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Monday, May 7, 2012
Editor?s desk: BlackBerry and Samsung events, rumor repeats, the Avengers, and more
And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest mobile sites found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Mobile Nations was born -- to provide the coverage no generic tech blog could provide! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing several times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then?for now, the Mobile Nations ASSEMBLE!
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Afghan child bride's in-laws sentenced for torture
FILE- In this Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 file photo, Afghan doctors, unseen, dress the tortured ear of Sahar Gul, 15-year-old at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. The in-laws of a child bride who became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for torture, abuse and human rights violations, a judge said Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq, File)
FILE- In this Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 file photo, Afghan doctors, unseen, dress the tortured ear of Sahar Gul, 15-year-old at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. The in-laws of a child bride who became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for torture, abuse and human rights violations, a judge said Saturday, May 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq, File)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The in-laws of a child bride who became the bruised and bloodied face of women's rights in Afghanistan have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for torture, abuse and human rights violations, a judge said Saturday.
The plight of 15-year-old Sahar Gul captivated the nation and set off a storm of international condemnation when it came to light in late December. Officials said her husband's family kept her in a basement for six months after her arranged marriage, ripping out her fingernails, breaking her fingers and torturing her with hot irons in an attempt to force her into prostitution.
She was rescued by police in northeastern Baghlan province after an uncle alerted authorities.
Gul's husband's father, mother and sister were each sentenced to 10 years in prison by a court in Kabul on Tuesday, presiding judge Sibghatullah Razi said.
Also found guilty were Gul's husband, a member of the Afghan army, and her brother-in-law, both of whom have been on the run since her case became public, Razi said. He said the men will be sentenced when they are captured.
Gul was present for the decision, telling the court that she wanted her in-laws "severely punished" for what they had put her through, Razi said. She has filed an appeal for a longer sentence with the help of the Women for Afghan Women, a group that works for women's rights in the country and has been caring for the teenager since her rescue.
"Of course we are not happy with the court's decision," said Huma Safi, program manager for the group.
Gul's case has prompted calls for more efforts to strengthen women's rights and end underage marriage. The legal marriage age in Afghanistan is 16, but the United Nations agency UN Women estimates that half of all girls are forced to marry under age 15.
There has been progress in women's rights since the 2001 U.S.-led campaign that toppled the Taliban regime, which banned girls' schools and prevented women from leaving the house unless accompanied by a male relative.
But ending abuse remains a huge challenge in Afghanistan's patriarchal society, where traditional practices include child marriage, giving girls away to settle debts or pay for their relatives' crimes and so-called honor killings in which women seen as disgracing their families are murdered by their relatives.
Gul, who had been married for seven months when she was found in late December, is still seeing doctors for some problems with her hands and fingers, but is doing better both physically and emotionally, Safi said. She said the girl is now very interested in studying, very different from when she first arrived.
She also has made great progress in her efforts to become comfortable around other people again, Safi said.
"She was very brave. When she was brought to us after her rescue, she was unable to speak. But this week she was able to get up and speak in front of an entire courtroom asking for her rights," Safi said.
"These are all positive signs and of course we are very proud of her."
___
Associated Press writer Chris Blake in Kabul contributed to this report.
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Jobs report: The stall has arrived
Friday?s jobs report for April was even more disappointing than March. This is bad news for millions of Americans.
The economy has stalled.
Skip to next paragraph Robert ReichRobert is chancellor?s professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Clinton. Time Magazine?named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including ?The Work of Nations,? his latest best-seller ?Aftershock: The Next Economy and America?s Future," and a new?e-book, ?Beyond Outrage.??He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.
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Friday?s jobs report for April was even more disappointing than March. Employers added only 115,000 new jobs, down from March?s number (the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the March number upward to 154,000, but that?s still abysmal relative to what?s needed). We need well over 250,000 new jobs per month in order to begin to whittle down the vast number of jobs lost in the Great Recession. At least 125,000 new jobs are necessary each month just to keep up with an expanding population of working-age people.
With only 115,000 jobs in April, the hole is getting even deeper.
Most observers pay attention to the official rate of unemployment, which edged down to 8.1 percent in April from 8.2 percent in March. That may sound like progress, but it?s not. The unemployment rate dropped because more people dropped out of the labor force, too discouraged to look for work. The household survey, from which the rate is calculated, counts as ?unemployed? only people who are actively looking for work. If you stop looking because the job scene looks hopeless for you, you?re no longer counted.
In the winter months ? December, January, and February ? hiring had seemed to pick up, averaging over 250,000 new jobs per month. Then the mini-surge stopped. The simplest explanation is that the mild winter across much of the United States gave an unusual boost to hiring then, leading to a correction by the spring.
Most of the job gains in April were in lower-wage industries ? retail stores, restaurants, and temporary-help. That means average wages continue to drop, adjusted for inflation ? continuing their long-term decline. Most of the new jobs that have been added to the U.S. economy during this recovery have paid less than the jobs that were lost during the downturn.
What does all this mean? Together with other recent data showing slower economic growth during the first quarter of this year, it?s safe to say the economy has stalled.
This is bad news for millions of Americans.
It?s also bad news for Obama and the Democrats. Voters don?t pay much attention to the economy in an election year until after Labor Day, so it?s not necessarily a huge help to Romney and the Republicans. But it?s a bad political omen nonetheless.?
No?set of policies between now and Election Day are likely to expand the economy. To the contrary, government at all levels continues to contract, acting as a fiscal drag when government needs to be doing the exact reverse ? boosting the economy through additional spending. In 2013, when spending major cuts are scheduled, we?ll fall off a fiscal cliff.
Obama needs to push back loudly and clearly, saying he won?t support additional spending cuts until the economy is showing clear signs of improvement.
But widening inequality is the underlying culprit here. As long as almost all the gains from economic growth continue to go to the top, the vast middle class doesn?t have the purchasing power to boost the economy on its own. And rich Americans spend a much smaller portion of their incomes than does the vast middle class. Their marginal satisfaction from additional spending falls off. The second yacht isn?t nearly as much fun as the first.
Get it? We?ve still got a terrible cyclical problem ? we can?t get out of the gravitational pull of the Great Recession.
Yet?the underlying problem is structural, and it?s been growing for decades. The structural problem of stagnant or declining real incomes for most people, and soaring income and wealth at the top, was masked during the boom years when the middle class could turn their homes into piggy banks and extract home-equity loans or refinance. But the mask came off in 2008 as home values plummeted.
There?s no way to put the mask back on. We?ve got to face the truth. Obama and the Democrats have to explain to the American people why inequality isn?t just unfair; it?s also economically unsustainable.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. This post originally ran on www.robertreich.org.
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Sunday, May 6, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Space Shuttle Enterprise flyover wows New Yorkers (+video)
Perched atop a modified 747 jumbo jet, the Space Shuttle Enterprise greeted the Big Apple by zooming past the Statue of Liberty and flying along the Hudson River.
Hundreds of space shuttle fans braved the chilly temperatures and biting wind Friday morning (April 27) along the Hudson River here to catch a glimpse of NASA's prototype orbiter as it flew past the museum it will soon call home.
Skip to next paragraphEnterprise, the agency's original test shuttle,?flew to New York today?from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., atop a modified Boeing 747 jet. Before landing at New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, the piggybacking duo flew over the Statue of Liberty, then followed the Hudson River past the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where it will soon be placed on public display.
The shuttle flyover attracted fans of all ages, who gathered around the Intrepid museum and Pier 86 on Manhattan's west side to witness the historic event.
"How often do you get to see something like this ? a shuttle on piggyback coming down the Hudson River?" said Kenneth Irvin, who came with his wife, Ceil, from Long Island. [Photos: Final Voyage of Space Shuttle Enterprise]
As?Enterprise?and its chaperone flew overhead, the crowd, which was made up of men, women and children of all ages, erupted into cheers and applause.
"It was absolutely amazing to see it like that," Adam Schechter said shortly after Enterprise's first pass. Schechter carried his young son, Harry, and spoke energetically about his experiences with the space shuttles, including seeing the STS-97 launch of the shuttle Endeavour in November 2000.
"It was amazing, and the loudest thing I ever heard in my life," Schechter told SPACE.com.
He also recounted a visit he and his son took to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., where Enterprise had previously been on display since 2003.
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Junior Seau Dead of Apparent Suicide
Former NFL great Junior Seau was found dead in his home in Oceanside, Calif., today. Police say the likely cause of death was suicide. He was 43 years old.
Law enforcement sources reportedly believe Seau, a USC and pro football standout for 20 seasons, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Few other details were immediately available. TV footage showed police swarming his home in North San Diego County and people comforting each other.
He leaves behind four kids and an ex-wife. He reportedly sent text messages to his ex-wife and children yesterday saying simply, "Love you."
They all responded and didn't suspect anything was wrong, according to TMZ reports, and Seau is said to have last seen his kids three weeks ago.
Sources close to Seau say his family didn't notice any signs of depression in recent weeks, but more details will surely follow in the coming days.
Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy just spoke outside Seau's house, claiming Seau's body was initially discovered by the athlete's girlfriend.
A 911 call was placed around 10 a.m. today. Police responded and found Junior's unconscious body inside a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest.
McCoy says investigators recovered a handgun in the bedroom, believed to be the weapon, and the case is currently being investigated as a suicide.
Seau was involved in a car accident a few years ago when he drove off a cliff in Carlsbad, Calif., hours after he was arrested for attacking his girlfriend.
Seau later said he was not trying to kill himself ... insisting he had fallen asleep at the wheel. That was 2010, his final season as a professional.
The San Diego Chargers, who employed Junior for most of his career, said in a statement, "Everyone at the Chargers is in complete shock and disbelief right now. We ask everyone to stop what they're doing and send their prayers to Junior and his family."
Seau's explosive play at linebacker with the Chargers, Dolphins and Patriots will likely send him to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
[Photo: WENN.com]
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