Timeline: The long path to a Dell buyout

By Poornima Gupta and Greg Roumeliotis

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc founder Michael Dell's efforts to take the PC company private began last summer with an idea pitched by its top institutional shareholder, Southeastern Asset Management.

Here is a timeline of the discussions as disclosed on Friday in Dell's preliminary proxy statement:

June 15, 2012 -- Southeastern Asset Management, which owns 146.5 million shares or about 8.4 percent of Dell, contacts CEO Michael Dell to suggest "a going private transaction" and expresses the fund's interest in participating in it.

July 17 -- Michael Dell meets a representative of private equity firm Silver Lake Partners at a conference and they set up discussions in August. In these talks, Silver Lake suggests to Dell's founder he should take the company private.

August 11, 13 -- Michael Dell meets with a representative of another private equity firm, identified in the proxy only as "Sponsor A," to ask what it thought of such a transaction. Sources told Reuters Sponsor A is private equity firm KKR & Co LP. KKR declined to comment.

August 14 -- Michael Dell informs board member and lead independent director Alex Mandl that he is exploring a buyout but says he has made no decision.

August 17 -- The board has a teleconference during which Michael Dell briefs them on the take-private idea and discussions surrounding it. The board decides to consider a potential transaction and other strategic alternatives.

August 20 -- The board forms a special committee consisting of Mandl, former co-director of Goldman Sachs' Americas equity research unit Laura Conigliaro, Marathon Oil Chief Financial Officer Janet Clark and consulting firm Duberstein Group CEO Kenneth Duberstein. Mandl is subsequently appointed chairman of the special committee.

August 21 -- Dell reports weak second fiscal quarter results. Revenue of $14.5 billion was about $300 million less than what management had expected. The company lowers fiscal 2013 outlook.

August 24 to 29 -- Mandl holds discussions with investment bankers JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc to select a financial advisor. JPMorgan is retained.

September 14 -- JPMorgan tells the special committee it has identified other financial sponsors as potential buyers but notes that Silver Lake and KKR are best placed as each could complete a transaction with significant committed equity.

October 23 -- Silver Lake and KKR submit preliminary proposals to acquire Dell. Silver Lake's purchase price is between $11.22 and $12.16 per share, and KKR's purchase price is between $12 and $13 per share. Both assume Michael Dell would participate in the deal. KKR also assumes Southeastern would participate.

October 27 - The special committee discusses with Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden potential strategic alternatives such as returning capital to shareholders through a leveraged recapitalization, accelerating the company's current plan, a transformative acquisition and separating certain businesses.

November 2 -- JPMorgan informs Silver Lake and KKR the special committee is not happy with the price ranges.

November 12 -- Dell hires Boston Consulting Group to review strategic alternatives.

Dec 3 -- KKR withdraws from the process, mainly because it is not comfortable with the risks associated with Dell.

December 4 -- Silver Lake submits an updated proposal to acquire Dell for $12.70 per share.

December 7 -- Mandl invites another firm, identified in the proxy only as "Sponsor B," to consider making a proposal. A source told Reuters Sponsor B is private equity firm TPG Capital LP. TPG did not respond to a request for comment.

December 10 -- Mandl informs Silver Lake its offer price is too low. Silver Lake seeks permission to involve Microsoft Corp, from which it intended to seek financing.

December 14-16 -- The company enters into confidentiality agreements with debt financing sources of Silver Lake: RBC Capital Markets, Credit Suisse Securities, Barclays Capital, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

December 17 -- Michael Dell meets with senior representatives of TPG to discuss a potential proposal.

December 23 -- TPG informs it is withdrawing from the process, primarily due to "risks and uncertainties in the PC business."

January 16, 2013 -- Silver Lake submits another proposal to acquire Dell for $12.90 per share.

January 19 -- Mandl tells Michael Dell the special committee is willing to support a transaction at a price of $13.75 per share. Michael Dell then discusses it with Silver Lake, which later proposes a price of $13.25 per share.

January 20 -- Silver Lake informs Dell it is willing to increase its offer price to $13.50 per share.

January 24 -- Silver Lake increases its offer to $13.60 per share.

January 24 -- A party identified as "Strategic Party A" expresses interest in purchasing Dell's financial business for about $3.5 billion to $4 billion. Blackstone Group LP also expresses interest in exploring a transaction. It could not be confirmed whether Strategic Party A IS General Electric Co, which sources previously said had been approached by Blackstone. GE has previously declined comment.

January 29 -- Southeastern informs special committee it would oppose any deal in the range of $14 or $15 per share that did not provide existing large stockholders with an opportunity to participate.

Michael Dell and Silver Lake say they are not interested in pursuing a deal in which any public stockholders would retain an interest.

February 3 -- Silver Lake submits a revised proposal, offering $13.60 per share if the company continues paying its regular dividend, or $13.75 per share if the company stops paying dividends.

February 4 -- Silver Lake ups its offer to $13.65 per share, with the Dell allowed to carry on paying its regular dividend.

Special committee recommends accepting Silver Lake's proposal.

February 5 -- A deal with Silver Lake is announced and a 45-day period starts to uncover other offers. Dell contacts 67 parties, including 19 strategic parties, 18 financial sponsors and 30 others such as sovereign wealth funds. Unsolicited inquiries are also received from four parties, including two strategic and two financial sponsors.

March 5 -- Activist investor Carl Icahn sends a letter to Dell's board stating he is a substantial holder of shares. Icahn later reveals he has $1 billion worth of Dell shares.

March 21 -- Dell advisor Evercore receives an indication of interest from Strategic Party A for a proposed acquisition of Dell's finance business.

March 22 -- Blackstone and Icahn Enterprises send proposals to the special committee. Blackstone, which teamed up with Francisco and Insight Venture partners, offers in excess of $14.25 per share for the whole company, while Icahn offers about $15 per share for 58 percent. Under both proposals, Dell would remain a public company.

March 25 -- Dell releases 274-page preliminary proxy statement on its buyout negotiations.

Sources: Dell's proxy statement, Reuters

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta in San Francisco and Greg Roumeliotis in New York)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/timeline-long-path-dell-buyout-014513138--sector.html

Breaking Amish Indianapolis explosion jay cutler applebees jeff gordon veterans day mike brown

How much could the cheapest car insurance be for a length of ...

I am planning to by a car and I wanna get my finances together. Knowing fully well that getting a car is one thing and insuring it is another, I wanna find out how much the cheapest car insurance could be for a 6months period.

It depends on the vehicle, year, make, and model. It depends if you have full coverage or liability insurance as well. Best idea would be to start looking at what kind of car you would like to buy, and start calling around to insurance companies to see who gives you the best deal. Progressive is really good, that?s who I have.

Just a suggestion: Make sure you have uninsured motorist coverage as well. Even if you are in someone else?s vehicle, if they don?t have coverage, you yourself are still covered. It saved my butt when I broke my neck in someone else?s car. They didn?t have insurance, and I was able to get all of my medical bills paid because I had the coverage.

Source: http://www.bid4insurance.com/cheap-car-insurance/how-much-could-the-cheapest-car-insurance-be-for-a-length-of-6months

Fiesta Bowl Jeanie Buss NFL playoff schedule 2013 Bronson Pelletier andy reid redskins sugar bowl

Kicking Off Our Flip Off - Meet The "TechCrunch Weekly" Magazine On Flipboard

Flipboard this week?announced a new version of its app that allows anyone to make a “Magazine,” which is a curated collection of stories based on any topic that you can think of. The company has shared that over 100,000 magazines have been created since the feature launched. We’ve decided to put together our own magazine called “TechCrunch Weekly,” which will be full of the best TechCrunch stories from the past week, refreshed every Friday afternoon. As you know, our staff works hard to write about every technology topic imaginable, and it’s hard to keep up with all of it. Along with the really great “flipping” experience of Flipboard on mobile devices, using the app is one of the best ways to catch up on news that you missed because you were checking Facebook working, or to give yourself a chance to re-read something that you only skimmed the first time. Just to give you an idea of what you’ll find in this week’s edition, there’s possibly a Facebook Android OS coming out, Bitcoin’s worth a billion, Google Glass explorers got the boot, BlackBerry did things wrong, OUYA is a real product and paying for things with fingerprints is a thing. We’ll also be sharing some of our more interesting guest posts from the weekend. That’s a pretty full week of news, and now you can sit back, relax and flip through all of the stories with Flipboard and TechCrunch Weekly on your iOS or Android device. Click or tap here to check it out, or search for TechCrunch on Flipboard. Under the main navigation up top, find the magazine, subscribe, read and wait for a new edition to show up with new content every Friday afternoon. This is the future of publishing and it’s fun to be involved.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/phBWG7gvDoc/

snowy owl one for the money 10 minute trainer sarah burke death etta james funeral erin brockovich dodgeball

Sound cloaks enter the third dimension

Concept could lead to sonar-defeating submarines or noise-cancelling highway barriers

Concept could lead to sonar-defeating submarines or noise-cancelling highway barriers

By Andrew Grant

Web edition: March 29, 2013

Enlarge

Hidden From Sound

A cagelike cloak surrounds a plastic sphere in an echo-free chamber. The cloak shielded the sphere from detection at a particular sound frequency, the first time a three-dimensional object has been cloaked from sound waves.

Credit: L. Sanchis et al

A simple plastic shell has cloaked a three-dimensional object from sound waves for the first time. With some improvements, a similar cloak could eventually be used to reduce noise pollution and to allow ships and submarines to evade enemy detection. The experiments appear March 20 in Physical Review Letters.

?This paper implements a simplified version of invisibility using well-designed but relatively simple materials,? says Steven Cummer, an electrical engineer at Duke University, who was not involved in the study. Cummer proposed the concept of a sound cloak in 2007.

Scientists? recent efforts to render objects invisible to the eye are based on the fact that our perception of the world depends on the scattering of waves. We can see objects because waves of light strike them and scatter. Similarly, the Navy can detect faraway submarines because they scatter sound waves (sonar) that hit them.

So for the last several years scientists have been developing cloaks that prevent scattering by steering light or sound waves around an object. The drawback of this approach, however, is that it requires complex synthetic materials that are difficult to produce.

Jos? S?nchez-Dehesa, an electrical engineer at the Polytechnic Institute of Valencia in Spain, and his colleagues pursued a different method: Instead of preventing sound waves from hitting an object ? in this case an 8-centimeter plastic sphere ? they built a cloak to eliminate the scattered waves left in the sphere?s wake.

Using computer algorithms, the researchers came up with a design made up of 60 rings of various sizes that form a cagelike structure around the sphere. Simulations indicated that sound waves scattering off the sphere and the ringed cloak would interfere with each other and cancel out. (Noise-cancelling headphones exploit this phenomenon by emitting sound waves that minimize ambient sounds in a room.)

Because the cloak did not need to steer sound waves in complicated ways, S?nchez-Dehesa and his team built it out of plastic with the help of a 3-D printer. ?They hung their creation from the ceiling of an echo-free chamber, pointed a speaker at it and played a range of sound frequencies. For most frequencies, the sphere scattered an easily detectable amount of sound. But at 8.55 kilohertz ? an audible high pitch ? the cloaked sphere became imperceptible to the sensors behind it.

The study marks the first time scientists have ever cloaked a three-dimensional object from sound. That?s probably music to the ears of the U.S. Office of Naval Research, which partially funded the study to explore the possibility of sonar invisibility.

However, this cloak is just a small step toward stealth submarines. It has to be custom designed and built for each object, and it works only for a narrow frequency range coming from one direction. If the speaker had been set up anywhere else, the cloak would not have worked. S?nchez-Dehesa?s team plans to develop broadband and multidirectional cloaks.

But Cummer points out that even a limited cloak can have useful applications. He suggests that structures capable of manipulating a specific sound frequency from one direction could help minimize noise pollution from a congested highway. ?The cloak does one thing quite well, with a very simple structure,? he says.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349255/title/Sound_cloaks_enter_the_third_dimension

mary louise parker cher morgellons nhl all star draft seal team 6 touch nitrous oxide

This TV stinks. No, really!

Once upon 1981, John Waters tried to engage his cult-ish fans with a scratch-and-sniff "Odorama" card to complement the film Polyester. This TV is not that -- in fact, it's a decidedly higher-tech approach to true Smell-O-Vision. Devised by a team of Japanese researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and demoed in prototype form at IEEE's Virtual Reality conference, the set uses four corner-mounted fans to break the fourth wall and create an immersive olfactory experience. By merging and adjusting vapors fed through these four airflows, the team can somewhat realistically trick viewers into believing the scent is coming from localized areas of the screen. We can just hear parents of the future now: "Stop sitting so close to the screen, Johnny. You're gonna pass out from the fumes." Ah, the future...

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Science

Comments

Via: New Scientist

Source: PubMed, IEEE

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/vP9Tk5L7ZBY/

million hoodie march tebow trade mike the situation jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars benjarvus green ellis shaka smart

Shiri Appleby Welcomes Daughter Natalie Bouader

The actress welcomed a daughter on Saturday, March 23, PEOPLE confirms.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/at_Pv4PrqZI/

breaking dawn part 2 trailer mississippi state chris carpenter chris carpenter dick cheney hcg drops reason rally

Calm Down, No One's Getting Fired Because Of FireMe!, New Site That Exposes People Tweeting Horrible Things About Their Jobs

Anytime there's a lull in our outrage over the public nature of social media, a new site shows up to again demonstrate its dangers. Like clockwork, the latest to play on users' fears is FireMe!, a website that tracks when people are saying inappropriate things about their jobs on Twitter, including their hatred for their boss, their desire to murder said bosses or co-workers, and even those making comments about "sexual intercourse," in relation to their jobs.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Q6xTk7DuUEM/

carlos santana dodgers triple play baa samoyed kenny powers kenny powers carl hagelin

7 Things I Was Baffled By When I Started Online

I?d like to share some of the problems that prevented me making any money whatsoever for around 7-8 months after I began online almost exactly 3 years ago. I?ll also explain how I overcame them by giving some recommendations for each.

It?s quite interesting for me to see how my thinking and understanding of how to start and build a successful web business has changed over time.

But more importantly I hope you?ll be able to get a lot out of this because from talking to others I?ve learned that most people face the same challenges that I?ve experienced.

Let?s dive in with 7 things I was baffled by when I started out:?

1. How To Create Web Pages

Like all of us I visited lots of different websites on a daily basis but I really didn?t understand how to replicate them. Do you have to learn web design and HTML and get involved in the technical side of things?

Luckily, I was introduced to WordPress pretty early on. Although I have built a few pages in other systems (such as the free HTML editor Kompozer) I really never looked back.

What began as a blogging platform has now developed into a fully fledged content management system (CMS) for websites and for running a home business, there are very few cases when it makes sense to not use WordPress.

My Recommendation: If you don?t know WordPress. Learn it. Just create a simple personal blog and get acquainted. It?s time very well spent.

2. How To Get Traffic

I thought the only options were SEO (ranking your web pages high in Google) or Adwords (Google Paid ads).

Like most newcomers I didn?t want to risk any money so I went down the SEO path.

The trouble was by 2010 SEO was already becoming harder, more long term and increasingly uncertain. This didn?t stop me spending a small fortune on SEO software and training courses which resulted in virtually no revenue whatsoever.

My Recommendation: Traffic is a KEY element in your online success. So invest some time in learning about it. There are countless ways to promote your websites and many of them have been discussed on this blog (here and here?for example). Also, although I wouldn?t completely ignore SEO, I also highly recommend you don?t rely on it. Less than 10% of my traffic comes from SEO ? quite honestly I wouldn?t bother with it much at all!

3. Why The Websites Of Successful Marketers Didn?t Look Like Mine

During my ?SEO phase? I followed several ?gurus? who were very keen to tell me (and sell me) strategies which could rank my websites high in Google. Most of these involved setting up blogs, choosing the keywords, meta tags, headlines, H1 tags correctly and building backlinks to my site.

So how come when I visited these gurus? sites they had none of these things? I remember checking the backlinks and wondering why there weren?t any? How could they be making money if they didn?t seem to do the things they were telling me to do?

Also, a lot of their websites just had places for your name and email address (what I later learnt were called ?squeeze pages?) and had no content on them at all. Google wouldn?t rank these surely so I was baffled.

I was very na?ve really. But it just goes to show if you don?t know something then you just don?t know.

Of course, the reality was the the gurus were using joint ventures (JVs), affiliates and paid traffic to promote their websites. As silly as it might sound it really took me about 10 months to fully recognize this.

My Recommendation: Always ask yourself, ?Are the strategies that this person is teaching me what they actually use to make money themselves??. You can?t always be sure but being aware of this question really helps!

4. Who To Trust

A biggy.

As with any business ? online or offline ? there are scams and people who just want your money. In the internet marketing area there are definitely these kinds of people but also many very genuine businesses and marketers who provide solid products and services which can help you.

My Recommendation: Rather than expand on this here I will refer to a previous post where we covered this issue in detail.

5. Which Niche To Go Into

Again, usually a problem most of us have, especially at the early stage of our business.

This is partly related to ?I?m not an expert in anything? thinking but also because there are literally SO many different niches that it can become difficult to decide!

What I did was go into lots of niches. I don?t recommend this because you end up juggling so many balls that you can?t give the attention each niche deserves.

My Recommendation: Brainstorm niches you are interested in, check for sufficient audience size and profitability. Then pick one and go with it. Later on you can (as I have done) expand it more than one niche but that?s when you?ll have the experience of setting them up and promoting them. Also, understand you don?t need to be an expert: 1) You can learn, 2) You can get another expert to help (e.g., by interviewing them), 3) Many products (e.g., software) don?t rely on you being an expert at all.

6. How Can I Keep Up With The Information Coming At Me

Yes, the old information overload problem here!

What I specifically referring to though is the emails that I received as a result of signing up to people?s lists.

This distraction can manifest in at least 2 ways: 1) You are reading emails instead of implementing and taking action, 2) You get mixed messages and conflicting information which stops you taking action on your current plans by introducing doubt and shiny object syndrome.

My Recommendation: Unsubscribe from any list which just promotes things all the time. Follow the people you trust (or at worst think you trust!) ? see above for tips on this. Pick one project and stick with it, emotionally detach (as best you can) and work on your business (imagine you are consulting on someone else?s business which helps) instead of in your business.

7. Sales Funnels

Again I?m admitting naivety here but after coming online I really didn?t understand the importance of having a funnel or even what one was!

Basically, the sales funnel is process people go through after they go up the ?on ramp? into your business.

For example, they might sign up at for your squeeze page, get offered a promotion on the thank you page, receive email follow ups which offer free content and promotions which increase in price and value.

My recommendation: Be aware all the time of sales funnels and every time you purchase something or sign up for something watch what happens and take notes. I actually have a Word files called ?Other Marketers Swipe? which I take notes on what I see from my journeys around the internet in different niches.

3 Final Tips

Overall, If I could go back in time and speak to myself when I started out I?d give this advice:

• Focus soley on building a list of subscribers in a profitable niche that you are interested in
• Go to live events and meetups
• Invest some time and money in solid training from people who have achieved what you want to achieve

If you can relate to any of my experiences I?ve described in this post then this is the same advice I?d give to you. Regardless of your history and where you are right now with your business the PERFECT time is NOW!

What things have baffled you in terms on setting up a successful web business? Please LIKE/TWEET if you enjoyed this and start some discussion by dropping a comment below. Cheers, Rob.

0

Source: http://www.gainhigherground.com/7-things-i-was-baffled-by-when-i-started-online/

st. joseph puerto rico primary manning peyton florida state meghan mccain wilson chandler

Afghanistan car bomb injures British troops, underscores transition hurdles (+video)

On the heels of Secretary of State Kerry's surprise visit to Afghanistan, two separate attacks injured at least 15 Afghans. The Taliban claimed responsibility for one.

By Ryan Lenora Brown,?Correspondent / March 26, 2013

An Afghan National Army soldier and US forces arrive to the scene after eight suicide bombers attacked a police headquarters in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Tuesday, killing five police officers and wounding four others, a security official said.

Rahmat Gul/AP

Enlarge

As Secretary of State John Kerry met with President Hamid Karzai and oversaw the symbolic handoff of a major military prison on a surprise visit to Afghanistan this week, a suicide bombing killed five police officers in the eastern city of Jalalabad Tuesday.

Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora Brown

Correspondent

Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?

Recent posts

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

On Monday Afghanistan took full control of Bagram prison from the United States, healing one running sore in their testy relationship as US-led forces wind down more than a decade of war.

The Taliban quickly?claimed responsibility for today?s attack, which also injured at least five Afghans at the police headquarters in the provincial capital, according to the Associated Press. ?In a separate incident today a car bomb blast injured at least 10 British troops?on a patrol base in Helmand Province, according to the Guardian.?

The timing of the violence highlights the major security challenges that remain as the United States attempts to wind down a decade of intensive military presence in the country and hand control to the Afghans.

The attacks came just hours after Secretary Kerry and President Karzai held a rosy news conference in Kabul on the state of US-Afghan relations, which have undergone particular strain in recent weeks after?Karzai accused the US?of working with the Taliban to deliberately keep the country weak.

(For more on the costs of the US war effort, read about the $610 million late fee Washington is currently paying on shipping containers it rented to ship home military equipment.)?

But during his trip, Kerry?was glowing in his appraisal of Karzai, declaring that he and the president were ?on the same page? when it came to Afghan security and reconciliation.

"I am confident the president [Karzai] does not believe the US has any interest except to see the Taliban come to the table to make peace and that we are completely cooperative with the government of Afghanistan with respect to the protection of their efforts and their people," Kerry told reporters.

Monday?s meeting was a pivot from the prickly interaction between Karzai and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Mr. Hagel?s own trip to the country earlier this month. During that visit, Hagel and Karzai abruptly called off a joint press conference after tense closed-door negotiations failed to yield progress on key diplomatic questions, including the transfer of a key US-controlled prison to Afghan hands.

The American military formally ceded control of all but a ?small number? of prisoners in that facility, known as Bagram Prison, to the Afghans during Kerry?s visit Monday.

This marks the formal completion of a transfer of 4,000 Bagram prisoners that began a year ago, but hit several snags over perceived security threats. The US military, however, will continue to hold in its custody around 50 high-level foreign prisoners considered ?enduring security threats,? along with hundreds of Afghans arrested since the initial transfer deal was authorized last March,?reports Russia Today.

Despite its limitations, however, the transfer has potent symbolic value for Afghanistan,?writes The New York Times.

Bagram Prison was the most flagrant symbol of Mr. Karzai?s lack of control. Americans detained several thousand Afghans there, and Mr. Karzai had no power to release them. His effort to wrest the prison from the Americans began in earnest more than year ago, and?nearly succeeded?at least twice, most recently two weeks ago, a day before Mr. Hagel?s first visit.

Each time, American military commanders backed out because of worries that the Afghans might release Taliban prisoners, who would return to the battlefield and endanger American soldiers. This time, despite those concerns, the transfer went forward.

?It?s about a shift that?s going on in how the U.S. is looking at what?s important,? said one American official knowledgeable about detention issues. ?We have to look at the larger picture: What?s the U.S. strategic interest here???

Kerry rounded out his visit Tuesday by?meeting with democracy activists and female entrepreneurs?at the American Embassy in Kabul. There, he traded headers with the captain of the Afghan women?s national soccer team and lauded civic leaders preparing for the 2014 elections, according to the Associated Press.?

"You're engaged in a remarkable effort and the whole world is watching," Kerry said.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/OGbc36zzMNA/Afghanistan-car-bomb-injures-British-troops-underscores-transition-hurdles-video

Richard III Superbowl Commercials 2013 irs Grammy nominations 2013 Lynsi Torres Fall Out Boy Alabama hostage

Iterate 43: Pocket Casts and going Android first

Russell Ivanovic, Philip Simpson, and Matt Kelsh of Shifty Jelly talk to Marc, Seth, and Rene about being indie in Australia, making Pocket Weather, and why they decided to go Android first for Pocket Casts. Note: All accents in this show are, we assume, fake.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe via RSS
• Download Directly

Show notes

• Pocket Weather Australia
• Pocket Casts for Android
• Why Android first?

Guests

• Russell Ivanovic of of Shifty Jelly
• Philip Simpson of Shifty Jelly
• Matt Kelsh of of Shifty Jelly

Hosts

• Marc Edwards of Bjango
• Seth Clifford of Nickelfish
• Rene Ritchie of iMore.com

Feedback

Yell at us on Twitter via the above accounts. Loudly.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/OM9w2dtXiGk/story01.htm

the patriot hall of fame occupy dc ufc 143 fight card my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle

Student loan interest doubles in July due to Congressional inaction

The rate for subsidized Stafford?loans?is set to increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, due to Congressional inaction, just as millions of new college?students?start signing up for fall courses.

By Philip Elliott,?Associated Press / March 29, 2013

College student Frangy Pozo holds a banner at a 'Tear Up Your Debt' demonstration, during which students tear up mock tuition bills and loan papers to protest rising student loan debt, in Oct., in New Brunswick, N.J.

The Record/AP

Enlarge

Congressional inaction could end up costing college?students?an extra $5,000 on their new?loans.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

The rate for subsidized Stafford?loans?is set to increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, just as millions of new college?students?start signing up for fall courses. The difference between the two rates adds up to $6 billion.

Just a year ago, lawmakers faced a similar deadline and dodged the rate increase amid the heated presidential campaign between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. But that was with the White House up for grabs and before Washington was consumed by budget standoffs that now seem routine.

"What is definitely clear, this time around, there doesn't seem to be as much outcry," said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of?Student?Financial Aid Administrators. "We're advising our members to tell?students?that the?interest?rates are going to?double?on new?student?loans, to 6.8 percent."

The new rates apply only to those who take new subsidized?loans.?Students?with outstanding subsidized?loansare not expected to see their?loan?rates increase unless they take out a new subsidized Stafford?loan.Students' nonsubsidized?loans?are not expected to change, nor are?loans?from commercial lenders.

But it translates to real money for incoming college freshmen who could end up paying back $5,000 more for the same maxed-out?student?loans?their older siblings have.

House Education Committee Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., and the committee's senior Democrat, George Miller of California, prefer to keep rates at their current levels but have not outlined how they might accomplish that goal. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., last week introduced a proposal that would permanently cap the?interest?rate at 3.4 percent.

Adding another perspective to the debate, Obama will release his budget proposal on April 10.

Neither party's budget proposal in Congress has money specifically set aside to keep?student?loans?at their current rate. The House Republicans' budget would?double?the?interest?rates on newly issued subsidized?loansto help balance the federal budget in a decade. Senate Democrats say they want to keep the?interest?rates at their current levels, but the budget they passed last week does not set aside money to keep the rates low.

In any event, neither side is likely to get what it wants. And that could lead to confusion for?students?as they receive their college admission letters and financial aid packages.

"Two ideas ... have been introduced so far ? neither of which is likely to go very far," said Terry Hartle, the top lobbyist for colleges at the American Council on Education.

House Republicans, led by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have outlined a spending plan that would shift the?interest?rates back to their pre-2008 levels. Congress in 2007 lowered the rate to 6 percent for new?loans?started during the 2008 academic year, then down to 5.6 percent in 2009, to 4.5 percent in 2010 and then to the current 3.4 percent a year later.

Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., say their budget proposal would permanently keep thestudent?rates low. But their budget document doesn't explicitly cover the $6 billion annual cost. Instead, its committee report included a window for the Senate Health, Education and Pension Committee to pass astudent?loan-rate fix down the road.

But so far, the money isn't there. And if the committee wants to keep the rates where they are, they will have to find a way to pay for them, either through cuts to programs in the budget or by adding new taxes.

"Spending is measured in numbers, not words," said Jason Delisle, a former Republican staffer on the Senate Budget Committee and now director of the New America Foundation's Federal Budget Project. "The Murray budget does not include funding for any changes to?student?loans."

Some two-thirds of?students?are graduating with?loans?exceeding $25,000; 1 in 10 borrowers owes more than $54,000 in?loans. And student-loan debt now tops $1 trillion. For those?students, the rates make significant differences in how much they have to pay back each month.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that of the almost $113 billion in new?student?loans?the government made this year, more than $38 billion will be lost to defaults, even after Washington collects what it can through wage garnishments.

The net cost to taxpayers after most?students?pay back their?loans?with?interest?is $5.7 billion. If the rate increases, Washington will be collecting more?interest?from new?students'?loans.

For some, though, the?interest?rates seem arbitrary and have little to do with?interest?rates available for other purchases such as homes or cars.

"Burdening?students?with 6.8 percent?loans?when?interest?rates in the economy are at historic lows makes no sense," said Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access and Success.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/VP71IeRiz3I/Student-loan-interest-doubles-in-July-due-to-Congressional-inaction

alec time 100 bob beckel anna paquin warren buffett 2012 nfl schedule dishonored

2 men plead not guilty in Chicago teen's death

CHICAGO (AP) ? Two men pleaded not guilty Thursday ? one to 141 counts of first-degree murder ? in the shooting death of a 15-year-old Chicago girl who performed at President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities days before she died.

Both Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and a long list of other charges in Hadiya Pendleton's death.

She was shot Jan. 29 after she and her friends sought shelter from the rain in a city park. Ward and Williams had been hunting for rival gang members and Pendleton was an innocent bystander, prosecutors say.

Her killing about a mile from Obama's home on Chicago's South Side made national news and became a symbol of movements to end gun violence. Michelle Obama attended her funeral.

Ward was the one charged with 141 murder counts. His attorney, Jeff Granich, said in a phone interview Thursday he has never heard of a case of a single murder with anything close to that number of counts.

The high-profile nature of the case, he said, appears to have led prosecutors to pile on the charges.

"I know prosecutors want to show they're taking this case seriously," he said. "But the 141 counts have the opposite result: Instead of looking professional and serious, they look silly and dumb."

Some of the attempted murder counts and other charges relate to Pendleton's friends who were in the park with her. But Granich said he still couldn't fathom how prosecutors ended up with so many counts.

Contacted later Thursday, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office declined any comment.

In addition to the 141 murder counts, Ward is also charged with 10 counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, eight counts of attempted murder, two of aggravated battery with a firearm and one of mob action.

Williams is charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, two counts of attempted murder, two of aggravated battery with a firearm and one of mob action.

Williams' lawyer, Matthew McQuaid, told reporters his client intends to go to trial.

"He didn't do this," he said.

The girl's father, Nathaniel Pendleton, also attended the hearing and told reporters afterward that he felt some anger seeing the suspects ? though he said his focus was on advocating nonviolence.

"You're going to feel some anger, but I feel confident they (authorities) will do what they have to do to make justice happen," he said.

Ward and Williams, who remain in jail without bail, are due in court again for a status hearing May 6.

___

Follow Michael Tarm at http://www.twitter.com/mtarm .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-men-plead-not-guilty-chicago-teens-death-170839828.html

chris stewart evo 4g lte marlins new stadium arnold palmer augusta national blake griffin pau gasol

What attracts people to violent movies?

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Why are audiences attracted to bloodshed, gore and violence? A recent study from researchers at the University of Augsburg, Germany and the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that people are more likely to watch movies with gory scenes of violence if they felt there was meaning in confronting violent aspects of real life.

Anne Bartsch, University of Augsburg, Germany and Louise Mares, University of Wisconsin-Madison, will present their findings at the 63rd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association. Their study examined whether these serious, contemplative, and truth-seeking motivations for exposure to violent portrayals are more than just an intellectual pleasure. They invited a large binational sample from Germany and the US (total of 482 participants), ranging in age from 18-82, and with varying levels of education. Participants viewed film trailers featuring different levels of gore and meaningfulness, and rated their likelihood of watching the full movie. They also indicated their perceptions of the film (how gory, meaningful, thought-provoking, suspenseful, etc.).

Earlier studies have suggested that audiences are not necessarily attracted to violence per se, but seem to be drawn to violent content because they anticipate other benefits, such as thrill and suspense.

These findings suggest that such hedonistic pleasures are only part of the story about why we willingly expose ourselves to scenes of bloodshed and aggression. Some types of violent portrayals seem to attract audiences because they promise to satisfy truth-seeking motivations by offering meaningful insights into some aspect of the human condition.

"Perhaps depictions of violence that are perceived as meaningful, moving and thought-provoking can foster empathy with victims, admiration for acts of courage and moral beauty in the face of violence, or self-reflection with regard to violent impulses," said Bartsch. "Examining the prevalence of such prosocial responses and the conditions under which they occur offers a theoretically intriguing and socially valuable direction for further work."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Communication Association, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/P0FeaSwr-TA/130328091750.htm

weather.com nemo Nemo Storm redbox weather forecast national weather service weather channel

Google Maps Engine Lite beta lets amateurs craft their own location sets

Pros have long had access to Google Maps Engine if they need to highlight anything from local stores to natural resources. Today, Google is catering to the rest of us would-be cartographers with a beta for Google Maps Engine Lite. The web service lets everyday users draw objects and import locations for their own reference, whether it's plotting favorite hiking trails or pinpointing worthwhile places on an upcoming vacation. Map makers can stylize the maps and share them with others, if they like -- the Lite label mostly limits users to "small" spreadsheet imports and a maximum of three data sets for comparisons. As long as you can live within those prescribed boundaries, you can try the slimmed down engine right now.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Comments

Via: Google Lat Long Blog

Source: Google Maps Engine Lite

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/tCLSrg7v8ag/

metta kashi neil diamond orange crush harden nor easter nor easter

Twitter's Ad Revenue Is Getting Close To The ... - Business Insider

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:

According to projections by eMarketer, Twitter's global ad revenue is going to hit $950 million by 2014. It's currently at $582.8 million, so that's quite the leap. Twitter's mobile presence is increasing by the minute, and that will help up ad revenue.

According to?GroupM, online ad spending will hit $113.5 billion worldwide this year. That's 14.6 percent more than last year and accounts for more than 21 percent of advertising budgets.

There's now a Doritos Taco Bell tortilla chip. This branding marriage keeps on getting more and more intense.

New York Magazine?has a new iPad app by The Wonderfactory that uses the platform Mag+.

OK Go?joined up with Saatchi & Saatchi to create a contest that will allow young filmmakers to make the band's next music video for the new track "I'm Not Through."

Kao USA, which makes Jergens and John Frieda products, picked Publicis' Spark and DIgitas to oversee its digital-creative and media accounts.

CP+B?promoted Ryan Nikolaidis to the Associate Director of Physical Computing. He was one of the guys behind the JELL-O Jiggle-It app.

Previously on Business Insider Advertising:

Get updates in your Facebook news feed.

Get updates in your inbox.

Email ?

Country

Zip Code ?

Privacy Policy

Please Note: Business Insider will never share your information with any other companies. You also have the ability to unsubscribe from these newsletters at any time simply by following the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of each email

Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.
Follow Laura Stampler on Twitter.

Tags: Madison Avenue, Advertising, Twitter, The Brief | Get Alerts for these topics ?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/twitters-ad-revenue-is-getting-close-to-the-billion-dollar-mark-the-brief-2013-3

Splash Ncaa Basketball Tournament NCAA Bracket 2013 Robert Morris spring lululemon jon hamm

Reuters: Wal-Mart looking into crowd-sourcing online delivery

Walmart is considering the slightly insane sounding idea of using its in-store customers to deliver online orders to help it compete with bricks and mortar-less competitors like Amazon, according to Reuters. The big box outfit currently ships internet purchases from just 25 of its stores using the likes of FedEx to handle delivery, but plans to drastically increase that number going forward. In theory, customers could sign up for the chore and drop packages off to customers who are on their route home in exchange for a discount. CEO Joel Anderson he could "see a path to where this is crowd-sourced," adding that "this is at the brain-storming stage, but it's possible in a year or two." Naturally, there's a gauntlet of insurance, theft, fraud and legal issues Walmart would need to run first -- along with the slightly skeevy idea of having a random stranger show up with your packages.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: Reuters

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/7PFZWAb5Afo/

Hollister old navy walmart black friday walmart black friday Target Black Friday PacSun apple store

Get Screened During Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month | Navy ...

By Cmdr. Jim Keck, Naval Hospital Jacksonville family medicine physician

Cmdr. Jim Keck, Naval Hospital family physician, explains to patient, Jessie Kemp, some preventive techniques to prevent colon cancer. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and a good time to learn more about colorectal cancer and how it can be prevented or best treated. (U.S. Navy photo by Jacob Sippel/Released).

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, so it?s a good time to get familiar with this disease and how you can prevent it.? Colorectal cancer affects the colon or rectum?the lower part of your digestive system. ?According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.? It?s expected that in 2013,?there?will be?about 142,000 new cases of colorectal cancer, claiming more than 52,000 lives.

All men and women age 50 and over are at risk and should be screened.? Some people are at higher risk and should be screened earlier, including those with inflammatory bowel disease, a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, or certain genetic syndromes.

Colorectal cancer often has no symptoms.? But symptoms can include stomach discomfort that doesn?t go away, blood in your stool (bowel movement), or unexplained weight loss.

A number of factors have been shown to reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer.? You can support your health by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables; increasing your physical activity; and limiting alcohol intake.? And if you smoke, stop.

And the good news is, early detection makes a difference.? Screening includes things like colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy?where a lighted instrument is used to examine your colon, and any growths can be checked or removed.? When diagnosed in its early stages, colorectal cancer can be cured in up to 90 percent of people.

Screening for colorectal cancer saves lives.? If you?re age 50 or above, get screened and take control of your health!?

For more information on colorectal cancer awareness month and screening information, check out the CDC?s page here.

Naval Hospital Jacksonville?s priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation?s heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the hospital, located aboard Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and five branch health clinics in Florida (Jacksonville, Key West and Mayport) and Georgia (Albany and Kings Bay).? To find out more, visit the command website at www.med.navy.mil/sites/NavalHospitalJax, like the Facebook page at www.facebook/NavalHospitalJacksonville, follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NHJax and view the YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/NavalHospitalJax. ??Sign up for email updates at nhjaxconnect@med.navy.mil.

Source: http://navymedicine.navylive.dodlive.mil/archives/4473

bill nye Hurricane Isaac 2012 Snooki Baby terrell owens terrell owens neil armstrong little league world series

Gun control backers struggle to win some Democrats

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this May 19, 2011 file photo, Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., speaks during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance on cell phone privacy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Pryor in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2012 file photo, Sen.-elect Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., address her supporters in Bismarck, N.D. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Heitkamp in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/Will Kincaid, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It would seem a lobbyist's dream: rounding up votes for a proposal backed by more than 8 in 10 people in polls. Yet, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks for firearms purchasers through the Senate next month.

Backed by a $12 million TV advertising campaign financed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gun control groups scheduled rallies around the country Thursday aimed at pressuring senators to back the effort. President Barack Obama was meeting at the White House with gun violence victims.

Moderate Senate Democrats like Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are shunning Bloomberg as a meddling outsider while stressing their allegiance to their own voters' views and to gun rights. While saying they're keeping an open mind and support keeping guns from criminals and people with mental disorders, many Democrats are avoiding specific commitments they might regret later.

"I do not need someone from New York City to tell me how to handle crime in our state. I know that we can go after and prosecute criminals without the need to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding North Dakotans," Heitkamp said this week, citing the constitutional right to bear arms.

Heitkamp does not face re-election next year, but Pryor and five other Senate Democrats from Republican-leaning or closely divided states do. All six, from Southern and Western states, will face voters whose deep attachment to guns is unshakeable ? not to mention opposition from the still potent National Rifle Association should they vote for restrictions the NRA opposes.

"We have a politically savvy and a loyal voting bloc, and the politicians know that," said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the NRA, which claims nearly 5 million paying members.

The heart of the Senate gun bill will be expanded requirements for federal background checks for gun buyers, the remaining primary proposal pushed by Obama and many Democrats since 20 first-graders and six women were shot to death in December at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada already has given up any hope of winning majority support for reimposing a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for ammunition.

Today, the background checks apply only to sales by the nation's roughly 55,000 federally licensed gun dealers. Not covered are private transactions like those at gun shows and online. The Senate measure is still evolving as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., use Congress' two-week recess to negotiate for additional support in both parties.

Expanding background checks to include gun show sales got 84 percent support in an Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this year. Near universal background checks have received similar or stronger support in other national polls.

Polls in some Southern states have been comparable. March surveys by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found more than 9 in 10 people in Florida and Virginia backing expanded background checks, the same margin found by an Elon University Poll in North Carolina in February.

Analysts say people support more background checks because they consider it an extension of the existing system. That doesn't translate to unvarnished support from lawmakers, in part because the small but vocal minorities who oppose broader background checks and other gun restrictions tend to be driven voters that politicians are reluctant to alienate.

"It's probably true that intense, single-issue gun voters have been more likely to turn out than folks who want common-sense gun laws," said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group that Bloomberg helps lead. Glaze, however, said he believes that has changed somewhat since Newtown and other recent mass shootings.

Several moderate Democrats are holding back as they assess the political landscape. They're also waiting to see exactly what the Senate will consider.

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Wednesday his state's voters tell him, "Don't take away our rights, our individual rights, our guns." Begich said he opposes a strict proposal requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales but will wait to see whether there is a bipartisan compromise he can support.

The problems faced by gun control supporters go beyond the challenge of winning moderate Democrats. GOP opponents are sure to force Democrats to get 60 of the Senate's 100 votes to win, and there are only 53 Democrats plus two independents who generally support them.

Also targeted by Bloomberg's ads are 10 Republicans, including Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, home of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a mass shooting; the retiring Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; and moderate Susan Collins of Maine.

In another indicator of hurdles facing gun control forces, the Senate voted 50-49 last week to require 60 votes for any legislation narrowing gun rights. The proposal lost because 60 votes in favor were required, but six Democrats voted for the proposal, offered by conservative Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

"It confirms there's no such thing as an easy gun vote," said Jim Kessler, a senior vice president of the centrist Democratic group Third Way.

Underscoring the uncertainty about moderate Democrats:

?Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is "still holding conversations with Virginia stakeholders and sorting through issues on background checks" and proposals to ban assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines, spokesman Kevin Hal said.

?Pryor said of Bloomberg's ads: "I don't take gun advice from the mayor of New York City. I listen to Arkansans." Spokesman Michael Teague said Pryor opposes universal background checks but could favor expanding the requirement to gun show sales.

?Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., told the Greensboro News & Record she favors expanded background checks, but said her vote would depend on the measure's details. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., answered, "Yes," when the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette asked whether he supports gun show background checks.

The gun bill also increases penalties for illegal gun sales and slightly boosts aid for school safety.

More abrupt changes like an assault weapons ban generally get slight majorities in polls. Democratic leaders decided to omit it from the Senate bill because such a provision lacks enough votes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-28-Gun%20Control-On%20the%20Fence/id-469b590ff10f4d89b0515ab9f40d1f40

game of thrones season 2 dierks bentley kenny chesney academy of country music awards brad paisley zac brown band aubrey

Major findings in records about Giffords shooting

FILE - This photo released Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, by the U.S. Marshal's Service shows Jared Lee Loughner, who pleaded guilty in the Tucson, Ariz., shooting rampage that killed six people and left several others wounded, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Hundreds of pages of police reports in the investigation of the shooting were released Wednesday, March 27, 2013 marking the public's first glimpse into documents that authorities have kept private since the attack on Jan. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office, File)

FILE - This photo released Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, by the U.S. Marshal's Service shows Jared Lee Loughner, who pleaded guilty in the Tucson, Ariz., shooting rampage that killed six people and left several others wounded, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Hundreds of pages of police reports in the investigation of the shooting were released Wednesday, March 27, 2013 marking the public's first glimpse into documents that authorities have kept private since the attack on Jan. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2011 file photo, Emergency personnel and Daniel Hernandez, an intern for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, second right, move Giffords after she was shot in the head outside a shopping center in Tucson, Ariz. Hundreds of pages of police reports in the investigation of the shooting rampage were released Wednesday, March 27, 2013 marking the public's first glimpse into documents that authorities have kept private since the attack more than two years ago. (AP Photo/James Palka, File)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? As authorities investigated the rampage that killed six people and wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, they compiled nearly 3,000 pages of documents that include everything from interviews with survivors and victims to police reports filed from the scene of the crime.

The documents were released Wednesday, and they provide new insight into how the shooting occurred and the motivations behind gunman Jared Loughner. One of the main themes to emerge was the increasingly erratic behavior of Loughner, perhaps summed up best by his father as he told investigators: He "just doesn't seem right lately."

A look at some of the major findings:

LOUGHNER

The gunman was polite and cooperative with authorities who were holding him the afternoon following his morning shooting rampage. The conversation as Loughner sat in restraints in an interview room was mainly small talk. Little was said over the four hours. Loughner asks at one point if he can please use the restroom and says "Thank you" when allowed. At another point he complained that "I'm about ready to fall over."

GUNMAN'S MOTHER

Loughner's mother, Amy, described his run-ins with authorities, his use of marijuana and cocaine, his journals and his increasingly erratic behavior. She also says the parents took a shotgun away from Loughner after he was kicked out of a community college and tested him for drugs because his behavior was so strange.

GUNMAN'S FATHER

Randy Loughner said his son became increasingly difficult, and it was a challenge to have a rational conversation with him. "I tried to talk to him. But you can't, he wouldn't let you," he said "Lost, lost, and just didn't want to communicate with me no more."

MENTAL ILLNESS

Despite their son's increasingly bizarre behavior, Loughner's parents never sent him to get help. Randy Loughner said that his son had never been diagnosed with a mental illness. Had he seen a doctor, the detective asked. "No," replied the father. The parents were also asked about any journals or writings that Loughner kept. The father said they were written in an indecipherable script.

GOING TO THE SCENE

Loughner went to a convenience store immediately before the shooting and had the clerk call a cab for him. As he waited for the car, he was pacing inside and outside the store and went to the bathroom three or four times. The employee said that as Loughner was waiting for the cab, he looked up at a clock and said, "nine twenty-five, I still got time."

TRAFFIC STOP

Loughner was pulled over earlier in the day for a traffic violation by a wildlife agent. He cried and said, "I've just had a rough time," and then composed himself, thanked the agent and shook his hand after he was let go with a warning. The agent asked Loughner again if he was OK, and Loughner said he was going home.

THE SCENE

Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez helped tend to his boss after she was shot in the head. In an interview, he described the chaos: "She couldn't open her eyes. I tried to get any responses for her. Um, it looked like her left side was the only side that was still mobile. Um, she couldn't speak. It was mumbled. She was squeezing my hand.

"I did some training as a Certified Nursing Assistant and as a phlebotomist, um, when I was in high school. So I knew that we need to see if she's got a pulse. She was still breathing. Her breathing was getting shallower. Uh, I then lifted her up so that she wasn't flat on the ground against the wall," he said.

GUNS

Loughner bought a 12-gauge shotgun in 2008, but his parents took it away from him after he was expelled from college and administrators recommended that any firearms be taken away. The shotgun was the only gun his parents knew Loughner owned.

CARING FOR GIFFORDS

A firefighter described how he cared for Giffords after arriving at the scene. "You'd ask her to grab your hand and she would grab your hand," he said. He and paramedics rushed her to the hospital in an ambulance, giving her oxygen and an IV.

THE ENCOUNTER

Hernandez described how constituents and other people were lining up to see Giffords, and he was helping people sign in. He recalled handing Loughner a clipboard. "The next thing I hear is someone yell, 'gun,'" he said.

LOUGHNER FRIEND

One-time Loughner friend Zachary Osler was an employee at a store where Loughner later bought a Glock handgun before the shooting. Osler was questioned about seeing Loughner shopping inside, sometime before Thanksgiving. He describes an awkward encounter with his former friend. "His response is nothing. Just a mute facial expression. And just like he, he didn't care." Osler told investigators he had grown uncomfortable with Loughner's personality, "He would say he could dream and then control what he was doing while he was dreaming." Osler says Loughner never mentioned Giffords to him.

REACTION

Osler said when he learned that Loughner was the suspect in the shooting, "my jaw just dropped. And I was like I know this person. Why he would do it? What would his motive be? If he had people help him? I do not know."

POSSESSIONS

Police reports show what authorities found in Loughner's possession after the shooting. In Loughner's left front pocket were two magazines for a Glock, both fully loaded. In his other front pocket was a foldable knife with about a 4-inch blade. In his back right pocket, he had a baggie with some money, a Visa credit card and his Arizona driver's license. He was wearing a black beanie, a black hoodie-type sweatshirt, khaki pants and Sketchers shoes.

WITNESS

A witness described seeing an ominous-looking man in his early 20s wearing a backpack near the shooting scene. The witness later described recognizing Loughner as the same person from photos on the news.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-27-US-Tucson-Shooting-Major-Findings/id-29753be123fe4f639d67c189537a2335

fat tuesday ash wednesday kate middleton marco rubio marco rubio Zero Hour Funny Valentines