airs on Easter Sunday.

Different stories in the Bible have been Hollywood fodder for years. Burnett, the prolific producer behind "Survivor" and "The Voice," said no one had tried to tie it all together and use modern computer graphics to bring images like Moses parting the Red Sea to life on screen.

Instead of being all-encompassing, they tried to concentrate on stories in depth and on characters who would emotionally engage the audience. The first episode illustrates the wisdom of that approach: it flounders at the start with a discussion about the world's creation but becomes more gripping when the emphasis turns to the lives of Abraham and Moses.

Burnett said he believes there's a growing "Biblical illiteracy" among young people.

"It's like saying you never heard of Macbeth or King Lear," he said. "In school, you have to know a certain amount of Shakespeare, but no Bible. So there's got to be a way to look at it from a pure literature point of view. If it wasn't for the Bible, arguably Shakespeare wouldn't have written those stories."

Downey, the former star of "Touched By an Angel," said she wanted to be part of something that would glorify God.

After pitching their idea to several networks, Burnett and Downey found a fit with Nancy Dubuc, History's president and general manager. She likes the challenge of ideas that seem unwieldy. History made the 2010 miniseries "America the Story of Us," which was a big hit, and 2012's "Mankind the Story of All of Us," which wasn't. Last spring's miniseries on the Hatfields and McCoys was an eye-opening success.

Burnett and Downey have been building anticipation for "The Bible" by previewing it at churches and for religious leaders. Rick Warren, Joel Osteen and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, have all endorsed the work.

"The faith community is going to sample it, unquestionably," Dubuc said. "Whether they stay or go remains with the TV gods. Our job has been to present this as an epic tale of adventure."

History's own campaign is not targeting a religious audience, emphasizing some of the dramatic scenes to suggest that audiences won't be preached to. The screening that Downey and Burnett have sweated the most was when their teenage children showed it to some friends.

"We knew that we could make it heartfelt," Downey said. "We knew we could make it faithful. But we wanted to be sure that we could make it cool."

Downey spent nearly half of 2012 in Morocco supervising filming, beginning in the cold of February and ending in the blistering heat of July. "We wanted it to be gritty and authentic," she said. "We didn't want it to look like somebody had just stepped out of the dry cleaners."

Her husband flew back and forth to the United States, where he would work on his other programs. Downey said she initially had no intention of appearing onscreen, but stepped in when they had trouble casting an actress for an older Mary, mother of Jesus.

Except for Downey, few of the actors involved are well known in the United States. Portuguese TV star Diogo Morgado portrays Jesus Christ, and many of the other lead actors are based in Britain.

The television airing of "The Bible" on History is only the beginning for this project. Lifetime will air a repeat each week after a new episode appears on History. It will air internationally, and a DVD package will go on sale this spring. The series' scripts are bound together into a book. Producers will make a theatrical release movie of a portion of the story, and are looking at showing it in stadiums this fall. Burnett and Downey have also reached a deal to make parts of the film available as part of a religious education curriculum for churches.

"More people will watch this than any of our other series combined over the next three decades," Burnett said.

Even better, their marriage survived the grueling process intact ? even stronger, Downey said.

"Nobody has taken on the broad vision from Genesis to Revelation, and I think we probably realized at midpoint why no one had done it before," she said. "It was maddeningly complicated and extraordinarily hard work. We approached it humbly, but we were exhilarated by it."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org or on Twitter (at)dbauder.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-01-TV-The%20Bible/id-be652319e1164c5787477eb34b30bbec

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শুক্রবার, ১ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Premium Online Learning vs Traditional College ... - E-junkie.info

The rise of the online learning is swiftly changing the way people obtain a higher education. As students increasingly attend college online, people are awakening to the problems that exist in the traditional college system, and how the Internet could make getting a college education more accessible to people from all walks of life.

Ask a roomful of average college students about their experiences in today's university structure and you'll likely hear a barrage of complaints ? tuition costs are too high, the application process is too difficult, class lengths are too long and books are too expensive. Staff cutbacks, a lack of teacher aid, housing difficulties and transit distractions make obtaining a degree within traditional means difficult.

One of the biggest barriers to attending traditional brick-and-mortar institutions is the inability to set a class schedule that meets the demands of a student's work and family life. Compare this to the ease of creating a schedule that allows time for work and raising children that online colleges permit, and it's no surprise that traditional higher learning is seen as exclusive.

Traditional College ? Pros

The physical, face-to-face interaction with peers and faculty provides a rich, ?real life? experience and aids in the development of social skills and future business connections
Accreditation in one's chosen field is widely regulated, and a diploma or certification will hold weight outside of the classroom

Traditional College - Cons

Rising tuition costs prevent many from attending their first-choice school
Tuition loans create an enormous stress on students and the economy
The slow pace of the traditional education system is often at odds with cultural changes

Online College ? Pros

It's generally easier to enroll in an online degree program
Greater ability to choose courses that fit into a student?s existing ?real life? schedule
A wider variety of all-level courses is available
Web-enabled resources provide a multimedia experience for the student

Online College ? Cons

Less physical connection to peers and educators may lead to a decrease in valuable ?life? skills when entering the workforce
Fewer jobs available for educators due to automation in course delivery and distribution
Software technology still needs improvement

Online Learning and Accreditation

There is one large pitfall to online learning ? many courses offer no accreditation and do not count toward a degree. Many schools offer certificates of course completion but nothing more.

The good news is that colleges and universities are trying to remedy this by offering online students the necessary accreditation for their work. The New York Times reported that students taking online courses through Coursera, a startup providing online courses, will now receive college accreditation for five of its online college offerings by the American Council on Education, the leading umbrella group for higher education.

Other online education offerings are similarly gearing up their courses to enable students to receive accreditation as well; the online educational group Udacity has paired up with the state of California to begin offering a trial run of for-credit online courses and may expand it, depending on performance.

Is This the End of Brick-and-Mortar College?

In California, online education is rapidly moving forward, and with it may come some massive changes in the way higher education is bought and consumed. Gregory Ferenstein of TechCrunch.com believes these new trials of online colleges in California will help hasten the end of traditional college.

The end result, writes Ferenstein, is that "a few Ivy League universities (will) begin to control most of the online content, as universities all over the world converge toward the classes that produce the highest success rates. (In addition), learning on a college campus (will) return to its elite roots, where a much smaller percentage of students are personally mentored by research and expert faculty."

Online education has enabled access to a college education to those who may not have sought it otherwise. As this ever-shifting Internet education model grows, the traditional model in which students obtain their degree may fall by the wayside. How colleges and universities respond to this trend remains to be seen.

Author Bio:?
Murray Lunn is a freelance writer specialized in content marketing for online businesses; his work includes business blogging, product development, and brand development.

Source: http://www.e-junkie.info/2013/02/premium-online-learning-vs-traditional.html

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Reducing numbers of one carnivore species indirectly leads to extinction of others

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Previous studies have shown that carnivores can have indirect positive effects on each other, which means that when one species is lost, others could soon follow. A team from the University of Exeter and the University of Bern has now found that reducing the numbers of one species of carnivore can lead to the extinction of others.

Published online February 28, 2013 in the journal Ecology Letters, the study shows that simply reducing the population size of one carnivore can indirectly cause another similar species to become extinct. The research shows that changes in population size, as well as extinction, can create ripple effects across sensitive food webs with far-reaching consequences for many other animals.

The research shows that species could suffer just as much from harm to another species as from being under direct threat themselves. This adds weight to growing evidence that a 'single species' approach to conservation, for example in fisheries management, is misguided. Instead the focus needs to be holistic, encompassing species across an entire ecosystem.

The researchers assembled experimental ecosystems with three species of parasitic wasps, along with the three types of aphids on which each wasp exclusively feeds. They set up four sets of tanks each containing the three aphid and three wasp species and allowed the populations to establish for eight weeks. Over the next 14 weeks (seven insect generations) the researchers removed a proportion of the wasps from three of the sets of tanks every day -- one species from each set. The fourth set had no wasps removed.

The team found that the partial removal of one wasp species led indirectly to the extinction of other wasp species. In the absence of one wasp species, the aphid it preyed upon grew in numbers. All three species of aphid feed on the same plant so increased competition for food led to changes in sizes of the aphid populations. However no aphid species went extinct and so the indirect extinctions of the wasps were not the result of extinction of their prey. Rather, it is likely that the wasps that went extinct had difficulty searching for suitable prey among large numbers of unsuitable ones.

Lead researcher Dr Frank van Veen of the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation said: "We have shown that the complex ripple effect of a change in population size across food webs is more sensitive than previously thought and that a reduction in the numbers of one carnivore can lead to the extinction of another carnivore species. We also found evidence that the initial indirect extinction can itself trigger further ones, potentially leading to a cascade of extinctions, like dominoes toppling over."

"The insect system is handy for experimentation but the same principles apply to any ecosystem, from mammals in the Serengeti to the fish in our seas. It clearly shows that we should have an ecosystem-based approach to conservation and to the management of fish stocks and other natural resources."

The research team has recently been awarded a ?470K grant by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to extend this research at a larger scale.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Dirk Sanders, Louis Sutter and F. J. Frank van Veen. The loss of indirect interactions leads to cascading extinctions of carnivores. Ecology Letters, 28 FEB 2013 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12096

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/AkQXwA9-3CY/130228124144.htm

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U.S. agency says average cost of immigrant detention $119 per day

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government agency caught in a political firestorm for releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants from detention because of budget concerns said on Thursday the cost of holding someone was more than six times that of alternative supervision methods.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has been sharply criticized by some Republicans in Congress for releasing "several hundred" illegal immigrants ahead of mandatory "sequestration" cuts across the government that become effective on Friday.

Some Republican critics see the move as a political ploy by President Barack Obama's administration to try to increase public anxiety over the coming budget cuts.

ICE said it reviewed its detained population to ensure detention levels stayed within its current budget, and over the past week placed several hundred illegal immigrants under methods of supervision less costly than detention.

The current average daily cost of detention per person per day is $119, compared with 17 cents to $17.78 per person per day for alternate methods such as requiring scheduled visits with a caseworker or electronic monitoring, an ICE official told Reuters.

"Priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she wished the decision by ICE officials to release low-risk illegal immigrants from detention had not been done so suddenly.

"Do I wish that this all hadn't been done all of a sudden and so that people weren't surprised by it? Of course," Napolitano said in an interview with "ABC World News." ICE is under the Department of Homeland Security.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas, sent a letter this week demanding details about the release from ICE Director John Morton.

McCaul spoke with Morton on Thursday and received assurances the director would respond to his letter, and they plan to discuss the agency's answers in person, a committee aide said.

ICE has not publicly given the total number of immigrants released from detention in the past week because of budget concerns. But after a law enforcement official in Arizona said more than 500 were released there, ICE said the actual number of immigrants released was 303 since February 21 from four Arizona facilities and that 2,280 remained in custody in that state.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-agency-says-average-cost-immigrant-detention-119-004433431--business.html

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On video: SAfrican police drag man, who later dies

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man with his hands tethered to the back of a police vehicle being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man with his hands tethered behind a police vehicle and being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

In this still frame from TV and courtesy of South African Daily Sun newspaper, showing a South African man as he refuses to get into a police vehicle and seems to be tethered to the back of the vehicle before being dragged behind as police hold his legs up and the vehicle apparently drives off, east of Johannesburg Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. The man died of his injuries. In video filmed on a mobile phone, uniformed police are seen trying to subdue the man, then tethering him to the back of a police vehicle which drives off, watched by a large crowd. Moses Dlamini of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said early Thursday Feb. 28 2013 on ENCA TV network that his service has opened a murder probe. (AP Photo/The Daily Sun) TV OUT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? They bound his hands to the rear of a van, and then sped off, dragging the slender taxi driver along the pavement as a crowd of onlookers shouted in dismay. The man was later found dead.

A gut-wrenching video of the scene is all the more disturbing because the men who abused the Mozambican immigrant were uniformed South African police officers and the van was a marked police vehicle.

The graphic scenes of the victim struggling for his life shocked a nation long accustomed to reports of police violence.

"The visuals of the incident are horrific, disturbing and unacceptable. No human being should be treated in that manner," said South African President Jacob Zuma.

The Daily Sun, a South African newspaper, posted video the footage Thursday and it was quickly picked up by other South African news outlets and carried on the Internet. It sparked immediate outrage about police behavior.

"They are there for safety, but we as a people fear them more," said Johannesburg resident Alfonso Adams. "You don't know who to trust anymore."

Some of those in the crowd who watched the scene unfold in the Daveyton township east of Johannesburg shouted at the police and warned that it was being videotaped. The police did not seem at all concerned by all the witnesses and the presence of cameras as they tied Mido Macia, a 27-year-old from neighboring Mozambique, to the back of a police vehicle, his hands behind his head. At least three policemen participated in the incident. Macia was found dead in a Daveyton police cell late Tuesday.

"We are going to film this," several onlookers shouted in Zulu as the police tormented Macia. One bystander can be heard on the videotape shouting in Zulu: "What has this guy done?"

The video can be seen at: http://bit.ly/ZDOj0A

A murder probe is underway on the evidence that Macia suffered head and upper abdomen injuries, including internal bleeding, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the police watchdog agency, said Thursday. The injuries could be from the dragging and he could also have been beaten later in police custody.

"The allegations are that he was dragged behind a vehicle and his head was bent on the police vehicle. There are also allegations of assault," said the investigative unit's spokesman Moses Dlamini.

The video evidence of the abuse renewed concerns about brutality, corruption and other misconduct by a national police force whose reputation has suffered in recent years amid reports that many officers lack training. Some have been charged with committing the crimes they are supposed to prevent, including rape and murder.

"As horrific as it is, it is not exceptional. Hardly a week goes by without such stories of brutality," said Jacob van Garderen, national director of Lawyers for Human Rights.

At first, Macia, dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt, is dragged along the road by the vehicle at slow speed, the footage shows. He awkwardly tries to keep step even though he is almost horizontal above the ground. Then the van stops, two policemen pick up the legs of the taxi driver and drop them to the ground as the van picks up speed and drives off, beyond the view of the camera.

The police watchdog agency said the incident started just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday when the cab driver was allegedly obstructing traffic with his vehicle. Then Macia allegedly assaulted a constable and took his weapon before he was overpowered, the police investigative unit said.

Macia was found dead in a cell over two hours later by another policeman, according to the watchdog agency.

National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega "strongly condemned" what happened. South Africans are "urged to remain vigilant and continue to report all acts of crime irrespective of who is involved," said Phiyega in a statement.

Phiyega has tried to upgrade the reputation of the South African police since her appointment last year. Last month, Phiyega told a group of police officials the standing of the force "has been severely but not irreparably tarnished over the past several years."

The problems, though, are immense for a police force that has expanded from some 120,000 to almost 200,000 over the last decade, "often failing to match the increase in quantity with sufficient quality," said Johan Burger, who served for 36 years on the force before becoming a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

Several experts contacted by The Associated Press also said that in recent years there has been an increasing willingness to use a shoot-to-kill approach to the crime and violence.

An average of 860 people a year died in police custody or as a result of police action between 2009 and 2010, up from 695 a year from 2003 to 2008, according to Burger of the security studies institute.

Further staining the reputation of the police is the Marikana shootings when, on Aug. 16, 2012, a line of South African police opened fire on a crowd of striking miners, killing 34 at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg. A judicial commission is investigating allegations that many were killed in a rocky hill, near the much-filmed initial scene of the attack, shot in the back as they tried to escape.

---

Associated Press Writer Michelle Faul contributed to this story.