chrisse corinth: April 2013

Monday, April 29, 2013

Wife accidentally kills husband during gun lesson: Police

David Chang, NBCPhiladelphia.com

A fun night for a Pennsylvania couple turned deadly after police say the woman accidentally shot and killed her husband.

On Friday, around 9 p.m., police say Michael Wanko, 43, and Michele Wanko, 42, were ?casually drinking? vodka and lemonade together inside their home on West Roland Road in Parkside, Penn. Around 3:30 a.m., police say the couple went into their basement so that Michael could show his wife how to use a semiautomatic pistol. The couple went into a work room where several weapons were kept inside a safe.

?He took several of the weapons out, handguns and was demonstrating to her how the weapon worked as far as taking the magazine out, making sure it was safe, and how to pull the slide back,? said Parkside Police Chief John Egan.

As Michael reached into a safe to grab a gun, police say Michele picked up another gun and pulled the slide back, just as her husband had instructed her.

?When she let go of the slide, the weapon went off,? said Chief Egan.

Michael was struck in the upper chest. At the time, police say, the couple?s 2-year-old and 5-year-old sons were sleeping upstairs. Police say the 5-year-old was awakened by his mother?s frantic screams as she called 911.

Police arrived at the home around 4 a.m. Michael was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

Michele was charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime. She was processed at the Chester City Jail and released on $250,000 unsecured bail. Her two children are currently staying with relatives.

Police say the gun Michele used was turned over to the Delaware County ballistics unit where investigators would ?ascertain if the weapon malfunctioned or if it operated properly.?

Neighbors described the Wanko family as ?nice people? who always did things with their children and were well respected throughout the neighborhood. Chief Egan says police were called to their home a year ago for a domestic dispute but that it was only ?a shouting match between the two.? No one was charged in that incident.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b4805bf/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C280C179594980Ewife0Eaccidentally0Ekills0Ehusband0Eduring0Egun0Elesson0Epolice0Dlite/story01.htm

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Nearest Alien Planet Gets New Name

Correct.
Anybody can claim to be running a contest to name anything, legality not withstanding, however, only the body/organization that is internationally recognized as the valid naming registrar can actually place or change names. In this case, it's the IAU (International Astronomical Union).
Uwing claims they didn't say they were sanctioned to do so by IAU, but then again, they didn't say they weren't, and most people will assume that you had obtained permission to do something you are taking money for unless you say otherwise. To not point out that it is an unofficial name choosing, is the first sign of a scam.

Another thing, if you see anyone wanting money for ANYTHING not within the confines of the Earths Troposphere, it's about 99.999% probably it's a scam. You won't get any property, rights, or official naming of anything. There are international treaties that cover a lot of this stuff, and one of the first rules in that whole thing is if you don't have people their, you definitely have no rights to sell it, period. (Even if you do have people there, you still have lots of limits on what you can do.)

By the way, horrible name choice in my opinion. Nice to honor your grandfather, but still, that name sucks.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/jJwP4NEYLF0/story01.htm

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Report: CIA paid millions in 'ghost money' to Afghan leader

(Reuters) - Tens of millions of U.S. dollars in cash were delivered by the CIA in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags to the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai for more than a decade, according to the New York Times, citing current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

The so-called "ghost money" was meant to buy influence for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) but instead fuelled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington's exit strategy from Afghanistan, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying.

"The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan", one American official said, "was the United States."

The CIA declined to comment on the report and the U.S. State Department did not immediately comment. The New York Times did not publish any comment from Karzai or his office.

"We called it ?ghost money'," Khalil Roman, who served as Karzai's chief of staff from 2002 until 2005, told the New York Times. "It came in secret and it left in secret."

For more than a decade the cash was dropped off every month or so at the Afghan president's office, the newspaper said.

Handing out cash has been standard procedure for the CIA in Afghanistan since the start of the war.

The cash payments to the president's office do not appear to be subject to oversight and restrictions placed on official American aid to the country or the CIA's formal assistance programs, like financing Afghan intelligence agencies, and do not appear to violate U.S. laws, said the New York Times.

There was no evidence that Karzai personally received any of the money, Afghan officials told the newspaper. The cash was handled by his National Security Council, it added.

U.S. and Afghan officials familiar with the payments were quoted as saying that the main goal in providing the cash was to maintain access to Karzai and his inner circle and to guarantee the CIA's influence at the presidential palace, which wields tremendous power in Afghanistan's highly centralized government.

Much of the money went to warlords and politicians, many with ties to the drug trade and in some cases the Taliban, the New York Times said. U.S. and Afghan officials were quoted as saying the CIA supported the same patronage networks that U.S. diplomats and law enforcement agents struggled to dismantle, leaving the government in the grip of organized crime.

In 2010, Karzai said his office received cash in bags from Iran, but that it was a transparent form of aid that helped cover expenses at the presidential palace. He said at the time that the United States made similar payments.

The latest New York Times report said much of the Iranian cash, like the CIA money, went to pay warlords and politicians.

For most of Karzai's 11-year reign, there has been little interest in anti-corruption in the army or police. The country's two most powerful institutions receive billions of dollars from donors annually but struggle just to recruit and maintain a force bled by high rates of desertion.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell and Sarah Lynch in Washington; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/millions-cia-ghost-money-paid-afghan-presidents-office-020006835.html

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President says Libya harbors Chadian mercenaries

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's President Idriss Deby on Saturday that Chadian mercenaries had set up a training camp in neighboring Libya from where they could seek to destabilize his country, an accusation Libyan authorities denied.

Deby said during a radio interview that the mercenaries were free to roam around the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of the Chadian border.

"I do not want the new Libya to serve as the source of any plot to destabilize Chad," Deby said. "I am asking Libyan authorities to take steps to ensure that Chad does not fall prey to another Libyan misadventure."

But Saleh Gaouda, deputy president of the National Security Committee in Libya's General National Congress who also represents Benghazi, denied any such camps existed.

"Libya ... does not permit military camps where foreigners can find shelter, and will not interfere in the internal politics of our neighbors," Saleh said.

"As a deputy for the city of Benghazi, I can say categorically that there are no such camps in the city."

Chad has had rocky relations with its northern neighbor, going to war with Libya in the 1970s and 1980s when former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi tried to seize the Aouzou Strip.

Ties improved after Deby, backed by Gaddafi, seized power in a 1990 military coup. Deby condemned NATO strikes against Gaddafi and was one of the last leaders in region to recognize the new Libyan authorities.

The former French colony of Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been hit by humanitarian crises over the last decade exacerbated by rebellions in the east and south, drought in the arid Sahel region, and flooding.

In March, the Chadian rebel coalition UFR, who lay down their weapons in 2010, warned that they would take up arms again against Deby after he failed to enter talks with them after they agreed to stop fighting.

Chad has sent some 2,000 soldiers to fight alongside French troops to drive Islamists from remote northern towns, mountains and deserts regions of northern Mali.

(Reporting by Madjiasra Nako in N'Djamena and Ghaith Shennib in Benghazi; Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/president-says-libya-harbors-chadian-mercenaries-162528582.html

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

'All My Children' star brings back evil Dr. David

By Michael Maloney, TODAY contributor

Every soap needs a sexy villain whom viewers love to hate, so it's no surprise that Vincent Irizarry's evil Dr. David is a part of the new "All My Children." The former ABC soap opera is relaunching Monday on The Online Network as well as Hulu and iTunes.

David Giesbrecht / TOLN

Debbi Morgan and Vincent Irizarry.

The Emmy-winning actor told TODAY that the show's revival was fast and furious. "I got a call from (executive producer) Ginger Smith in December, and she told me the show was coming back," Irizarry revealed. "They put everything together in two months! It's nothing short of a miracle, frankly. This couldn't be more surreal."

Viewers saw a more reformed David when "AMC" concluded its broadcast run over a year and a half ago. (Helping revive all those presumed dead characters earned him some goodwill.) But audiences will discover that the events of the finale -- when J.R. took aim at the good citizens of Pine Valley -- still play a big role in David's life five years later.

"That moment took on significant impact in David's life," Irizarry said. "We're going to see the effects of that (based on) what took place that night at Brooke and Adam's party. That event continues to propel David forward in the weeks, months and years ahead. He's going to be that character that viewers know and love to hate."

Can anyone touch David's often-cold and calculating heart? "There are definitely a few who bring out his better side," Irizarry noted. "Angie (Debbi Morgan) is one of those people. It's not romantic between them, but David and Angie grew closer during her ordeal of being blind. She challenges him to be a better person."

Another of Irizarry's co-stars may surprise you -- it's none other than Agnes Nixon, the show's creator (now consulting on its reboot). Nixon portrayed a hospital patient in "AMC" during its final days on ABC.

"Agnes is one of the great storytellers of our time," Irizarry praised. "I have enormous respect for her. She was magical in our scenes, so natural and beautiful on camera. She's a storyteller, not an actress, but you could see her talents in those scenes."

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Two and a Half Men Season 11: Coming This Fall to CBS!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/two-and-a-half-men-season-11-coming-this-fall-to-cbs/

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Bill to end airport delays headed for House vote

A United Airlines jet departs in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Seattle. A day after flight delays plagued much of the U.S., air travel is smoother Tuesday. But the government is warning passengers that the situation can change by the hour as it runs the nation's air traffic control system with a smaller staff. Airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to make mandatory budget cuts besides furloughing controllers. While delays haven't been terrible yet, the airlines are worried about the long-term impact late flights will have on their budgets and on fliers. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? (AP) ? Legislation to end furloughs of air traffic controllers and delays for millions of travelers is headed to a House vote after a dark-of-night vote in the Senate that took place after most lawmakers had left the Capitol for a weeklong vacation.

The bill passed late Thursday without even a roll call vote, and House officials indicated it likely would be brought up for quick approval there.

Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to "prevent reduced operations and staffing" through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, Senate officials said the available funds should be ample enough to prevent the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA has said it will shut the facilities as it makes its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts ? known as the sequester ? that took effect last month at numerous government agencies.

The Senate acted as the FAA said there had been at least 863 flights delayed on Wednesday "attributable to staffing reductions resulting from the furlough."

Administration officials participated in the negotiations that led to the deal and evidently registered no objections.

After the vote, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "It will be good news for America's traveling public if Congress spares them these unnecessary delays. But ultimately, this is no more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails to address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequester's mindless, across-the-board cuts."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key participant in the talks, said the legislation would "prevent what otherwise would have been intolerable delays in the air travel system, inconveniencing travelers and hurting the economy."

Senate approval followed several hours of pressure-filled, closed-door negotiations, and came after most senators had departed the Capitol on the assumption that the talks had fallen short.

Officials said a small group of senators insisted on a last-ditch effort at an agreement before Congress adjourned for a vacation that could have become politically problematic if the flight delays continued.

"I want to do it right now. There are other senators you'd have to ask what the hang-up is," Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said at a point when it appeared no compromise would emerge.

For the White House and Senate Democrats, the discussions on legislation relating to one relatively small slice of the $85 billion in spending cuts marked a shift in position in a long-running struggle with Republicans over budget issues. Similarly, the turn of events marked at least modest vindication of a decision by the House GOP last winter to finesse some budget struggles in order to focus public attention on the across-the-board cuts in hopes they would gain leverage over President Barack Obama.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union that represents FAA employees, reported a number of incidents it said were due to the furloughs.

In one case, it said several flights headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York were diverted on Wednesday when a piece of equipment failed. "While the policy for this equipment is immediate restoral, due to sequestration and furloughs it was changed to next-day restoral," the union said.

It added it was "learning of additional impacts nationwide, including open watches, increased restoration times, delays resulting from insufficient funding for parts and equipment, modernization delays, missed or deferred preventative maintenance, and reduced redundancy."

The airlines, too, were pressing Congress to restore the FAA to full staffing.

In an interview Wednesday, Robert Isom, chief operations officer of US Airways, likened the furloughs to a "wildcat regulatory action."

He added, "In the airline business, you try to eliminate uncertainty. Some factors you can't control, like weather. It (the FAA issue) is worse than the weather."

In a shift, first the White House and then senior Democratic lawmakers have signaled a willingness in the past two days to support legislation that alleviates the budget crunch at the FAA, while leaving the balance of the $85 billion to remain in effect.

Obama favors a comprehensive agreement that replaces the entire $85 billion in across-the-board cuts as part of a broader deficit-reduction deal that includes higher taxes and spending cuts.

One Senate Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, noted that without the type of comprehensive deficit deal that Obama favors, a bill that eases the spending crunch at the FAA would inevitably be followed by other single-issue measures. She listed funding at the National Institutes of Health as one example, and cuts that cause furloughs of civilians who work at military hospitals as a second.

At the same time, Democratic aides said resolve had crumbled under the weight of widespread delays for the traveling public and pressure from the airlines.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., involved in the discussions, said the issue was big enough so "most people want to find a solution as long as it doesn't spend any more money."

Officials estimate it would cost slightly more than $200 million to restore air traffic controllers to full staffing, and an additional $50 million to keep open smaller air traffic towers around the country that the FAA has proposed closing.

Across the Capitol, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said, "We're willing to look at what the Senate's going to propose."

He said he believes the FAA has the authority it needs under existing law to shift funds and end the furloughs of air traffic controllers, and any legislation should be "very, very limited" and direct the agency to use the flexibility it already has.

In a reflection of the political undercurrents, another House Republican, Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma, said FAA employees "are being used as pawns by this (Obama) administration to be able to implement the maximum amount of pain on the American people when it does not have to be this way."

The White House and congressional Democrats vociferously dispute such claims.

___

Associated Press writers Joan Lowy, Henry C. Jackson and Alan Fram in Washington and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-26-US-FAA-Furloughs/id-11fbe61cedde4f41bec95d7824daf60a

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

'Voice' is dominated by art of the steal

By Craig Berman

?The Voice? continued its battle rounds on Monday, and again much of the night was dominated by the steals, particularly Usher?s attempt to use them.

Adam Rose/NBC

Usher and Blake Shelton watch C. Perkins and Kris Thomas perform on "The Voice."

Usher has had bad luck this season in failing to succeed in his attempts at thievery, and the show didn?t start off well for him when Luke Edgemon surprised the other coaches by giving Monique Abbadie all she could handle in a Team Shakira matchup and had the other three coaches salivating.

?What is not to like about Luke? He?s awesome,? Blake Shelton said. ?I thought Luke won that battle.?

?I thought he did too,? Adam Levine said.

Trae Patton/NBC

Shakira talks to Luke Edgemon and Monique Abbadie.

If that was an attempt to use reverse psychology to get Shakira to keep Luke instead of a woman that all four coaches turned around for at the blind auditions, it didn?t work.

?I think I?m going to make a strategic decision, because I certainly hope you?re going to steal one of these two contestants,? Shakira said. ?Because you seemed so excited about Luke, I?m going to choose Monique.?

Blake hit his button for the steal right away. Usher waited longer, but had a trump card to play as the only other coach besides Shakira to pick him at his audition. Surely that early love would be a big selling point.

But put yourself in Luke?s shoes.? When you hear the following sales pitches:

Blake: ?What is it not about Luke? Are you kidding me? He?s awesome.? That was one of the most energetic, pitch-perfect performances in the battle rounds that I?ve seen in a long time. It was amazing.?

Followed by Usher:? ?I think that, you know?

[five-second pause, broken by Blake saying, ?Well that?s a good point.?]

Usher (continued): ??You know, I really feel like Luke did an incredible job, and given the fact that I pushed my button the first time ? the decision is up to you.?

Who would you have picked?

Not surprisingly, Luke went for the coach who seemed to really want him over the one who kinda sorta liked him, or maybe just had those two steals burning a hole in his pocket.

Usher did finally succeed on stealing someone from Team Shakira later in the show, but even that was dramatic.? After? C. Perkins lost his battle to Kris Thomas, the coach was silent until he walking off the stage shaking everyone?s hands. Just as he reached Usher?s chair and reached out to shake hands, Usher pushed his button.

?I really feel like he has talent that we have yet to see, and I let him sit in it a little bit so he?d be reminded what it feels like to not have it, so he?ll never take it for granted.? Usher said.

Nor will he take his heart beating for granted after that scare.

Adam also got into the act, nabbing? Orlando Dixon from Usher. So if you?re keeping track, only Usher has a steal left heading into Tuesday?s battle round finale. ?At least that means he can?t lose another popularity contest.?

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Scientists map all possible drug-like chemical compounds: Library of millions of small, carbon-based molecules chemists might synthesize

Apr. 22, 2013 ? Drug developers may have a new tool to search for more effective medications and new materials.

It's a computer algorithm that can model and catalogue the entire set of lightweight, carbon-containing molecules that chemists could feasibly create in a lab.

The small-molecule universe has more than 10^60 (that's 1 with 60 zeroes after it) chemical structures. Duke chemist David Beratan said that many of the world's problems have molecular solutions in this chemical space, whether it???s a cure for disease or a new material to capture sunlight.

But, he said, "The small-molecule universe is astronomical in size. When we search it for new molecular solutions, we are lost. We don't know which way to look."

To give synthetic chemists better directions in their molecular search, Beratan and his colleagues -- Duke chemist Weitao Yang, postdoctoral associates Aaron Virshup and Julia Contreras-Garcia, and University of Pittsburgh chemist Peter Wipf -- designed a new computer algorithm to map the small-molecule universe.

The map, developed with a National Institutes of Health P50 Center grant, tells scientists where the unexplored regions of the chemical space are and how to build structures to get there. A paper describing the algorithm and map appeared online in April in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The map helps chemists because they do not yet have the tools, time or money to synthesize all 10^60 compounds in the small-molecule universe. Synthetic chemists can only make a few hundred or a few thousand molecules at a time, so they have to carefully choose which compounds to build, Beratan said.

The scientists already have a digital library describing about a billion molecules found in the small-molecule universe, and they have synthesized about 100 million compounds over the course of human history, Beratan said. But these molecules are similar in structure and come from the same regions of the small-molecule universe.

It's the unexplored regions that could hold molecular solutions to some of the world's most vexing challenges, Beratan said.

To add diversity and explore new regions to the chemical space, Aaron Virshup developed a computer algorithm that built a virtual library of 9 million molecules with compounds representing every region of the small-molecule universe.

"The idea was to start with a simple molecule and make random changes, so you add a carbon, change a double bond to a single bond, add a nitrogen. By doing that over and over again, you can get to any molecule you can think of," Virshup said.

He programed the new algorithm to make small, random chemical changes to the structure of benzene and then to catalogue the new molecules it created based on where they fit into the map of the small-molecule universe. The challenge, Virshup said, came in identifying which new chemical compounds chemists could actually create in a lab.

Virshup sent his early drafts of the algorithm's newly constructed molecules to synthetic chemists who scribbled on them in red ink to show whether they were synthetically unstable or unrealistic. He then turned the criticisms into rules the algorithm had to follow so it would not make those types of compounds again.

"The rules kept us from getting lost in the chemical space," he said.

After ten iterations, the algorithm finally produced 9 million synthesizable molecules representing every region of the small-molecule universe, and it produced a map showing the regions of the chemical space where scientists have not yet synthesized any compounds.

"With the map, we can tell chemists, if you can synthesize a new molecule in this region of space, you have made a new type of compound," Virshup said. "It's an intellectual property issue. If you're in the blank spaces on our small molecule map, you're guaranteed to make something that isn't patented yet," he said.

The team has made the source code for the algorithm available online. The researchers said they hope scientists will use it to immediately start mining the unexplored regions of the small molecule universe for new chemical compounds.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (P50-GM067082).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Duke University. The original article was written by Ashley Yeager.

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

Journal Reference:

Aaron M Virshup, Julia Contreras-Garc?a, Peter Wipf, Weitao Yang, David N. Beratan. Stochastic voyages into uncharted chemical space produce a representative library of all possible drug-like compounds.. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; : 130402114828001 DOI: 10.1021/ja401184g

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/top_news/top_health/~3/59XGfriSyDc/130422154945.htm

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Terry's Restaurant in Betim Goa | Food | Know your city

It?s said that the fun dining and drinking in Goa happens North of the Mandovi. One visit to Terry?s in Betim and Revati Upadhya is their newest convert.

Any true-blooded Goan will tell you that all the fun to be had lies across the Mandovi. The hip and happening nightclubs, the choicest restaurants and the best foodie finds are in the belt that hosts the influx of tourists for half the year. But what about those of us who don?t want to trudge twenty kilometres or more, northwards, just for a good time with music, food, and drink?

terrys river view The truth is, you don?t really have to go all the way up to the corners of Goa that are brimming with tourists. As we happily discovered, sometimes the fun is just a hop, skip and a splash away. For those of you living or holidaying in Panjim, Terry?s is a must-visit. Located in the village of Betim, this inconspicuous restaurant is best known for its steaks, sizzlers and continental fare. Along with some fresh draught beer (and a selection of other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages), you can head here for an evening by the wharf, overlooking the glistening lights of Panjim in the distance.

We kept it simple with our drinks, choosing to cool off on a summer evening with a chilled Tuborg Tower that is a tall contraption designed to sit on your table and keep your beer chilled, while you use a nifty tap to pour yourself a mug and keep topping it up as you go. For Rs 400, this tower is good for at least five mugs. Starters included Bacon-wrapped sausages ? aptly called Choplater (Rs 180), which were recommended by our waiter. Delicious bits of peppered sausages enveloped in crispy bacon strips, fried to a crisp ? a fitting companion with our amber drink.

Photograph courtesy: ?Suraj Rivonkar

The good thing about Terry?s is that the menu caters to a wide selection of cuisines, with continental as its mainstay. Also on the menu are North Indian, Goan, Italian pastas and bakes, and a few Chinese rice, noodles and gravy options. It?s not often that multi-cuisine restaurants can flaunt promising options like French Onion Soup and Thai salads, so we tried a Chicken Thai Salad (Rs 170) instead, veering away from the Goan staples of fried fish and prawns, for a change.

chicken Onward to the main course, we picked the simple Southern Fried Chicken (Rs 280) ? chicken breast stuffed with cheese and crumb-fried to a golden crisp. This is served with generous portions of saut?ed vegetables and the creamiest mashed potatoes.

In a happy coincidence, the live musical act for the evening played some classic rock, as we sipped on our beer and dug into the chicken drenched in pepper sauce. Live acts, karaoke and theme nights ensure you will have your feet tapping, a song on your lips and a swing in your step right through the night. But if you?re there just for the food and drink, choose the outdoor seating to kick back and enjoy the evening with nothing but the sound of the river lapping by and the intermittent ferry lolling along, to keep you company.

If you?re looking for an all-day dining option with family, a pleasant place to catch a drink with friends, or a cheery hideaway for your Friday night date, pick Terry?s. Lets sweeten the deal with the fact that you can have a great time without burning a mighty hole in your pocket.

Must try: Southern Style Chicken, Thai Chicken Salad

Meal for two: Rs 1000 + taxes (inclusive of drinks)

Source: http://know.burrp.com/food-dining/terrys-restaurant-in-betim-goa/51250

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Netgear 802.11ac update adds beamforming, delivers up to 60 percent faster WiFi

Although Netgear was one of the quickest out of the gates with 802.11ac WiFi hardware, that doesn't mean its hardware is the quickest today: without beamforming to optimize the signal, it risks trailing behind newcomers who've had more time to prepare. Starting with the R6300 router and A6200 USB adapter, the company will soon catch up through a firmware update that rolls in support for the beamforming standard. The upgrade targets wireless signals at devices' specific locations, offering a big speed boost at shorter distances -- Netgear estimates up to a 60 percent improvement at a 50-foot range. R6300 and A6200 owners can swing past the source links today for their tune-up, while those using Netgear's other 802.11ac devices should expect brisker speeds around the early summer.

Filed under: Peripherals, Networking

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/LHbjsJDhn6U/

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Officials: At least 185 killed in Nigeria attack

BAGA, Nigeria (AP) ? Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far northeast, officials said Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians.

The fighting in Baga began Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad. By Sunday, when government officials finally felt safe enough to see the destruction, homes, businesses and vehicles were burned throughout the area.

The assault marks a significant escalation in the long-running insurgency Nigeria faces in its predominantly Muslim north, with Boko Haram extremists mounting a coordinated assault on soldiers using military-grade weaponry. The killings also mark one of the deadliest incidents ever involving Boko Haram.

Authorities had found and buried at least 185 bodies as of Sunday afternoon, said Lawan Kole, a local government official in Baga. He spoke haltingly to Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima in the Kanuri language of Nigeria's northeast, surrounded by still-frightened villagers.

Officials could not offer a breakdown of civilian casualties versus those of soldiers and extremist fighters. Many of the bodies had been burned beyond recognition in fires that razed whole sections of the town, residents said. Those killed were buried as soon as possible, following local Muslim tradition.

Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye, also on the visit, did not dispute the casualty figures. Edokpaye said Boko Haram extremists used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the assault, which began after soldiers surrounded a mosque they believed housed members of the radical Islamic extremist network Boko Haram. Extremists earlier had killed a military officer, the general said.

Edokpaye said extremists used civilians as human shields during the fighting ? implying that soldiers opened fire in neighborhoods where they knew civilians lived.

"When we reinforced and returned to the scene the terrorists came out with heavy firepower, including (rocket-propelled grenades), which usually has a conflagration effect," the general said.

However, local residents who spoke to an Associated Press journalist who accompanied the state officials said soldiers purposefully set the fires during the attack. Violence by security forces in the northeast targeting civilians has been widely documented by journalists and human rights activists. A similar raid in Maiduguri, Borno state's capital, in October after extremists killed a military officer saw soldiers kill at least 30 civilians and set fires across a neighborhood.

Sunday afternoon, the burned bodies of cattle and goats still filled the streets in Baga. Bullet holes marred burned buildings. Fearful residents of the town had begun packing to leave with their remaining family members before nightfall, despite Shettima trying to convince some to stay.

"Everyone has been in the bush since Friday night; we started returning back to town because the governor came to town today," grocer Bashir Isa said. "To get food to eat in the town now is a problem because even the markets are burnt. We are still picking corpses of women and children in the bush and creeks."

The Islamic insurgency in Nigeria grew out of a 2009 riot led by Boko Haram members in Maiduguri that ended in a military and police crackdown that killed some 700 people. The group's leader died in police custody in an apparent execution. From 2010 on, Islamic extremists have engaged in hit-and-run shootings and suicide bombings, attacks that have killed at least 1,548 people before Friday's attack, according to an AP count.

In January 2012, Boko Haram launched a coordinated attack in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, that killed at least 185 people as well. However, casualty numbers remain murky in Nigeria, where security and government officials often downplay figures.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has said it wants its imprisoned members freed and Nigeria to adopt strict Shariah law across the multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. While the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has started a committee to look at the idea of offering an amnesty deal to extremist fighters, Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has dismissed the idea out of hand in messages.

The Boko Haram network, which analysts and diplomats say has loose links to two other al-Qaida-aligned groups in Africa, has splintered into other groups as well. Its command-and-control structure also remains unclear. Recent Internet videos featuring Shekau have shown him with fighters carrying military weapons he said were stolen during attacks on Nigeria's military. Those weapons have included rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weapons.

Fighters suspected to belong to Boko Haram also have been seen in northern Mali, where heavily armed Islamic extremists took power in the weeks following a military coup in that West African nation. Analysts also have worried that Boko Haram may get its hands on weapons smuggled out of Libya following its recent civil war.

Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, violent atrocities committed by security forces against the local civilian population only fuels rage in the region.

___

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-21-Nigeria-Violence/id-afa8399c585d4d2e9d9cb9a7517aba32

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Buying our first house... - RearParty

I have just read the last thread by blondiie, which was helpful but still a little confused.

Me and OH are planning to buy our first home when he is back but I just don't know where to start and once he is home want to get things moving as quickly as possible.

Do we see a mortgage adviser first so that we know what we can actually afford before viewing any houses? and dumb question but where do we even find a mortgage adviser and is one company better than another?

Very excited and want to get an appointment booked for when OH is home (If I need to) any extra info wold be great.. Thanks

Source: http://www.rearparty.co.uk/finance/10459-buying-our-first-house.html

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Pentagon chief stresses Israel's right to hit Iran

JERUSALEM (AP) ? U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held out hope Sunday for a nonmilitary way to ending the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, but he also emphasized Washington's willingness to let Israel decide whether and when it might strike Tehran in self-defense.

Hagel, on his first visit to Israel as Pentagon chief, seemed intent on burying the image that Republican critics painted of him as insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state. That portrayal was central to a failed campaign to derail Hagel's Senate confirmation in February.

In an interview with reporters on his flight from Washington, Hagel said the United States and Israel see "exactly the same" threat from Iran, which he described as a toxic combination of nuclear ambition and support for terrorism.

But he acknowledged differences on when it may reach the point of requiring U.S. or Israeli military action.

Hagel stressed repeatedly that Israel has a sovereign right to decide for itself whether it must attack Iran. He made no mention of the possibility that an Israeli attack would draw the U.S. into the conflict and lead to a wider regional war.

"Israel will make the decision that Israel must make to protect itself, to defend itself," Hagel said as he began a weeklong tour of the Middle East.

Also Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Istanbul, where he urged Turkey to speed up and cement an American-brokered rapprochement with Israel. On a trip to Israel last month, President Barack Obama secured a pledge from Turkish and Israeli leaders to normalize ties that broke down after a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Hagel said international penalties are taking a heavy toll on Iran, though he said no one can be sure that economic coercion will compel Iran to change course.

Referring to sanctions and diplomacy, Hagel said, "these other tracks do have some time to continue to try to influence the outcome in Iran."

Hagel acknowledged that while Israel and the U.S. share a commitment to ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, there "may well be some differences" between the two allies on the question of when Iran's leaders might decide to go for a bomb.

"When you back down into the specifics of the timing of when and if Iran decides to pursue a nuclear weapon, there may well be some differences," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tends to see more urgency, reflecting in part the fact that certain Iranian technological advances toward a nuclear weapon could put the program beyond the ability of the Israeli military to destroy it with airstrikes. U.S. forces have greater reach.

Hagel's first order of business upon arrival in Jerusalem was a guided tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust history museum. He participated in a ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance and wrote an inscription in the guest book at a memorial for the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust.

"There is no more poignant, more touching, more effective way to tell the story than this reality, as painful as it is, but it is a reality," he said after completing his visit. "It did happen, and we must prepare our future generations ... for a clear understanding that we must never allow this to happen again."

In his remarks while en route to Israel, Hagel repeatedly emphasized Israel's right of self-defense and stressed that military force ? by implication, Israeli or American ? remains an option of last resort.

"In dealing with Iran, every option must be on the table," he said.

During his two-day visit to Israel, Hagel was expected to further discuss a U.S. arms deal that would provide Israel with missiles for its fighter aircraft, plus KC-135 refueling planes that could be used in a long-range strike on a country such as Iran, as well as V-22 Osprey transport planes. He called the proposed sale a "very clear signal" to Iran.

"The bottom line is, Iran is a threat ? a real threat," he said.

Iran asserts that its nuclear program is designed entirely for nonmilitary purposes.

Yiftah Shapir, a military analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank in Tel Aviv, said Hagel appeared eager to present a steady-as-she-goes attitude following his Senate confirmation battle.

"He's here to say, 'Folks, nothing has changed. We are still with you,'" Shapir said. "The goal is to deliver a relaxing message and to project business as usual."

Hagel suggested he holds hope that Iran's presidential election in June might change the trajectory of its nuclear drive.

After his talks in Israel, Hagel planned stops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Each is an important American ally in the Middle East, and each is worried by Syria's civil war.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are part of a $10 billion proposed U.S. arms sale that includes Israel. The UAE would get about 26 F-16 fighters and it and Saudi Arabia would get advanced air-launched missiles.

___

Associated Press writer Aron Heller contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-chief-stresses-israels-hit-iran-165507244--politics.html

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Enterprise Big Data Platform Cloudera Opens EMEA HQ In East London's Tech City

+1 more for East London's Tech City cluster: big data company Cloudera has announced the opening of its EMEA HQ on Rivington Street, Shoreditch. In late 2010, the U.K. coalition government created the Tech City label to slap on an existing, organic startup hub -- promising equity finance for businesses with high growth potential and money for tech & innovation centres.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7cXQKH5Gy38/

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Trout's first slam fuels Halos past Tigers

By JOE RESNICK

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 6:44 p.m. ET April 20, 2013

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Mike Trout described his first major league grand slam as "just another home run."

Teammate Garrett Richards was pretty grateful just the same for the nine-run first inning to support him against Detroit's Rick Porcello.

Trout's second homer of the season capped the Angels' most productive first inning in almost 18 years, and Richards pitched two-hit ball over seven innings in a 10-0 romp over the defending AL champion Tigers on Saturday.

"It's always good to help your starter out like that. Then they can pound the strike zone and not have to worry too much," Trout said. "We're looking better, stating positive, grinding it out and having great at-bats."

Richards (1-0) struck out eight and walked none. Prince Fielder's leadoff single in the second and Miguel Cabrera's leadoff double in the seventh were the only hits off the right-hander in his second start for the injured Jered Weaver, who is sidelined with a broken bone in his non-pitching arm.

"I don't pay attention to the score. I try to pitch the same, whether it's 9-0 or 0-0," said Richards, who left the dugout during the long inning and played catch with backup catcher Hank Conger in the indoor batting cage to stay loose. "Those kinds of games are a little bit harder to pitch in, just because you don't want to relax. You want to keep going after guys. I stayed aggressive and kept attacking guys."

Richards has pitched into the seventh inning in both starts - the only one on the staff to make it past the sixth in the team's first 16 games.

"He threw 94-97, and his fastball moves in three different directions, so we don't really know which way it's going to go," catcher Chris Iannetta said. "The hitters don't know either."

The Tigers, who lost Friday night's series opener 8-1, were shut out for the third time this season and have scored three runs in their last 42 innings - two of which came on groundouts.

Porcello (0-2) faced 11 batters, threw 47 pitches and got only two outs - on a double-play grounder by Iannetta. The right-hander, who gave up an AL-worst 226 hits last season en route to a 10-12 record, has allowed 16 earned runs in 11 innings over his first three starts for a 13.09 ERA.

Albert Pujols singled with two men on to drive in the Angels' first run of the game and Josh Hamilton walked to load the bases before Mark Trumbo singled in the second run and Howie Kendrick added two more with another single.

"We really had the same plan we usually take, staying up the middle and waiting for our pitch," Trout said. "That was our main thing. When Trumbo hit the bases-loaded single and Howie came up with the two-run single, it was big just to keep the inning going for us."

Brendan Harris delivered the fifth run with a two-out single, and the Angels loaded the bases again with infield hits by Luis Jimenez and Peter Bourjos.

Trout then drove a 1-2 curveball into the trees beyond the center field fence. Detroit manager Jim Leyland finally replaced the shell-shocked Porcello with Drew Smyly, who gave up a double to Pujols before retiring Hamilton on a flyball.

"I struggled a little bit with my command, but it wasn't all that bad," Porcello said. "I think we've all had games where guys are hitting the ball hard against you, but right at people. You cruise through seven innings and you walk away feeling pretty good about it - even though you didn't throw the ball that well. Today I felt like I threw the ball fine. I did the best I could, but it just wasn't in the cards today."

The 10 first-inning hits set an Angels franchise record. It was their highest scoring inning since a nine-run sixth at Texas on July 30, 2012, and their most productive first inning since they started with 11 runs June 29, 1995, also at Texas.

Trout, last season's AL rookie of the year, has nine RBIs over his last three games after driving in only two in his first 13. Last year he didn't get called up from the minors until April 28, and still finished with 30 home runs, 83 RBIs, a .326 average and a league-high 129 runs scored in 139 games.

NOTES: The Angels' previous record for first-inning hits was eight, against Oakland's Chris Codiroli on July 30, 1983. ... The 18 runs scored by the Angels during the first two games in this series were four more than Detroit's pitchers had allowed over their previous seven games combined. ... Bourjos drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth and ended up with three infield hits. Two seasons ago he had 36 infield hits, fourth-most in the AL. ... Trout's previous 10 home runs all were solo shots. ... Smyly allowed four hits through 5 2-3 innings, his longest outing since a six-inning start against the Angels last Aug. 25. ... Angels RHP Mark Lowe, who has allowed eight runs, eight walks and four hits in 6 1-3 innings of relief, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. ... INF Tommy Field, claimed off waivers by the Angels from Minnesota in November, was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake. He has 18 games of big league experience, all with the Colorado Rockies.

More newsJessica Rinaldi / Reuters

A strong return to Fenway

A defiant David Ortiz stood on the Fenway Park infield and told the crowd, "Stay Strong," bringing a rousing cheer from Bostonians weary from a week of bombings, stay-at-home orders and a manhunt that locked down the city for a day.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51608174/ns/sports-baseball/

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Sunday, April 14, 2013

Pittsburgh mall evacuated after bomb threat found in bathroom

By Andrew Rafferty and Betsy Cline, NBC News

A Pennsylvania mall was evacuated Sunday after a bomb threat was written on a note found in a fitting room, according to police.

The note said there were multiple bombs at the Mall at Robinson in Robinson Township, Pa., just 12 miles outside downtown Pittsburgh.

The typed note, found at Sears, said the bombs would go off if not found, police told NBC's Pittsburgh affiliate WPXI. No specific time, store or reason was given.

The Allegheny County bomb squad is responding.

This is a developing story, check back for more updates

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2ab52615/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C140C17749560A0Epittsburgh0Emall0Eevacuated0Eafter0Ebomb0Ethreat0Efound0Ein0Ebathroom0Dlite/story01.htm

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

Why Joe Barton's biblical flood comment is so illogical

It's not that Texas congressman Joe Barton cited the Biblical great flood as an example of natural climate change. It's that he misrepresented the arguments of those who say that human activity is changing the climate.?

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / April 11, 2013

Spotted by BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski, this video shows Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) committing a flagrant straw man fallacy during a hearing on the Keystone pipeline.

One hesitates to leap into a story on this, out of concern that the very act of reading the following quote, uttered by Rep. Joe Barton Wednesday during the Subcommittee on Energy and Power hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline, might actually make our readers less informed.

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But the Texas Republican is expressing a misperception about climate science that, though ludicrous, is widespread in political debates around global warming. So, it's at least worth correcting.?

Ready? Here's the quote:?

"I would point out that if you're a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change and that certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy."

OK. Deep breaths.?

It's worth noting that Representative Barton isn't actually saying anything false here. If, as a literal reading of the book of Genesis indicates, the world's tallest mountains were once submerged beneath 15 cubits of floodwater, then, yes, that would most definitely had been an example of climate change. And, if such an event actually occurred, you can't blame fossil fuels.

The preposterousness of Barton's statement stems from his basic fallacy, flagrant?even by Congressional standards, in which he refutes an obviously silly claim held by nobody, and then acts as though he had just refuted a not-obviously-silly claim held by almost every climate scientist in the world.?

Among those climate scientists, you won't find a single one who thinks that our planet's climate has remained perfectly stable right up until the dawn of the hydrocarbon economy. Not one.

In fact, natural climate change in the distant past offers the most precise evidence there is for man-made climate change today. That's why climate scientists spend so much time and effort trying to extract ancient gasses trapped in Arctic ice bubbles or in the calcium carbonate shells of fossilized amoebas on the ocean floor, so that they can better understand the relationship between the composition of the atmosphere and the temperature of the globe.?

It turns out?that lots of things ? not just fossil fuels ? can make our planet go warm or cold, or wet or dry. These include volcanic activity, plate tectonics, meteor impacts, the wobble of our planet as it spins on its axis, magnetic activity on the sun, and even the location of our solar system as it circles the Milky Way.?

And ever since the Earth formed from the solar nebular dust some 4.5 billion years ago, it's been a wild ride. Some 700 million years or so ago, for instance, our planet was a giant snowball, covered in ice. Any liquid water on the surface would have existed only as a thin band around the equator. Much later, about 55 million years ago, it was so warm that the Arctic supported deciduous forests. In the past 650,000 years alone, we've had seven cycles of glaciers advancing and retreating, with the last ice age ending about 7,000 years ago, just as we humans were getting down to the business of creating civilizations for ourselves. ?

So this isn't really about Rep. Barton's views on the Bible. He could have said, "I would point out that if you're a believer in the paleoclimatological record,?one would have to say the?Paleocene?Eocene Thermal Maximum was an example of climate change,?and that certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy," and it would have been equally irrational. No climate scientist is suggesting that the?Earth?hasn't experienced dramatic climactic swings in the past, or that?trilobites?were driving SUVs and using incandescent bulbs.?

What they are saying is that surface temperatures are rising rapidly, and that they have ruled out every known cause except one: human activity. ?

Is it possible that they are all wrong? Of course. Science is never settled. But demonstrating that the most climate scientists are wrong about global warming would require refuting their actual arguments, and not knocking down parodies of their arguments.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/uPjVjduu1xk/Why-Joe-Barton-s-biblical-flood-comment-is-so-illogical

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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Mark Wahlberg's Kids Couldn't Believe 'Transformers 4' Casting

'They're like 'Yeah, shut up daddy. You don't make movies that we want to see!' ' actor says before this Sunday's MTV Movie Awards at 9 p.m. ET.
By Brett White

Michael Bay, Bar Pauly, Mark Wahlberg, Rob Corddry and Ken Jeong
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705317/mark-wahlberg-transformers-4-casting.jhtml

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Thousands to rally for immigrants' path to citizenship

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supporters of immigration reform are set to rally at the Capitol on Wednesday to back legislation that would include a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

The National Rally for Citizenship, which organizers say will draw tens of thousands of demonstrators, comes after two senior senators said on Sunday that an immigration reform bill would likely be completed in their chamber this week.

Immigration reform has gathered strength in Congress following President Barack Obama's re-election in November. Hispanics, the fastest-growing voter bloc, heavily favored Democrats over Republicans in the elections.

Republicans have since started to get behind immigration reform, an effort that had been mainly embraced by Democrats.

Kica Matos, director of immigration rights at the Center for Community Change, one of the organizers, said demonstrators were being urged to lobby lawmakers before the rally on the Capitol's West Lawn.

"Our concerns really are around making sure that the path to citizenship is clear and expeditious and isn't tethered to anything like enforcement" of border security, she said.

The rally of about 100 organizations is sponsored by immigration reform groups and unions, including the United Auto Workers and the Service Employees International Union.

Immigration legislation in the Democrat-controlled Senate will include an earned pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, bolstered border security and ways for business to meet the need for both high-skilled and low-skilled workers.

A bipartisan group from the Republican-led House of Representatives is working on its own version of a bill that also includes ways to earn citizenship.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest business group, and the AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation, reached an agreement on a guest-worker program in late March. The accord cleared the way for the writing of a full bill in Congress.

If the Senate and House bills pass their respective chambers, they would have to be reconciled before a final version is voted on and then sent to Obama for signing into law.

A bill that gives undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship has a better chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate.

It is unclear whether such a bill would pass the House. A number of Republicans there generally support a path to legal status but are reluctant to embrace a plan for citizenship because they say it rewards people who broke the law.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson and Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Grant McCool)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-rally-immigrants-path-citizenship-115704802.html

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Health budget raises spending for reform, mental health

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's proposed 2014 budget includes an increase of $3.9 billion to support the administration's healthcare overhaul, and cuts programs such as immunizations and cancer screenings that would in the future be financed through individual state insurance exchanges.

The nearly $4 billion, an increase over the amount approved for the 2012 budget, is part of the $80.1 billion budget proposed for the Department of Health and Human Services. Congress has not enacted a budget for 2013.

The budget is designed to support the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges, which are scheduled to start providing insurance coverage on January 1.

In the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting in December, the budget also offers a new $130 million initiative to expand mental health services, including $55 million for a project to help school districts and communities identify students with mental health issues and ensure they are referred for treatment.

The budget increases funding for the Food and Drug Administration by $821 million to bolster food and drug import safety. The agency's budget comes in part from appropriations approved by Congress and in part from fees charged to industry.

The budget would cut $400 billion from Medicare, Medicaid and other programs over the next decade by implementing "payment innovations" and other reforms intended to encourage efficiency.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will receive more than $30 million to support a nationwide violent death surveillance system and conduct research on the causes and prevention of gun violence.

The budget proposal also provides $31 billion for the National Institutes of Health, and includes fulfilling the government's commitment to enhance research into Alzheimer's disease.

(Reporting By Toni Clarke in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-health-budget-raises-spending-reform-mental-health-152758744.html