Sunday, March 31, 2013

Texas district attorney, wife found dead at home

File- This Jan. 31, 2013 file photo shows David Byrnes, Sheriff of Kaufman County, right, bowing his head as Mike McLelland, District Attorney of Kaufman County answers questions at a news conference at the Kaufman Law Enforcement Center in Kaufman, Texas. McLelland and his wife where found dead in their home Saturday March 30, 2013. Authorities are investigating. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, David Woo, File )

File- This Jan. 31, 2013 file photo shows David Byrnes, Sheriff of Kaufman County, right, bowing his head as Mike McLelland, District Attorney of Kaufman County answers questions at a news conference at the Kaufman Law Enforcement Center in Kaufman, Texas. McLelland and his wife where found dead in their home Saturday March 30, 2013. Authorities are investigating. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, David Woo, File )

In this Saturday, March 30, 2013 photo, authorities work in the middle of Blarney Stone Way where Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and wife Cynthia McLelland were found dead in their home in Forney, Texas. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Ian C. Bates) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; AP MEMBERS ONLY

This undated photo taken from the Kaufman County, Texas, website shows Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland. McLelland and his wife were found killed in their house, Saturday, March 30, 2013, two months after one of his assistants was gunned down near their office, authorities said. (AP Photo/Kaufman County)

In this Saturday, March 30, 2013 photo, caution tape surrounds the home of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and wife Cynthia McLelland who were found dead in their home near Forney, Texas. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Ian C. Bates) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; AP MEMBERS ONLY

In this Saturday, March 30, 2013 photo, police block off Blarney Stone Road in Forney, Texas, where Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and wife Cynthia McLelland were found dead in their home near Forney, Texas. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Ian C. Bates) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; AP MEMBERS ONLY

(AP) ? Two months after an assistant prosecutor was gunned down, the bodies of a north Texas prosecutor and his wife were found in their home, authorities said.

Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found killed in their home on Saturday, Kaufman County sheriff's Lt. Justin Lewis said.

"Everybody's a little on edge and a little shocked," Forney Mayor Darren Rovell told The Associated Press on Sunday. "It appears this was not a random act."

Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was shot to death in a parking lot a block from his office on Jan. 31. No arrests have been made in his death.

Lewis declined to say how the couple died or whether authorities believe their deaths are linked to Hasse's. Police, FBI agents, Texas Rangers and deputies were all part of the investigation.

Rovell said what's so shocking is that the attack occurred at the district attorney's home, an unincorporated area just outside Forney, which has 15,000 residents within the city limits and about 40,000 in the area. Kaufman County is 33 miles southeast of Dallas.

Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh told The Dallas Morning News that the McLellands had been shot in their home, and although investigators didn't know if their deaths were related to Hasse's killing, they couldn't discount it.

"It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock and until we know what happened, I really can't confirm that it's related but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise," Aulbaugh told the newspaper.

Sam Rosander, who lives in the same unincorporated area of Kaufman County as the McLellands, told the AP on Saturday that sheriff's deputies were parked in the district attorney's driveway for about a month after Hasse was killed.

Aulbaugh said recently that the FBI was checking to see if Hasse's killing could be related to the March 19 killing of Colorado Department of Corrections head Tom Clements, who was gunned down after answering the doorbell at his home.

Evan Spencer Ebel, a former Colorado inmate and white supremacist who authorities believe killed Clements and a pizza deliveryman two days earlier, was killed in a March 21 shootout with Texas deputies about 100 miles from Kaufman.

Hasse was chief of the organized crime unit when he was an assistant prosecutor in Dallas County in the 1980s, and he handled similar cases in Kaufman County.

"Anything anybody can think of, we're looking through," McLelland said after Hasse's death.

McLelland graduated from the University of Texas before a 23-year career in the Army, according to the website for the district attorney's office. He later earned his law degree from the Texas Wesleyan School of Law.

He and his wife have two daughters and three sons. One son is a police officer in Dallas.

McLelland and his wife had moved into the home within the past few years ago, Rozell said.

"Real friendly, became part of our community quickly," Rozell said. "They were a really pleasant happy couple."

___

Associated Press writer Michael Graczyk in Houston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-31-US-District-Attorney-Dead-Texas/id-56790d85ed574e29b1481df3b22143bd

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High court poised to upend civil rights policies (The Arizona Republic)

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If You?re Always Busy, You May Just Be Procrastinating

If You’re Always Busy, You May Just Be Procrastinating There's a difference between being always busy and having a lot to do and not enough time to do it in. You probably know at least one person at work who seems to always be stressed out and busy, but you know they don't have as much on their plate as other people do. If that person is you, or you're stressed out because you're having trouble managing your to-dos, the problem may be simple: procrastination.

Over at GTD blog Next Action Associates, they point out the many ways that procrastination can work its way into our day and convince us that we're actually busy and active, when in reality we're wasting time:

Here's the thing: when we're busy we can easily trick ourselves into thinking that all of that activity means that we're not procrastinating. We're busy, sure, but we're not focused on the things that should really have our attention. If someone were to tap us on the shoulder and say, "that thing you're doing, is that the best use of your attention right now?" we would hesitate to agree.

We're busy procrastinating.

It's a bit of a backhanded suggestion, but the impact of being "busy" doing all the wrong things instead of focusing on the things that are most important or really need our attention is clear: we work longer hours, and our health relationships suffer. We've talked about how to say "no" without wrecking your career, how to say "no" without being a jerk about it, and even how to prioritize when everything is important and nothing can come off your plate. Those are the keys to making sure you're working on the right things in the right order.

Next Action Associates offers up another tip:

Ask yourself: what are the odds that that e-mail at the top of your inbox is the best thing to focus on next? If not and you choose to deal with it anyway, then you're being driven by "latest and loudest," letting your channels dictate your priorities.

Or maybe your procrastination looks like this: you're snacking on quick wins. This is what I quite often see when people say they're "cleaning up email." They're scrolling down into the older strata of their inbox, looking for things that can be handled quickly, ideally without much thought or energy. But in doing that I'll often see them scroll right past something that's strategic, critical even. But it's too big, or too complex. So it doesn't get any attention.

If you're struggling with procrastination, then what's to be done? To get it under control, we need to make getting moving on the right things as attractive and friction-free as possible.

All of this is a double-edged sword though?the quest to be productive should be focused around giving you more time to do the things you want to do and optimizing the things you have to do, not just getting you to stop procrastinating. Remember, sometimes procrastination is essential to your health, and taking breaks helps you do more and stay creative. Hit the link below for more tips.

Too Busy? Maybe You're Procrastinating. | Next Action Associates via GTD Times

Photo by Vic.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/_yQFi-zPE50/if-youre-always-busy-you-may-just-be-procrastinating

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Google launching same-day delivery service for online shoppers ...

Internet search leader Google is taking another step beyond information retrieval into grocery delivery.

The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., didn't say how many people will be part of the test.

If the pilot program goes well, Google plans to expand delivery service to other markets.

"We hope this will help users explore the benefits of a local, same-day delivery service, and help us kick the tires on the new service," Google said in a Thursday statement.

The delivery service is part of Google's effort to increase consumer reliance on the Internet, so it will have more opportunities to show online ads, which generate most of its revenue.

Google has learned that the more time people spend online, the more likely they are to use its dominant search engine or one of its other popular services, like its YouTube video site or Gmail, that include advertising.

The delivery service also could spur merchants to buy more online ads if Google's same-day delivery service encourages consumers to do more of their shopping online. Having to wait days or, in some cases, more than a week for the delivery of online orders ranks among the biggest drawbacks to Internet shopping.

It's a problem that Amazon.com and eBay, which operate the largest e-commerce sites, already have been trying to solve by offering same-day service in some U.S. markets. Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, also offers same-day delivery in five markets.

A mix of national, regional and neighborhood merchants are enlisting in Google Shopping Express. The best-known names on the list include Target and Walgreen. All the merchants in the Google program will sell certain items through a central website. Google has hired courier services to pick up the orders at the merchant stores and then deliver them to the customer's home or office.

Although the couriers will be working on a contract basis, they will be driving Google-branded vehicles and wearing company-issued uniforms.

It remains unclear whether Internet shopping and same-day delivery can be profitable. Online grocer Webvan collapsed in 2001, largely because it couldn't devise a pricing plan that would pay for the costs of same-day delivery without alienating shoppers unwilling to pay too much extra for the added convenience.

Google is still trying to figure out how much to charge for its same-day delivery service. For the six-month test period in the San Francisco area, consumers won't have to pay a surcharge. Google instead will receive a commission from participating merchants.

The expansion into same-day delivery comes at the same time that Google is preparing to close some of its older online services so it can devote more attention and money to other projects.

The realignment has irked some Google users. The biggest complaints have centered on Google Reader, which allows people to automatically receive headlines and links from their favorite sites, and iGoogle, which allows Web surfers to design a page consisting of the Google search engine surrounded set up other online features, such as local weather reports and stock market quotes.

Google Reader is scheduled to close in July and iGoogle will shut down in November.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/google-launching-same-day-delivery-service-online-shoppers-1C9143458

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Fear becoming a 'bag lady' someday? Many others do, too

By Amy Langfield, TODAY contributor

If you spend time worrying that you'll end up on the street in your old age with your belongings stuffed into plastic bags in a shopping cart, you have good company.

A new survey shows that almost half of American women fear they will become "bag ladies" some day, and the anxiety ripples across all income groups.

Even among women with household earnings above $200,000, 27 percent harbor the bag-lady fear, according to a new online survey?issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

While Allianz is promoting the survey to encourage women to seek more financial-planning advice, the underlying concern is valid, according to a labor economist who studies aging and income issues.

Because women typically earn less and have more sporadic work histories, their pensions and benefits are less sturdy, said Barbara Butrica, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute?s Income and Benefits Policy Center. ?They are starting retirement at a disadvantage,? she said.

Women also tend to live longer than men.??So she?ll have to make that income last a lot longer time,? Butrica said.

Among the over-65 set, non-married women have the highest poverty rates. While only 4 percent of married women over 65 fell below the poverty line in 2010, that number rose to?14 percent for widows over 65 and 18 percent for divorced women over 65, Butrica said.

For men over 65 living in poverty, 4 percent were married; 11 percent were widowers and 12 percent were divorced. The gender differences are even more striking, Butrica said, when you consider that in 2010, only 29.5 percent of men age 65 or older were not married, compared with 56.3 percent of women. Those numbers come from the Social Security Administration's 2012 report on ?Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2010.?

But should?even women with very good jobs?fret about being homeless one day?

?It?s highly unlikely. But it could happen,? Butrica said, citing the likelihood that a catastrophic illness is more likely to strike as you get older. ?The fact that these women are thinking about it is a good thing.?

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Hack a Can of Compressed Air So It's Refillable

It's useful for blasting dust, crumbs, and other crap off your keyboard and electronics, but those overpriced compressed air cans are almost as big a rip-off as printer ink. So here's a brilliant and relatively simple hack that makes a compressed air can refillable with a standard tire pump. And just to highlight what's probably the most crucial step in this project: you'll want to make sure the can you're using is completely and thoroughly empty before going at it with a drill. [YouTube via Dooby Brain] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/74i7dCUQRMw/hack-a-can-of-compressed-air-so-its-refillable

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Stocks edge higher at open; S&P closing high in sight

The S&P 500 hit its closing high level of 1,565.15 on the final trading day of the first quarter, as the relative calm surrounding the opening of Cyprus banks trumped a mixed bag of economic reports.

The next milestone on the S&P 500 will be its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, set on October 11, 2007.

The Dow has soared nearly 11 percent this year, on pace to logging its best first-quarter in 15 years. The S&P 500 has jumped almost 10 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading higher.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded below 13.

Most key S&P sectors were higher, led by utilities, while financials lagged.

"From a technical perspective, everyone wants to know the implications of the S&P 500 finally setting a new closing high - that day will mean little to us," wrote Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. "It's the action in the period that follows that we think matters the most. A meaningful move to us would be a strong break above the old high, perhaps by 2 percent, followed by a test of the old high, and then a resumption of the uptrend."

On the economic front, the U.S. economy grew at a 0.4 percent annual rate, according to the Commerce Department, just a touch below the 0.5 percent gain expected by economists in a Reuters survey. However, the reading was higher than the government's previous estimate of a tepid 0.1 percent expansion rate.

Weekly jobless claims jumped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000, according to the Labor Department, but the gain was still in the middle of their range for the year. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 340,000.

Meanwhile, the pace of business activity in the Midwest slowed in March, with the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago barometer dipping to 52.4 from 56.8 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the regional economy.

In Europe, Cypriot banks re-opened after an almost two-week closure to relative calm. Strict capital control measures were imposed and could remain in place for weeks. Cypriots will not be allowed to withdraw more than 300 euros a day, cash checks, or take more than 3,000 euros when traveling abroad.

In company news, Blackberry reported quarterly earnings that outpaced market expectations, boosted in part by the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone. Still, the company lost subscribers at a rapid pace, with the base of users contracting to 76 million from 79 million. (Read More: Is BlackBerry's Turnaround on Track?)

Pinnacle Foods jumped in their NYSE debut as the packaged foods maker priced at $20, at the top of their expected range of $18 to $20.

Goldman Sachs edged higher after Guggenheim started coverage of the banking giant with a "buy" rating and price target of $175. Meanwhile, the brokerage initiated coverage of Morgan Stanley with a "neutral" rating and a price target of $25.

United Technologies rose after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the Dow component with an "overweight" rating, saying the company has "significant, broad-based" tailwinds.

Volume is expected to remain relatively low ahead of Good Friday. Markets will be closed in the United States and most of Europe, but banks will be open. Economic data including personal income and consumer sentiment are expected to be reported Friday.

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Ten years without smoky bars means 10,000 fewer premature deaths

By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg marked the tenth anniversary on Wednesday of his ban on smoking in bars and restaurants with a report saying the ban and subsequent anti-smoking measures had prevented 10,000 premature deaths.

"Ten years ago when New York City prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars, many predicted the end of the hospitality, restaurant and tourism industries," Bloomberg said in a statement.

"Yet ten years later, fewer New Yorkers are smoking, we are living longer, our industries are thriving and nobody longs for a return to smoke-filled bars and restaurants."

Critics of the move feared banning smoking would hurt the restaurant and bar business, but the Health Department report said there are now some 6,000 more restaurants and bars in the city than there were a decade ago.

The city's Smoke-Free Air Act came into effect a little over a year into Bloomberg's first term as mayor in 2003 and prohibited smoking inside bars, restaurants and most workplaces.

The following year, the city began providing free nicotine replacement therapy to smokers trying to quit and in 2011 expanded the smoking ban to the city's parks and beaches.

According to the report released on Wednesday, the proportion of adult smokers dropped by about a third to 15 percent in 2011 from 21.5 percent in 2002. The report, released by the city's Health Department, also said the proportion of youths under age 18 who smoke dropped by about half to 8.5 percent.

Bloomberg's tenure, which will end this year, has been marked by his efforts to improve New Yorkers' health by trying to induce them to eat less salt, trans fats and calories in general, among other measures.

Bloomberg has been criticized by some as paternalistic but his efforts have coincided with an increase in New Yorkers' life expectancy, including a decline in tobacco-related deaths.

Bloomberg's attempt to limit the size of sugary drinks sold in the city was derailed this month only hours before the new rules were to take effect when a judge ruled that they were "arbitrary and capricious". The city is appealing that decision.

A week later, Bloomberg announced his plan to require shops to hide cigarettes and tobacco products from public view, arguing that would shield young people from marketing efforts.

Some shop owners and cigarette manufacturers have criticized the plan as unnecessary extra regulation that would infringe the free speech provision of the U.S. Constitution.

Bloomberg also proposed a minimum price of $10.50 for a pack of cigarettes, in the hope that some smokers would find the habit too expensive to maintain. The two bills are now before the city council.

Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of premature death in the city, according to the Health Department.

Ronald Bayer, a professor of public health at Columbia University, called Bloomberg's health initiatives a "major achievement" and said his efforts to make smoking less socially acceptable were an effective and legitimate use of his office.

He said it remains an open question how much further government could go to discourage smokers to quit.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)

(In next-to-last paragraph, this story corrects spelling of professor's name to Bayer, not Beyer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-city-marks-tenth-anniversary-smoking-ban-192916192.html

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Stocks lower as Italy adds to European fears

Stocks were sharply lower Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 pulling back from record levels, as political uncertainty in Italy sparked fresh worries over the euro zone and the euro dropped to a four-month low.

(Read More: Early Movers: WMT, CS, BA & More)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 100 points, dragged by Boeing and JPMorgan.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also sharply lower. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, jumped above 13.

Major averages ended near their best ever levels on Tuesday, with the Dow posting a new high and S&P 500 finishing less than 2 points from its closing peak.

(Read More:Bulls Revved Up to Take Out Next Stocks Milestone)

All key S&P sectors were firmly in the red, led by materials and industrials.

On the economic front, pending home sales slid 0.4 percent in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists polled by Reuters expected a 0.9 percent decline, compared with a 4.5 percent rise in the prior month.

In Europe, political deadlock continued in Italy as the country's main leadership candidate Pier Luigi's Bersani reportedly said that only an "insane person" would want to govern the nation now, adding that Italy is "in a mess and faces a difficult year ahead."

Bersani made the remark after the anti-establishment "Five Star Movement" party headed by comedian Beppe Grillo again refused to form a coalition government with Bersani, thwarting his latest attempts to form a governing alliance.

(Read More: Hey Euro Zone, You Overrate Yourself: Moody's)

A political stalemate since its inconclusive elections in late February has spiked concerns over how the country will handle its growing debt problems. Italy paid more to borrow over five years than it has since October at its latest auction, indicating worries over its financial situation.

The euro extended its losses below $1.28 against the U.S. greenback, its lowest level since late November.

Elsewhere in Europe, Cyprus is finalizing financial control measures to prevent a run on its banks, which have been shut for a week since the country agreed to a conditional 10 billion euro ($12.8 billion) bailout from international lenders. Cypriots have been lining up to withdraw cash from ATMs, with limits at 100 euros a day for some banks.

"Banks will open on Thursday ... We will look at the best way to limit the possibility of large sums of money leaving, and not imposing punitive conditions on the economy, businesses and individuals," Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris said in an interview on Cypriot television.

"Cyprus is a reason to remind investors that Europe is a source of risk, but I'm not sure Cyprus itself is going to be enough [for a market pullback from the recent run-up]," said Thomas Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan. "The big picture still points to a major secular bull market being underway, with at least another four years left, led by durable goods."

Trading is likely to be thin ahead of the three-day Easter weekend. U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Good Friday.

Wal-Mart declined after the world's largest retailer said that probes into alleged foreign bribery at its stores are likely to result in a financial loss. Separately, the company said it would start using stores to get Internet orders to shoppers faster, amid growing competition from online rivals such as Amazon.com.

Boeing edged lower as its 787 Dreamliners face a temporary ban on some of the transocean flights, which would be a costly new challenge for the company.

Cliffs Natural Resources plunged to lead the S&P 500 laggards after Morgan Stanley downgraded the iron ore and metallurgical coal producer to "underweight" from "equal-weight." Rivals Alpha Natural Resources and Peabody Energy also traded lower.

Weekly mortgage applications rebounded last week as interest rates pulled back for the first time in three weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Paychex and Red Hat are among notable companies scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell.

Several members of the Federal Reserve are expected to speak throughout the day, including Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.

Meanwhile, crude oil inventories for last week will be released by the Energy Department at 10:30 am ET. Inventories rose by 1.31 million in the prior week.

The Treasury is slated to auction $35 billion in 5-year notes with the results available shortly after 1pm ET.

(Read More: Global 'Triple-A Ratings Club' Shrinks 60 Percent)

?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Afghan villagers flee their homes, blame US drones

KHALIS FAMILY VILLAGE, Afghanistan (AP) ? Barely able to walk even with a cane, Ghulam Rasool says he padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and fled his mountain home in the middle of the night to escape relentless airstrikes from U.S. drones targeting militants in this remote corner of Afghanistan.

Rasool and other Afghan villagers have their own name for Predator drones. They call them benghai, which in the Pashto language means the "buzzing of flies." When they explain the noise, they scrunch their faces and try to make a sound that resembles an army of flies.

"They are evil things that fly so high you don't see them but all the time you hear them," said Rasool, whose body is stooped and shrunken with age and his voice barely louder than a whisper. "Night and day we hear this sound and then the bombardment starts."

The U.S. military is increasingly relying on drone strikes inside Afghanistan, where the number of weapons fired from unmanned aerial aircraft soared from 294 in 2011 to 506 last year. With international combat forces set to withdraw by the end of next year, such attacks are now used more for targeted killings and less for supporting ground troops.

It's unclear whether Predator drone strikes will continue after 2014 in Afghanistan, where the government has complained bitterly about civilian casualties. The strikes sometimes accidentally kill civilians while forcing others to abandon their hometowns in fear, feeding widespread anti-American sentiment.

The Associated Press ? in a rare on-the-ground look unaccompanied by military or security ? visited two Afghan villages in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan to talk to residents who reported that they had been affected by drone strikes.

In one village, Afghans disputed NATO's contention that five men killed in a particular drone strike were militants. In the other, a school that was leveled in a nighttime airstrike targeting Taliban fighters hiding inside has yet to be rebuilt.

"These foreigners started the problem," Rasool said of international troops. "They have their own country. They should leave."

From the U.S. perspective, the overall drone program has been a success.

While the Pentagon operates the drones in Afghanistan, the CIA for nearly a decade has used drones to target militants, including Afghans, in Pakistan's border regions. CIA drones have killed al-Qaida No. 2 Abu Yahya al-Libi and other leading extremists.

Still, criticism of the use of drones for targeted killings around the world has been mounting in recent months. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights has launched an investigation into their effect on civilians.

Rasool said his decision to leave his home in Hisarak district came nearly a month ago after a particularly blistering air assault killed five people in the neighboring village of Meya Saheeb.

The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, confirmed an airstrike on Feb. 24 at Meya Saheeb, but as a matter of policy would neither confirm nor deny that drones were used.

Rasool said that he, his son, half a dozen grandchildren, and two other families crammed into the back of a cart pulled by a tractor. They drove throughout the day until they found a house in Khalis Family Village, named after anti-communist rebel leader Maulvi Yunus Khalis, who had close ties to al-Qaida.

The village is not far from the Tora Bora mountain range where in 2001 the U.S.-led coalition mounted its largest operation of the war to flush out al-Qaida and Taliban warriors.

"Nobody ever comes here. It's a little dangerous sometimes because of the Taliban," said Zarullah Khan, a neighbor of Rasool's.

But the historic significance of his newfound refuge was lost on Rasool.

"Who's Khalis? We stopped when we found a house for rent," he said, grumbling at the monthly $200 bill shared among the three families packed into the high-walled compound where he spoke with the AP.

Standing nearby, Rasool's 12-year-old grandson, Ahmed Shah, recalled the attack in Meya Saheeb. The earth shook for what seemed like hours and the next morning his friends told him there were bodies in the nearby village. A little afraid, but more curious, he walked the short distance to Meya Saheed.

"I wanted to see the dead bodies," he said. And he did ? three bodies, all middle-aged men.

ISAF reported five militants were killed, but Rasool claimed they were businessmen. One of the dead had a carpet shop in the village, he said.

Disputes over the identities of those killed have been a hallmark of the 12-year war.

In Pakistan, an AP investigation last year found that drone strikes were killing fewer civilians than many in that country were led to believe, and that many of the dead were combatants.

In Afghanistan, the U.N. has reported that five drone strikes in 2012 resulted in civilian casualties, with 16 civilians killed and three wounded. It reported just one incident in which civilians were killed the previous year.

At the other end of the province from Meya Saheeb and Khalis Family Village lies the village of Budyali. To get there, one must drive along a long, two-lane highway often booby-trapped by militants, before turning turning off onto a narrow, dusty track and finally cross a rock-strewn riverbed.

A Budyali resident, Hayat Gul, says the sound of "benghai" is commonplace in the village. He says he was wounded nearly two years ago in a Taliban firefight with Afghan security forces at a nearby school that led to an airstrike.

Tucked in the shadow of a hulking mountain crisscrossed with dozens of footpaths, the school now is in ruins.

The early morning strike on the school took place on July 17, 2011, hours after the Taliban attacked the district headquarters and the Afghan National Army appealed to their coalition partners for help.

Gul said he and a second guard, 63-year-old Ghulam Ahad, were asleep in the small cement guard house at one end of the school. They awoke to the sound of gunfire as more than a dozen Taliban militants scaled the school walls around midnight, chased by Afghan soldiers.

A bullet struck Gul in the shoulder. Frightened and unsure of what to do, Ahad stepped outside the guard house and was killed. Bullet holes still riddle the badly damaged building.

Village elders and the school's principal, Sayed Habib, said coalition forces responded to the army's request for help with drones, fighter jets and rockets.

The air assault, which residents say began about 3 a.m. and likely included drone strikes, flattened everything across a vast compound that includes the school. Habib said 13 insurgents were killed.

ISAF confirmed that airstrikes killed insurgents in the Budyali area on that day but would not say what type of airstrikes or provide any other details.

Habib and a local malik or elder, Shah Mohammed Khan, said that in the days leading up to the airstrikes the sound of drones could be heard overhead.

"Everyone knows the sound of the unpiloted planes. Even our children know," Habib said.

The elders were critical of the U.S. attack. They said they would have preferred that the Afghan soldiers try to negotiate with the Taliban to leave the school and surrender.

Habib and the village elders recalled the attack while sitting in the middle of the devastated school, where debris was still scattered across a vast yard. They pointed toward a blackboard, pockmarked with gaping holes.

"Shamefully they destroyed our school, our books, our library," said Malik Gul Nawaz, an elder with a gray beard and a pot belly.

Habib said that in an attempt to rebuild the school, a contractor constructed a boundary wall before another Taliban attack. He fled with nearly $400,000 in foreign funds.

The roughly 1,300 students now take classes at a makeshift school made up of tents provided by UNICEF. Gul, who was taken to a U.S. military hospital at Bagram Air Base after the attack and treated for the bullet wound to his left shoulder, is now a watchman at the new school.

He held a small photograph of his dead colleague, Ahad, in his trembling left hand.

"We want to end this war," Gul said. "Enough people have been killed now. We have to find unity."

___

Kathy Gannon is the AP special regional correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be followed on www.twitter.com/kathygannon

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-villagers-flee-homes-blame-us-drones-061922800.html

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Gay marriage equality box spreads on social media

This image released by the Human Rights Campaign shows a redesign of their logo. A square box with thick pink horizontal lines (the mathematical equal symbol) was offered for sharing this week by the Human Rights Campaign as the U.S. Supreme Court took up arguments in key marriage rights cases. The image, replacing profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and elsewhere, is a makeover of the advocacy group's logo, usually a blue background with bright yellow lines. The HRC made it available in red _ for the color of love _ on Monday and estimated tens of millions of shares by Wednesday. (AP Photo/Human Rights Campaign)

This image released by the Human Rights Campaign shows a redesign of their logo. A square box with thick pink horizontal lines (the mathematical equal symbol) was offered for sharing this week by the Human Rights Campaign as the U.S. Supreme Court took up arguments in key marriage rights cases. The image, replacing profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and elsewhere, is a makeover of the advocacy group's logo, usually a blue background with bright yellow lines. The HRC made it available in red _ for the color of love _ on Monday and estimated tens of millions of shares by Wednesday. (AP Photo/Human Rights Campaign)

(AP) ? Bud Light said it with beer cans and Martha Stewart with red velvet cake as companies and celebrities from Beyonce to George Takei joined millions of social media users in posting and tweaking a simple red logo in support of gay marriage.

A square box with thick pink horizontal lines (the mathematical equal symbol) was offered for sharing this week by the Human Rights Campaign as the U.S. Supreme Court took up arguments in key marriage rights cases.

The image, replacing profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and elsewhere, is a makeover of the advocacy group's logo, usually a blue background with bright yellow lines. The HRC made it available in red ? for the color of love ? on Monday and estimated tens of millions of shares by Wednesday.

"It shows the enthusiasm and the passion," said Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the nonprofit in Washington, D.C.

Like viral campaigns of yore, supporting breast cancer awareness (pink), President Barack Obama (change your middle name to Hussein) and even Arab Spring (green), a bit of fatigue set in on some social media streams by those questioning whether such efforts serve to change any minds or, put simply, are plain annoying.

"My Facebook feed is a cascading aesthetic nightmare. Thanks, equality," Washington Post writer Dan Zak wryly grumbled on Twitter.

A photo of Justice Anthony Kennedy made the rounds with the quip: "Before we make a ruling, did enough people change their Facebook profile picture?!"

None of that mattered to the masses of same-sex marriage supporters. Some swapped matzoh for the pink lines as Passover got under way, or added frowny Internet star Grumpy Cat, who explained marriage equality would make her happy.

Bert and Ernie showed up against the red background. (They're best friends with no plans to marry, according to Sesame Street.) Another version featured Paula Deen atop the red square and lines turned a shade of yellow akin to her favorite fatty ingredient and the tagline: "It's like two sticks of butter y'all."

Takei, a noted punster with nearly 4 million followers in Facebook, turned the equal sign into the division sign for those opposed to marriage equality.

Beyonce, with more than 44 million followers there, played it straight, leaving the logo alone and adding a personal message: "It's about TIME!!! (hash)EQUALITY (hash)MarryWhoYouLove.

Fergie let the image speak for itself on Twitter, adding: "No words necessary." Montana Sen. John Tester, a Democrat who endorsed same-sex marriage on Tuesday, put the logo up as his profile on Facebook while the clothing site Bonobos swapped its usual Facebook pic for the red square using fancy white pants for the equal sign.

Martha Stewart's Facebook page used a slice of red cake with white icing to make the image and the HBO page for "True Blood" added fangs.

All in good fun?

"There's a lot of serious conversation going on and there's an awful lot of important concepts that the Supreme Court justices are discussing," Sainz said. "What this logo going viral means is individuals have reduced it to a very straightforward concept."

Steve Jones, a professor of online culture and communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago, wondered whether all the mash-ups muddle the message.

"Once you throw it together with something like Grumpy Cat it's fun," he said. "But was this message intended to be fun?"

___

Associated Press writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this report.

___

Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-27-Gay%20Marriage-Viral%20Logo/id-7cac5d6f77154ca49c42c5397a1ed5e3

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Violent video games are a risk factor for criminal behavior and aggression, new evidence shows

Mar. 26, 2013 ? People are quick to point the finger or dismiss the effect of violent video games as a factor in criminal behavior. New evidence from Iowa State researchers demonstrates a link between video games and youth violence and delinquency.

Matt DeLisi, a professor of sociology, said the research shows a strong connection even when controlling for a history of violence and psychopathic traits among juvenile offenders.

"When critics say, 'Well, it's probably not video games, it's probably how antisocial they are,' we can address that directly because we controlled for a lot of things that we know matter," DeLisi said. "Even if you account for the child's sex, age, race, the age they were first referred to juvenile court -- which is a very powerful effect -- and a bunch of other media effects, like screen time and exposure. Even with all of that, the video game measure still mattered."

The results were not unexpected, but somewhat surprising for Douglas Gentile, an associate professor of psychology, who has studied the effects of video game violence exposure and minor aggression, like hitting, teasing and name-calling.

"I didn't expect to see much of an effect when we got to serious delinquent and criminal level aggression because youth who commit that level of aggression have a lot of things going wrong for them. They often have a lot of risk factors and very few protective factors in their lives," Gentile said.

The study published in the April issue of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice examined the level of video game exposure for 227 juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania. The average offender had committed nearly nine serious acts of violence, such as gang fighting, hitting a parent or attacking another person in the prior year.

The results show that both the frequency of play and affinity for violent games were strongly associated with delinquent and violent behavior. Craig Anderson, Distinguished Professor of psychology and director of the Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State, said violent video game exposure is not the sole cause of violence, but this study shows it is a risk factor.

"Can we say from this study that Adam Lanza, or any of the others, went off and killed people because of media violence? You can't take the stand of the NRA that it's strictly video games and not guns," Anderson said. "You also can't take the stand of the entertainment industry that it has nothing to do with media violence that it's all about guns and not about media violence. They're both wrong and they're both right, both are causal risk factors."

Researchers point out that juvenile offenders have several risk factors that influence their behavior. The next step is to build on this research to determine what combination of factors is the most volatile and if there is a saturation point.

"When studying serious aggression, looking at multiple risk factors matters more than looking at any one," Gentile said. "The cutting edge of research is trying to understand in what combination do the individual risk factors start influencing each other in ways to either enhance or mitigate the odds of aggression?"

What does this mean for parents?

There is a lot of misinformation about video game exposure, Anderson said, that makes it difficult for parents to understand the harmful effects. Although it is one variable that parents can control, he understands that with mixed messages about the risks some parents may feel it's not worth the effort.

"What parent would go through the pain and all the effort it takes to really control their child's media diet, if they don't really think it makes any difference? That is why it is so important to get out the simple and clear message that media violence does matter," Anderson said.

Just because a child plays a violent video game does not mean he or she is going to act violently. Researchers say if there is a take away for parents, it is an awareness of what their children are playing and how that may influence their behavior.

"I think parents need to be truthful and honest about who their children are in terms of their psychiatric functioning," DeLisi said. "If you have a kid who is antisocial, who is a little bit vulnerable to influence, giving them something that allows them to escape into themselves for a long period of time isn't a healthy thing."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Iowa State University.

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Journal Reference:

  1. M. DeLisi, M. G. Vaughn, D. A. Gentile, C. A. Anderson, J. J. Shook. Violent Video Games, Delinquency, and Youth Violence: New Evidence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2012; 11 (2): 132 DOI: 10.1177/1541204012460874

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/mind_brain/child_development/~3/i5WEpZcOs2A/130326121605.htm

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

NYC aquarium rebounds, rebuilds after Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) ? The New York Aquarium has cherished its big-city setting by the sea for half a century. But the ocean that is the aquarium's lifeblood dealt it a shattering blow last fall.

Superstorm Sandy's surge overran carefully calibrated tanks with oily, debris-filled water, knocked out even backup power to all the exhibits and made it impossible to check on some of them for days. Managers contemplated shipping animals away and wondered whether the institution itself could survive in its spot on Coney Island.

Five months later, more than 80 percent of the collection is intact, and visitors should be able to see walruses, angelfish, otters and others when about half the aquarium reopens late spring. A planned expansion remains on track, now coupled with rebuilding and floodproofing an institution that aims to be an object lesson in enduring on the shore.

"I don't think we could abandon this facility. Not that we didn't think about it ? we thought through everything," aquarium Director Jon Forrest Dohlin said this week as he stood amid pipes and cables in a now-empty jellyfish exhibit.

"We want to be here, and we also want to be able to talk to the community about what we did, how we handled this, and how the city of New York can start to look toward the future of living in this coastal environment."

As he walked through the 14-acre grounds, penguins watched like squat sentries from their outdoor habitat. Walruses snoozed as sea lions arced through the air on their trainers' cues, staying in practice for shows to resume in a few months. Angelfish and other tropical species shimmered around a coral reef and hefty pacu, a fruit-eating piranha relative, hovered in an Amazonian display in the one building where exhibit space wasn't flooded.

But the effects of the Oct. 29 storm were still starkly visible elsewhere.

The floor was torn out of a building that houses jellyfish, seahorses, lungfish and other unusual creatures. Many were still there but set to start moving next month to other aquariums while their facility is rebuilt. The open pool in front of it was drained dry; it housed hundreds of freshwater koi that died in the saltwater surge.

Sharks, sea turtles and rays circled serenely in a tank in the aquarium's veterinary hospital. They're healthy but were shuttled there after the storm put an exclamation point on plans to reinvent their exhibit. Nearby, the gutted cafeteria still has "Happy Halloween!" signs on its windows.

There's no firm date yet for this spring's partial reopening. The rest of the exhibits, including the new $120 million shark display, are to open in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the aquarium, is determining how much insurance and government aid may pay toward fixing roughly $65 million in estimated damage.

The aquarium was founded in 1896 in lower Manhattan. It moved in 1957 to Coney Island, a faded seaside playground now striving for rebirth. Drawing more than 750,000 visitors a year, it's "the economic engine for Coney Island," says City Councilman Domenic Recchia Jr., who represents the area.

Aquariums are often built by the water and have proven vulnerable to hurricanes. New Orleans' Audubon Aquarium of the Americas lost thousands of fish when generators failed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It reopened about five months later.

In Galveston, Texas, Hurricane Ike's storm surge in 2008 killed about three-quarters of the fish in Moody Gardens' rainforest exhibit, General Manager Robert Callies said. The exhibit reopened in 2011 after bringing back hundreds of birds, reptiles and mammals sent to other zoos after the storm.

At the New York Aquarium, Sandy's surge coursed through air-intake vents in flood doors under the Coney Island boardwalk, punched through sand into the parking lot and rushed in from the parking lot after a creek overflowed blocks away.

As the water rose three feet high in Dohlin's ground-floor office, he watched it pour down a stairwell into a basement that housed exhibits and the equipment that keeps them alive.

"'We lost the aquarium,'" he thought.

Basements were under up to 15 feet of water. Generators were either damaged or useless because equipment needed to distribute their power was fried. The pump house that draws from the ocean to refresh the 1.5 million-gallon exhibits was out of commission, as were systems that treat the seawater, tailor it to different environments and maintain the oxygen levels, temperatures and water chemistry the aquarium's 12,000 animals need.

None had been evacuated. That would have been very difficult to arrange in the few days the aquarium had to prepare, Dohlin said.

Scrambling to save the collection, 18 staffers used hospital-style canisters to get crucial oxygen into the water, rebuilt filters and pumps on the fly and called in equipment from the Wildlife Conservation Society's four zoos. They mixed artificial seawater in garbage cans and warmed rooms with space heaters to keep water temperatures up, animal operations director David DeNardo said.

At the same time, managers weighed how much longer they had to get systems going before having to ship animals away, an unwelcome prospect for already stressed creatures. On Nov. 1, the wildlife society announced that a decision would probably have to be made in 24 hours. But key systems were at least partially running in all the exhibits two days later, and the animals stayed.

The koi and some other fish were dead. But many other fish and all the mammals were fine ? including Mitik, an orphaned walrus calf that arrived only weeks before. He seemed to enjoy splashing in a couple of feet of surge water, Dohlin said.

A 3-foot-long American eel disappeared from its tank but turned up, unharmed, in a staff shower stall. Seahorses held on to life despite the cold, dirty surge water that flowed into their tropical tanks.

Now, plans call for raising the new shark building several feet higher to meet new flood-zone predictions, moving air intake vents from the flood doors to the roof, moving electrical panels out of basements and installing full-height storm doors on some glass doors that were only partly protected.

It's an unexpected chance, Dohlin says, to improve both the aquarium's exhibits and endurance at once.

"Not to let any crisis go to waste," he said. "That's the real opportunity here."

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-aquarium-rebounds-rebuilds-sandy-065224810--finance.html

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APNewsBreak: Pentagon cuts number of furlough days

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Defense officials say the Pentagon will sharply cut the number of unpaid furlough days civilians will have to take in the next several months from 22 to 14, reducing the financial impact of the budget cuts on as many as 700,000 workers.

Officials say Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made the decision Wednesday. Military and defense leaders continue to work through the details, trying to decide how to allocate the more than $10 billion Congress shifted to operations accounts. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Initially, civilians would have had to take one day off each week for 22 weeks.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-27-Budget%20Battle-Pentagon%20Furloughs/id-6e568d49fa75445b986740fde63c1a55

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Finally, DGCA allows lessors to reposess leased Kingfisher planes ...

The Indian civil aviation regulator has deregistered 15 Kingfisher planes paving the way for global leasing companies to take them back and easing worries that the dispute might hurt purchases by other Indian carriers.

The move comes a day after officials from German bank DVB, one of the largest global aviation financing banks, met DGCA chief Arun Mishra? to press for deregistration of the two aircraft.? Unless a plane is de-rigistered in a lessor country, it cannot be reclaimed or leased to other carriers.? The two planes were sent to Turkey for repair and maintenance where DVB seized them. But since they were? yet to be deregistered the aircraft could not be sold to other carriers.

AFP

AFP

In fact, DVB even sued the aviation regulator and Kingfisher to have the two planes deregistered. The German bank has moved the Delhi High Court over the issue and the court was to take up the matter for hearing on 8 April.

Cash-poor and debt-hit Kingfisher has not flown for five months and finance and leasing companies have warned that India could be starved of the funding it needs to fuel aviation industry growth if repossessing its planes is not made easier.

Earlier this year, US-based International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC), one of the world?s largest leasing firms, sent a team to repossess planes from Kingfisher for unpaid bills. However, the planes remained stranded? due to administrative hurdles. According to media reports, ILFC today successfully removed one of six aircraft stranded in India post the deregisteration.

Earlier the Airports Authority of India and other vendors to whom Kingfisher owed large sums of money, had decided not to release these planes till such time the bankrupt airline does not clear their dues.

Arun Mishra, director general of civil aviation, also said the regulator would meet tax officials and airport operators today to? discuss issues related to other planes leased by Kingfisher, whose aircraft have been grounded for months.

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The art of the nap: Tilda Swinton at MoMA

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? It's not the kind of performance that will win her another Academy Award, but Tilda Swinton certainly has them buzzing at the Museum of Modern Art.

But keep it down, please. She's trying to sleep.

The "Moonrise Kingdom star has been engaging in a different kind of performance art. She's presenting a one-person piece called "The Maybe," in which she lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The first performance was over the weekend, and the museum won't say if there's a schedule for when exactly it will come back for six other performances.

On Monday, the display drew a line of spectators that wound through a whole second-floor gallery into a museum hallway.

Erwin Aschenbrenner, a bemused German tourist, said it "just what you'd expect to see at MoMA."

The actress "is so pale and not moving in there that she looks like she's dead," said Robbie von Kampen, 20, a philosophy major at Bard College, north of New York City.

But after about seven hours a day of the shuteye pose on a white mattress in the glass box ? with only a carafe of water and a glass to get her through ? Swinton can stretch and walk off into the Manhattan night. But only when spectators leave.

So what's the point?

"This makes me think about myself, looking at her," said Quinn Moreland, 20, also a Bard student, majoring in art history.

"You don't usually get to stare at somebody like this; it makes me self-conscious," she explained.

Added von Kampen, "Yeah, it's socially unacceptable ? it's kinda creepy."

No one, not even museum curators, could say whether the thin, mostly immobile Swinton is actually getting some sleep while people stare at her.

At least Swinton was comfortable. She wore a pair of grubby sneakers, dark sporty slacks and a checkered shirt. Her glasses lay on the mattress.

But no snacks were in sight. And none could be offered in the closed chamber.

Swinton also starred in a glass box in 1995 at London's Serpentine Gallery ? seven days, eight hours a day ? in an exhibition seen by 22,000 people.

The next year, she repeated the spectacle at the Museo Barracco in Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-25-People-Swinton/id-c3a30c9d1f514e848a4bece6236ff406

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