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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Car bombs kill at least 56 people in Iraq

Citizens inspect the site of a car bomb attack in the capital's eastern Mashtal neighborhood, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. Insurgents on Sunday unleashed a new wave of car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of people, officials said. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

Citizens are seen through a broken window of a bus destroyed in a blast at a bus station in the capital's eastern Mashtal neighborhood, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. Insurgents on Sunday unleashed a new wave of car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of people, officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Citizens inspect the site of a car bomb attack at a bus station in the Baghdad's eastern Mashtal neighborhood, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. Insurgents on Sunday unleashed a new wave of car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of people, officials said. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

Citizens and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack at a bus station in the Baghdad's eastern Mashtal neighborhood, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. Insurgents on Sunday unleashed a new wave of car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of people, officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Citizens gather at the site of a car bomb attack at a bus station in the Baghdad's eastern Mashtal neighborhood, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013. Insurgents on Sunday unleashed a new wave of car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing and wounding dozens of people, officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD (AP) — A new wave of car bombs hit Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and a suicide bomber targeted soldiers in a northern city in attacks that killed at least 56 across Iraq on Sunday, officials said.

Coordinated bombing onslaughts killing scores of people have hit Iraq multiple times each month, feeding a spike in bloodshed that has left over 5,000 since April. The local branch of al-Qaida often takes responsibility, although there was no immediate claim for Sunday's blasts.

Four police officers said that the bombs in the capital, placed in parked cars and detonated over a half-hour, targeted commercial areas and parking lots, killing 42.

The deadliest blast was in the southeastern Nahrwan district where two car bombs exploded simultaneously, killing seven and wounding 15 others. Two other explosions hit the northern Shaab and southern Abu Dshir neighborhoods, each of which killed six people. Other blasts hit the neighborhoods of Mashtal, Baladiyat and Ur in eastern Baghdad, the southwestern Bayaa and the northern Sab al-Bor and Hurriyah districts.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a group of soldiers as they were sealing off a street leading to a bank where troops were receiving salaries, killing 14 included five civilians, a police officer said. At least 30 people were wounded, he added.

Former insurgent stronghold Mosul is located about 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Such systematic attacks are a favorite tactic of al-Qaida's local branch. It frequently targets civilians in markets, cafes and commercial streets in Shiite areas in an attempt to undermine confidence in the government, as well as members of the security forces.

Seven medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

In Mashtal in Baghdad, police and army forces sealed off the scene as ambulances rushed to pick up the wounded where pools of blood covered the pavement. The force of the explosion damaged number of cars and shops. At one restaurant, wooden benches were overturned and broken eggs were scattered on the ground. In Shaab, a crane lifted away at least 12 charred cars as cleaners swept away debris.

Violence has spiked in Iraq since April, when the pace of killing reached levels unseen since 2008. Today's attacks bring the death toll across the country this month to 545, according to an Associated Press count.

_________

Follow Sinan Salaheddin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sinansm

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-27-Iraq/id-6958ec478e1a4f34bd6310f12605333b
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NYC police: 5 dead after Brooklyn stabbings

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police pressed forward Sunday in investigating the deaths of four children and a 37-year-old woman who were stabbed at a Brooklyn residence, saying a person of interest had been taken into custody.

Officers arrived at the scene and found all five victims unconscious and unresponsive, police said. Three children were pronounced dead at the scene, while another child and the woman were taken to two Brooklyn hospitals where they were pronounced dead, police said.

Authorities identified the victims as Qiao Zhen Li, 37; Linda Zhuo, 9; Amy Zhuo, 7; Kevin Zhuo, 5; and William Zhuo, 1. Police did not give the relationships of the victims but said they all lived at the home where their bodies were found.

Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said emergency workers responded just before 11 p.m. Saturday to a 911 call from a person stabbed at the residence in the Sunset Park neighborhood.

Adjoining two-story brick buildings sit on a tree-lined block in the working-class neighborhood where the stabbings occurred.

A neighbor May Chan told the Daily News it was "heartbreaking" to learn of the deaths.

"I always see (the kids) running around here," Chan said. "They run around by my garage playing. They run up and down screaming."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-police-5-dead-brooklyn-stabbings-051844974.html
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Opinion: The militarization of U.S. police forces

By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers

This month, more Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles (MRAPs) have found their way from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Main Streets of America. These are just the latest acquisitions in a growing practice by Pentagon that's militarizing America's municipal police forces.

Police departments in Boise and Nampa, Idaho, each acquired an MRAP, as did the force in High Springs, Florida. The offer of war-ready machinery, at practically no cost, has proven hard to resist for local police departments. Increasingly, they are looking like soldiers equipped for battle.

The growing similarity between our domestic police forces and the U.S. military is a result of the Pentagon's 1033 Program. This allows the Defense Department to donate surplus military equipment and weapons to law enforcement agencies. In addition to the frightening presence of paramilitary weapons in American towns, the program has led to rampant fraud and abuse.

It does not have to be this way. Congress can, and must, take decisive steps to scale back the program and demilitarize American police forces. Here's how to do it.

First, Congress should permanently ban the transfer of all military-grade equipment to our cities. The program has already transferred enough impractical machinery to local police forces — material that many police departments do not have the skill to use safely or the money to maintain. Georgia's Cobb County, for example, acquired one AR-15 assault rifle for each of its patrol vehicles, while Tupelo, Mississippi received a helicopter that needed $100,000 worth of upgrades and $20,000 each year in maintenance.

Due to the large amount of missing weapons, the Pentagon has now temporarily suspended new weapons shipments to domestic law enforcement agencies. This is a good step. But it is not enough — especially since the ban is expected to be lifted soon.

Meanwhile, city agencies are still free to transfer weapons to other cities and are still free to receive armored personnel carriers and aircraft from the Pentagon. As the new MRAPs patrolling Iowa and Florida now demonstrate, current limitations do nothing to discourage the militarization of local police.

Second, strict oversight must be implemented and consistently enforced if the Pentagon insists on continuing the program. Congress must step up to manage the program by setting new rules and restrictions. Localities not in full compliance must be barred from participation in the program.

Shocking, almost comical, examples of abuse have been well-documented — from the officer who sold his weapons on eBay, to the one who lent his weapons to unauthorized friends and the police departments that lost the military weapons or tried to auction them off.

Now is the time for our policymakers to demand more from the Defense Department. In order to participate, law enforcement agencies should be able to account for 100 percent of the equipment they receive every year. This should be a no-brainer.

If they cannot, they should be removed from the program. If state coordinators do not verify compliance in person, the states should be removed from the program. And if the Defense Department cannot successfully report full compliance to Congress every year, the program should be suspended.

Receiving free equipment is a privilege for law enforcement — a privilege that so far has not come with any responsibility. It is unacceptable for American police to receive such hazardous weapons and equipment without oversight. It is particularly unacceptable for those who have proven to be incompetent, wasteful or irresponsible with the equipment they have received to remain eligible for more free items.

Ultimately, it is Congress's responsibility to protect its constituents' safety and financial interests, which could be threatened by the program mismanagement.

Unless Americans want their towns patrolled by armored military vehicles, their skies humming with drones, and their local police officers equipped with assault weapons, they should encourage Congress to scale the program back promptly.

Taxpayer money should not have to support the costs of maintaining the weapons of war that local police forces have acquired. Citizens deserve to know that their congressional leaders and law enforcement officers are working together to protect them — not recklessly engaging in a gluttonous arms race or irresponsibly losing dangerous weapons.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/column-militarization-u-police-forces-175828669.html
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Proteins in one of the world's main biodiesel plants have been mapped -- and it does not look good

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Oct-2013

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Contact: Birgitte Svennevig
birs@sdu.dk
University of Southern Denmark

The castor oil plant produces some very fatty beans from which oil is refined into biodiesel in several countries, eg. Brazil. Now a team of researchers from the University of Southern Denmark along with researchers from Brazil have succeeded in mapping proteins of the bean, and thus it may now be possible to alter the bean's structure in order to get even more out of the bean than today. The researcher's work however shows that this may not be an easy task.

Countries like Brazil and India grow large quantities of the castor oil beans, which can be refined into bio-diesel. Unfortunately, the beans contain allergens and also the extremely potent poison ricin, and therefore the bean pulp after extraction of the oil cannot be used for animal feed. The animals might become sick or even die from eating castor pulp.

"Therefore we are interested in finding out if it in some way could be possible to eliminate the allergenic proteins and the ricin from the beans, so that the pulp can be used for animal feed", explains professor Peter Roepstorff, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Southern Denmark.

The first step towards this has now been taken. Roepstorff and a team of Danish/Brazilian colleagues have used proteomics to map 1875 castor bean proteins.

"Now we know where the proteins are, and we know when during bean development they are produced. Especially the protein ricin and the allergen 2S Albumin are interesting in this context. Unfortunately our research shows that it does not seem to be easy to get rid of them", says Peter Roepstorff.

Both ricin and the allergen 2S Albumin are only present in low amounts in the early development stages of the bean. But as the beans mature, the content of ricin and 2S Albumin increases.

"Unfortunately, the mature beans also have the highest oil content and therefore an oil producer will not harvest the beans before they are fully mature. The price of optimizing the oil production is that you also get a toxic and allergenic pulp that cannot be used for animal feed", explains Peter Roepstorff.

The researchers at University of Southern Denmark work with identifying the bean's proteins and this now makes it possible for other researchers to try and manipulate the proteins in order to remove the toxic and allergenic substances. One option may be to eliminate the unwanted proteins by plant breeding, another option is to remove them by genetic engineering.

###

**About the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis):**
An up to 12 m tall tropical plant. In temperate countries like Denmark the plant is grown for its ornamental riches in private gardens, while countries like Brazil and India grow it for its oilrich beans. The beans are very toxic; 2-20 are enough to kill a human. The toxin, called ricin, is twice as powerful as the cobra snake's venom, and there is no antidote. It was ricin that killed a Bulgarian defector in 1978 in London, when the tip of an umbrella delivered a deadly dose of ricin to him. In addition to biodiesel castor oil may also be used to produce nylon, brake fluids and hydraulic fluids.

Professor Peter Roepstorff has worked with protein mass spectrometry for more than 40 years and he is one of the pioneers in analyzing proteins by mass spectrometry and in proteomics.

Journal of Proteome Research, 3 October 2013 E-pub ahead of print: Isotope Labeling-Based Quantitative Proteomics of Developing Seeds of Castor Oil Seed (Ricinus communis L.): Fbio CS Nogueira, Giuseppe Palmisano, Veit Schwmmle, Emanuela L. Soares, Arlete A Soares, Peter Roepstorff, Gilberto B. Domont and Francisco AP Campos.

Journal of Proteome Research, 2012, 11, 3046-3052: Performance of Isobaric and Isotopic Labeling in Quantitative Plant Proteomics: Fbio C. S. Nogueira, Giuseppe Palmisano, Veit Schwmmle, Francisco AP Campos, Martin R. Larsen, Gilberto B. Domont and Peter Roepstorff.

Photo of Castor oil plant: Andreas Frh.

Contact: Professor Peter Roepstorff: roe@bmb.sdu.dk

This press release was written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Proteins in one of the world's main biodiesel plants have been mapped -- and it does not look good

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Oct-2013

[

| E-mail

]

Share
Contact: Birgitte Svennevig
birs@sdu.dk
University of Southern Denmark

The castor oil plant produces some very fatty beans from which oil is refined into biodiesel in several countries, eg. Brazil. Now a team of researchers from the University of Southern Denmark along with researchers from Brazil have succeeded in mapping proteins of the bean, and thus it may now be possible to alter the bean's structure in order to get even more out of the bean than today. The researcher's work however shows that this may not be an easy task.

Countries like Brazil and India grow large quantities of the castor oil beans, which can be refined into bio-diesel. Unfortunately, the beans contain allergens and also the extremely potent poison ricin, and therefore the bean pulp after extraction of the oil cannot be used for animal feed. The animals might become sick or even die from eating castor pulp.

"Therefore we are interested in finding out if it in some way could be possible to eliminate the allergenic proteins and the ricin from the beans, so that the pulp can be used for animal feed", explains professor Peter Roepstorff, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Southern Denmark.

The first step towards this has now been taken. Roepstorff and a team of Danish/Brazilian colleagues have used proteomics to map 1875 castor bean proteins.

"Now we know where the proteins are, and we know when during bean development they are produced. Especially the protein ricin and the allergen 2S Albumin are interesting in this context. Unfortunately our research shows that it does not seem to be easy to get rid of them", says Peter Roepstorff.

Both ricin and the allergen 2S Albumin are only present in low amounts in the early development stages of the bean. But as the beans mature, the content of ricin and 2S Albumin increases.

"Unfortunately, the mature beans also have the highest oil content and therefore an oil producer will not harvest the beans before they are fully mature. The price of optimizing the oil production is that you also get a toxic and allergenic pulp that cannot be used for animal feed", explains Peter Roepstorff.

The researchers at University of Southern Denmark work with identifying the bean's proteins and this now makes it possible for other researchers to try and manipulate the proteins in order to remove the toxic and allergenic substances. One option may be to eliminate the unwanted proteins by plant breeding, another option is to remove them by genetic engineering.

###

**About the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis):**
An up to 12 m tall tropical plant. In temperate countries like Denmark the plant is grown for its ornamental riches in private gardens, while countries like Brazil and India grow it for its oilrich beans. The beans are very toxic; 2-20 are enough to kill a human. The toxin, called ricin, is twice as powerful as the cobra snake's venom, and there is no antidote. It was ricin that killed a Bulgarian defector in 1978 in London, when the tip of an umbrella delivered a deadly dose of ricin to him. In addition to biodiesel castor oil may also be used to produce nylon, brake fluids and hydraulic fluids.

Professor Peter Roepstorff has worked with protein mass spectrometry for more than 40 years and he is one of the pioneers in analyzing proteins by mass spectrometry and in proteomics.

Journal of Proteome Research, 3 October 2013 E-pub ahead of print: Isotope Labeling-Based Quantitative Proteomics of Developing Seeds of Castor Oil Seed (Ricinus communis L.): Fbio CS Nogueira, Giuseppe Palmisano, Veit Schwmmle, Emanuela L. Soares, Arlete A Soares, Peter Roepstorff, Gilberto B. Domont and Francisco AP Campos.

Journal of Proteome Research, 2012, 11, 3046-3052: Performance of Isobaric and Isotopic Labeling in Quantitative Plant Proteomics: Fbio C. S. Nogueira, Giuseppe Palmisano, Veit Schwmmle, Francisco AP Campos, Martin R. Larsen, Gilberto B. Domont and Peter Roepstorff.

Photo of Castor oil plant: Andreas Frh.

Contact: Professor Peter Roepstorff: roe@bmb.sdu.dk

This press release was written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.

[

| E-mail

Share

]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uosd-pio102513.php
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Google rolling out CardDAV improvements

Contact

High-resolution contact photos among new CardDAV additions

Google's rolling out several improvements to CardDAV, its open standard for accessing contact data, today. The most noticeable change is the new support for high-resolution contact photos, meaning some (mainly non-Android) mobile devices won't be limited to 96-by-96 pixel images anymore. It's worth remembering that if you're using Gmail sync on an Android phone, you shouldn't be affected by this anyway, as your stuff is synced through pure Google cloud magic.

The other changes are all about making CardDAV a faster, better experience —

Sync-Collections, which improves battery life for mobile users by reducing the amount of data exchanged.
POST support, which reduces mobile data usage when creating new contacts.
For Google Apps users, searching the domain’s Global Address List.

CardDAV users don't need to do anything, and the new features should be available within iOS 7 from today. As we said before, this isn't a huge deal for most Android users, but the changes are welcome nonetheless.

Source: Google Developers

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/URKt2KnpDJg/story01.htm
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Jihad in America: The Grand Deception: Film Review

The Bottom Line

Although it makes some scarily persuasive points, this polemical documentary is too rabid to be taken seriously.

Directors

Steve Emerson, Rachel Milton

Screenwriters

Chris Cantergiani, Steve Emerson, Rachel Milton, Mark Tapson

Resembling the anti-Communist, red-baiting films of the 1950s, Jihad in America: The Grand Deception effectively sums up its intentions with its title. This documentary co-directed by Rachel Milton and Steve Emerson (the latter is the executive director of the organization Investigative Project on Terrorism) is a broad indictment of Islam, seemingly implicating every person of that faith as a potential violent jihadist determined to destroy America. While it sometimes makes its polemicist arguments in scarily convincing fashion, its relentlessly broad strokes ultimately undermine its persuasiveness.

The film focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 and very much in the news in the last year due to its temporary rule of the Egyptian government. Using interviews with numerous scholars, former FBI agents and Muslim leaders, it examines the influence of the organization in numerous countries, but especially the United States. It also takes special aim at CAIR, or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is basically described as a propaganda outfit before which the American government, media organizations and even Hollywood studios cower, and the Muslim Student Associations, a controversial umbrella organization of student groups in campuses throughout the country.

The film’s primary tool is the extensive use of audio and visual excerpts of numerous incendiary speeches by Islamist figures that are indeed eye-opening. It also makes canny use of such footage as congressional testimony by Attorney General Eric Holder in which he steadfastly refuses to use the term “radical Islam” despite incessant prodding.

Tracing the links between the Muslim Brotherhood and such terrorist organizations as Hamas, the film vociferously argues that it the former is engaged in an elaborate subterfuge masking its true aims. As with most such politically themed documentaries, whether or not you buy its premise will depend largely on your preexisting attitude. But there’s no doubt that its over-the-top approach ultimately seems as manipulative as the ideology it’s condemning.

Opened Oct. 25 (SAE Production)

Directors: Steve Emerson, Rachel Milton

Screenwriters: Chris Cantergiani, Steve Emerson, Rachel Milton, Mark Tapson

Executive producer: Steve Emerson

Director of photography; Paul Jacobson

Editors: Jude Leak, Martin Nelson

Not rated, 70 min.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/reviews/film/~3/Ux-MMb2wXaA/jihad-america-grand-deception-film-651090
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Alonso to celebrate points record on Indian GP helmet | 2013 Indian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso ^[1] will mark his record F1 points tally with a special helmet design for the Indian Grand Prix.

Alonso became F1′s all-time highest points scorer at the Japanese Grand Prix, reaching a tally of 1,571 points, surpassing Michael Schumacher’s ^[2] previous record of 1,566.

The two totals don’t bear direct comparison as the value of different finishing positions has changed many times in F1 history ^[3]. For example a win was originally value at eight points, Schumacher scored ten for each of his 91 victories, and 25 points has been given to race winners since 2010.

Alonso’s helmet also carries a message of thanks to his fans in English, French and Italian.

“To see my name leading the points record for a sport like Formula One is something I never imagined,” said Alonso ^[4] after claiming the record in Japan. “Thanks to everyone!”

See here for a list of every F1 world champions’ points totals adjusted to the current scoring system:

Fernando Alonso Indian Grand Prix helmet

2013 Indian Grand Prix

Browse all 2013 Indian Grand Prix articles ^[5]

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References

^{^} Fernando Alonso (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
^{^} Michael Schumacher (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
^{^} Every F1 points system, 1950-2010 (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
^{^} said Alonso (twitter.com)
^{^} Browse all 2013 Indian Grand Prix articles (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/SnaFAAelS1Y/
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