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Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters file
An interior view of the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire in Benghazi, Libya, Sept. 12, 2012.
A senior Obama administration official said the White House does not dispute a New York Times article published Saturday about the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which found no evidence al Qaeda was involved.
According to the in-depth report, the Times found no proof that al Qaeda or any international terrorist groups played any role in the assault, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
The six-part report goes on to say that an American-made video mocking Islam largely triggered the attack, which was not well-planned.
"The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO's extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi," the Times report reads, referring to the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. "And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam."
The newspaper said its investigation took months and was "centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context."
It is not surprising the White House would welcome this report. Since the attack, Republicans have accused the Obama administration of downplaying the perpetrators' links to al Qaeda for political gain. The attack took place during the last leg of the 2012 presidential campaign.
Then U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice (now the national security advisor) became a lightning rod of criticism after appearing on all the Sunday talk shows shortly after the Benghazi attack and arguing it was the result of the American-made video.
Republicans have also held several hearings into the administration's handling of the attack and its aftermath.
NBC News has not independently verified the Times report, which is the first to argue the video played a large role in sparking the violence in Benghazi.


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West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has
brushed aside suggestions that Bangladesh were walkovers in the two-Test series
which the Caribbean cricketing side won convincingly.
Though both matches went the distance, Bangladesh's batting suffered final day collapses on either occasion to send the side to defeat, reports CMC.
Sammy said Bangladesh had been competitive in the series, pointing out that his bowlers did not have straightforward tasks.
"We had to work for most of our wickets and the pitches were really good for batting," he argued.
"We stuck to our plans for most of the time. In the first innings in Dhaka, our bowlers didn't hit the areas. From the second innings and both innings in this Test, we bowled much better. Bangladesh, like us, are naturally aggressive but our batsmen were more patient and let the bowlers come to them, not try to go searching for runs. Once you applied yourself on these pitches, you were bound to get runs.
"We have a lot of respect for the Bangladesh players but we always believed that we could come here and achieve our goal of winning the two Tests, so we are just happy to have accomplished this."
Bangladesh pushed West Indies in both Tests but lacked the killer instinct in their batting when it mattered most.
They led on first innings in the first Test in Dhaka, amassing 556 in response to West Indies' first innings 527 for four declared. And even after West Indies tumbled to 273 all out to leave them with a target of 245, Bangladesh's batting collapsed dismally for 167 to hand the tourists victory.
The Tigers also shone in both innings of the Test here but the first innings deficit of 261 proved too much to come back from, after the Windies piled up over 600 runs in their first innings.
The West Indies have now won four Tests on the trot dating back to the clean sweep against New Zealand in the summer, and Sammy said the settled nature of the squad was playing a role in this success.
"The guys in this team played against New Zealand and were in England, with Chris Gayle returning to the team, so it's a more settled squad, just like our Twenty20 team is quite settled so is our One-day International team," Sammy pointed out.
"The more we play together on the cricket field, the more we know about each other. The most encouraging thing for me is that when we turn up, we know what to expect from the different players. You know what Tino Best will give you, or when Marlon Samuels goes out to bat and he starts his innings, you know what you will get from him, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and all of the other players.
"We also have guys who continue to play domestic cricket at home who perform and will challenge for places in the team. The nucleus of the team is quite settled, but the guys have been performing consistently in the last six to 12 months, so it is a good sign for us."
The series win caps off a mixed year for the West Indies that saw them fail to win a single match on their tour of England and also go down 0-2 in a three-Test series against Australia in the Caribbean.
Sammy said his side would continue to work towards playing the quality cricket they knew was possible.
"We will continue to instil that work ethic in the dressing room, and continue to go out there and do what all the West Indies fans want us to do - play a brand of cricket that the world loves to see and be consistent and try to win more matches," he said.
"It's a good feeling when you are winning, and it's even better when you plan and you go out and execute and see your teammates perform consistently. It was good being a part of this Test series and to see the little steps we are taking in bettering ourselves and moving up the ladder in Tests."
West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has
brushed aside suggestions that Bangladesh were walkovers in the two-Test series
which the Caribbean cricketing side won convincingly.

subset: commoncrawl


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Regression is when someone or something goes back to its original state. In this instance, we are talking about a child's loss of skills or a dip in progress. As a speech pathologist, I see this quite often. Kids tend to relax over the summer, go on vacation, play lots of video games and overall do less academic work. Parents often ask me, "what can I do to help my child's language over the summer?" I have listed some of my suggestions below:
- Make sure to visit the library often! Set up a schedule with your child and try to make trips to the library exciting. Many libraries have summer reading programs but if your local library doesn't, you can easily create a book list or set a goal to read a certain amount of books by the end of the summer. If the goal is reached, a prize or medal can be rewarded to your child to increase confidence and sense of accomplishment. Make sure you ask your child questions about the book to increase literacy skills, sequencing skills and reading comprehension skills.
- Stick to a schedule! Many children are given a lot of freedom during the summer but many kids need structure like the school day! Start each morning by discussing the plans for the day. If there is a lot of free time, make sure that "screen time" (video games, computer games, tv, movies) is kept to a minimum. Some children may also require a visual to help them understand the sequence of events throughout the day. The extra time you put into it as a parent could make a big difference come September!
- Make every outing a good one! Whether you are going to the grocery store or running errands, make sure you keep your kids talking! Ask lots of questions and encourage independence in your child! (ex: Johnny, where are the pears? Or Johnny can you grab the red shampoo? Find the lotion that says Jergens, what letter will that start with?)
- Make sure you ask your child's teacher what else you can do to support your child during the summer and avoid regression!
(This post originally appeared on Speechbop)
Erica Gosling, MA CCC-SLP is a full time SLP working in both Stamford, CT and New York City. She received her M.A. from New York University. She has worked in a variety of settings including schools, private practices and home based therapy. She has experience with a variety of communication disorders. For more information about Erica and speech therapy, please visit her blog at Speechbop.com.


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Dena Levitz
Dena Levitz is a digital strategist and freelance writer in Dublin whose work has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Crime Report.
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Legend has it that in 1898, builder W.E. Crossman peered out at the 200 acres of fields he'd purchased in California's Santa Clara Valley, noted the sun shining overhead and declared, "Let's call it Sunnyvale."
The name stuck. Over time, Sunnyvale transformed from a swath of orchards and farms to a high-tech magnet of about 140,000 residents in the thick of Silicon Valley. Situated just miles from San Jose, its reputation hinges on high quality of life and low crime. Aeronautics giant Lockheed Martin is the largest employer, Yahoo's headquarters are based here, and Nokia recently set up its North American base of operations downtown.
Lately, though, Sunnyvale has become known for something far less intuitive than sunshine and software developers: gun control. In November, 66 percent of voters passed Measure C, a ballot initiative considered to be one of the most progressive anti-gun laws ever proposed anywhere in the United States. It addresses a slew of gun-related issues from large-capacity magazines to ammunitions registration to required reporting of lost or stolen weapons.
Measure C's passage has ignited a fiery debate over the proper place of cities in regulating gun ownership. Sunnyvale is currently fending off lawsuits by powerful pro-gun groups the National Rifle Association and the National Sports Shooting Foundation, who say the law violates the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, the citizens group behind the measure continues to argue the Bay Area city was merely taking matters into its own hands to safeguard its citizens against gun violence.
Sunnyvale doesn't have much of a gun violence problem. But the stakes here for lobbying groups like the NRA couldn't be higher. Their fear? That even though Congress has failed to act, this could be the start of more and more municipalities going out on their own on gun control.
• • • • •
Sunnyvale's Measure C does four things.
It requires gun owners to notify police within 48 hours when a registered firearm has gone missing or is stolen. It makes it mandatory for citizens to lock up their guns properly inside their homes. Gun dealers, in the same way that they must keep records of gun purchasers, have to keep records of customers who buy ammunition from them for two years. And, most controversially, the law forbids residents from owning magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
None of the components of Measure C are so radical that other jurisdictions aren't taking similar steps, especially in major metropolitan centers across California. For example, Los Angeles and San Francisco are currently tackling ammunitions record-keeping, too.
"Sunnyvale passing all of these things together in one ballot is what really makes it cutting edge," says Cody Jacobs, staff attorney for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Jacobs's organization was formed in the aftermath of a 1993 shooting at a San Francisco law firm in which a gunman opened fire, killing nine, including himself.
In the case of Sunnyvale, the law center helped to draft the ballot measure, and when threats of lawsuits and then actual suits [PDF] were filed late in 2013, challenging Measure C, the group also secured pro bono counsel for the city so it didn't need to spend taxpayer dollars on legal fees.
The NRA's suit, which is currently in federal court, objects to the portion of the ordinance dealing with magazines. The NRA's West Coast lawyer, Chuck Michel, did not respond to requests for an interview for this story, but has been quoted elsewhere arguing that limiting magazine purchases inhibits a citizen's ability to defend themselves.
"If someone is breaking into your house, they are on the offensive, they have the opportunity to prepare," Michel told the San Jose Mercury News. "If you have to pull the trigger, odds are in a situation like that you're going to miss a few. Having the extra rounds in that magazine can be the difference between life and death when you're defending yourself and your family."
Jacobs counters that California law already bans the sale of magazines that hold upwards of 10 rounds. Measure C just closes the gap by making it illegal to own these magazines as well. That way, firearms with high-capacity magazines can't be brought in from a neighboring state.
Pia Carusone is executive director of Americans for Responsible Solutions, the national organization born out of the aftermath of the Newtown shooting. Its founders include former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself a mass shooting victim, along with her husband, Mark Kelly, and many of her staffers. Americans for Responsible Solutions considers itself pro-gun, yet is working to be a bipartisan change agent in lowering gun violence. It's in favor of what it calls "common-sense" measures, such as background checks.
On the issue of magazines, Carusone believes there's wide agreement around a limit. The specific numerical amount, though, is something she thinks should be part of a wider discussion on firearms hardware and ownership.
"Having a smaller magazine is safer because the number of times you have to reload, for an average civilian, the better, because they're not at war," she says. "It's hard to come up with an example where someone needed more than 12 or 15 bullets to prevent a crime."
The other major point of contention within Measure C deals with keeping track of ammunition purchases. The National Sports Shooting Foundation, a leading trade association, jointly filed suit with Sunnyvale's largest gun dealer in an attempt to put the brakes on that stipulation.
Lawrence Keane, the NSSF's senior vice president and general counsel, argues gun retailers are already losing business because customers don't want to jump through another hoop.
"I have an affidavit in the case indicating that some customers are saying they'll leave the city and purchase ammunition elsewhere," Keane says.
Jacobs admits that because ammunition is completely unregulated at the federal level and in most states, Sunnyvale's efforts in this area are "kind of a big deal."
But, he argues, "if you keep records of gun sales, why not also keep track of ammunition sales?" he says. "After all, ammunition is what makes a gun deadly."
• • • • •
Sunnyvale resident Don Veith vividly recalls watching, in horror, television news coverage of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. He had no personal connection to the attack, yet he says the events of that day compelled him to begin working to combat the level of gun violence the tragedy personified.
"I was just appalled. I was angry. I wanted to do something," he says. "We all felt that way. We didn't quite know what to do, though."
Veith wrote a letter to Sunnyvale Mayor Tony Spitaleri, asking him to join Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the bipartisan coalition started by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. He also went door to door and got 250 neighbors to sign a petition. The signatures got Spitaleri's attention.
What followed was a flurry of activity, especially over the summer. Working with a group of local activists including Veith, Spitaleri started with a list of 18 potential gun safety measures that could be made and added to an ordinance. The list was whittled down to four based on what seemed most likely to be adopted.
Spitaleri says his original intention was to have the City Council pass an ordinance or to add gun control measures to the city's charter. But it was an election year, and there was disagreement among individual council members over whether passing any gun regulations would be "too soon" after Newtown. Instead, the council suggested the mayor work with the schools on preventative measures. He tried that, but the problem, he says, was most school administrators were busy with other matters. Just one school responded to his overtures at all.
That's when the strategy shifted to a ballot measure. When the count came in, two-thirds of Sunnyvale voters were in favor of Measure C, far surpassing the organizers' hopes.
It was an impressive grassroots victory. For Spitaleri, though, there's a lingering question he's asked by both Sunnyvale residents and outside observers: Why did this happen in Sunnyvale, of all places?
In 2009, Forbes dubbed Sunnyvale the seventh safest city in America. Incidents of violence are incredibly uncommon. The one major blemish on the city's crime history is a 1988 incident in which Richard Farley, a former employee of high-tech firm Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, showed up to his former workplace with seven guns — including a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a rifle, revolver and a pistol — and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Farley shot and killed seven people and wounded four others, including a female co-worker who had taken out a restraining order against him. He's now on death row at San Quentin, and his crime was the subject of the 1993 TV movie I Can Make You Love Me. More recently, in 2011, Sunnyvale became the scene of a manhunt connected to a mass shooting that originated in nearby Cupertino. In that incident, a disgruntled worker shot nine coworkers at a cement quarry and then fled. During the manhunt, sheriff's deputies, SWAT teams and hundreds of officers from surrounding law enforcement agencies cordoned off the Sunnyvale neighborhood where the suspect's car was found abandoned.
According to Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety statistics on violent crime, between 1993 and 2013, there were fewer than 40 homicides total within city limits. That breaks down to just a few reported homicides per year on average. Last year saw four homicides total, and that's the highest annual total in 20 years. Four times during the same span there were entire years without a single reported killing. Even the total number of crime incidents is low—and dropping. In 2013, Sunnyvale law enforcement recorded 2,552 total crimes. Of those, more than 2,400 were property crimes. That's half the amount of overall incidents in 1994, which was the highest sum in the past two decades.
"We have a low crime rate, but so did Newtown. So did Columbine," says Spitaleri.
Sally Lieber, a former California State Assembly member and the former mayor of neighboring Mountain View, became the city's point person on voter outreach and developing strategies to ensure the ballot measure passed. She, like Spitaleri, sees Sunnyvale as an ideal place to take action on gun violence.
"It's kind of every town, a sort of stand-in city. From my perspective it was a good city to do the measure in because it's representative of every place and what other communities could aspire to," she says.
• • • • •
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously called states the "laboratories of democracy."
Lieber sees Measure C as that precise type of experiment, only at the local level. The group of activists in Sunnyvale, and Spitaleri, are now hearing from cities and community groups who want to enact gun control measures in their jurisdictions.
"We very much want to take this to other cities, offer up the technical support, help other cities profit from what we learned," Lieber says. In California, cities such as San Rafael, San Mateo, and Los Gatos have already reached out to Sunnyvale, according to Spitaleri.
"More and more [cities] are taking matters into their own hands," says John Feinblatt, chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "We're seeing this in a number of diverse jurisdictions all across the country."
For example, Travis, Texas, recently enacted legislation to require background checks at gun shows. In Tucson, where Giffords was shot, the city council passed a firearms regulation in the spring aimed at lost and stolen guns, requiring weapons owners to report them missing within 48 hours or face fines.
At the same time, the NRA and the NSSF aren't standing idly by. In Sunnyvale, officials were in no way surprised about the filing of lawsuits because the NRA, in particular, had threatened to take the city to court as soon as the mayor began speaking publicly about Measure C. The NRA has also sued the city of San Francisco and a host of other municipalities for their gun measures.
"We don't think they have much of a case," Jacbos says. "This is not really a 'Sky is falling' on the 2nd Amendment situation like they're portraying."
Last month, a federal judge ruled that the NRA suits against Sunnyvale and San Francisco could not be consolidated into one. Both cases are scheduled to be heard this month, with rulings later in the spring.
Even beyond the threat of lawsuits, a major hurdle that needs to be cleared in many states is preemption. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, close to 40 states have rules in place that prevent local governments from superseding state governments' decisions on gun issues. California gives its localities more leeway. Feinblatt anticipates a surge in challenges to preemption laws, which would make way for even more aggressive action by city governments in a lot more states.
"Legislators often make the decision to do what's politically safe rather than what's safe for constituents. That's not the case at the local [level]," he says. "States and localities are the leaders."
Top image: LukaTDB/Shutterstock.com
We must prepare for a protracted battle with coronavirus. But there are changes we can make now to prepare locked-down cities for what's next.
Will COVID-19 change how cities are designed? Michele Acuto of the Connected Cities Lab talks about density, urbanization and pandemic preparation.
Some renters and homeowners are getting financial assistance during the economic disruption from the coronavirus pandemic. What about landlords?
As the coronavirus crisis forces changes in transportation, some cities are building bike lanes and protecting cycling shops. Here's why that makes sense.
There's a fatal history behind the claim that African Americans are more resistant to diseases like Covid-19 or yellow fever.


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Alex Ovechkin scored once in regulation and again in a shootout to help the Washington Capitals rally for a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
Matt Hendricks also scored for Washington in the shootout, while Capitals goalie Braden Holtby stopped both of Buffalo's shootout attempts. Mike Green capped a two-goal third-period rally and forced overtime by scoring with 40 seconds left. Troy Brouwer had a goal and assist for Washington, which bounced back from a 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday to improve to 4-1 in its past five.
Ville Leino scored twice and Christian Ehrhoff also scored for the Sabres, who are 0-1-2 in their past three, and continued to slip in the standings.
Despite earning a point, Buffalo (13-16-6) lost ground to the Capitals (16-17-1), who gained sole possession of 11th place, a point ahead of the Sabres in the tightly contested Eastern Conference standings.
Hendricks scored on the Capitals' first shootout attempt by faking to his right and then going to his left, where he flipped a shot over goalie Jhonas Enroth's pad.
After Holtby got his right pad out to stop Buffalo's Tyler Ennis, Ovechkin sealed the victory by snapping a shot through Enroth's legs.
Brouwer scored on a short-handed 2-on-1 break 2:43 into the third period to cut Buffalo's lead to 3-2.
Green scored with Holtby lifted for an extra attacker. Getting the puck in the middle of the ice just inside the blue line, Green fired a hard shot that sneaked through the crowd and rang the left post. The puck bounced back and then went in off the back of Enroth's outstretched right arm.
With their playoff hopes beginning to dwindle, the Sabres already began looking to the future.
Hours before the game, Buffalo traded veteran defenseman Jordan Leopold to St. Louis in exchange for two draft picks - including a second-rounder. Leopold was in the final year of his contract and Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said he's focusing on improving the team beyond this season.
Both of Leino's goals came from in close, where he was able to convert rebounds.
Enroth was sharp in making his first start in five games.
His best stop came 2:46 into overtime. After getting a piece of a shot from the left point, he dove to left and managed to rob Mike Ribeiro's attempt to convert the rebound.
Then there was Enroth's two saves on bang-bang chances with 2 minutes left in the second period.
He got his left pad out to stop Jason Chimera's shot from the left circle. And Enroth then recovered in time to turn away Green's hard shot from the right point.
NOTES: Buffalo has allowed a league-high six short-handed goals this season. ... Ehrhoff played his 600th career game. ... The Capitals opened a three-game road trip that continues at Philadelphia on Sunday. ... Ovechkin extended his point streak to seven games, in which he has seven goals and 11 points. He has 32 points (20 goals, 12 assists) in 30 career games against Buffalo.


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Thank you. I had a nice day.
I really appreciate any comment
the poem u wrote in response to Mahmoud's poem is amazing . You touched its spirit . I really liked it . BRAVO
Hi... thanks for voting in the 2015 Annual Short Story Competition finals.
I submitted one of my stories "Happy Endings" into the contest.
Critiques here on litnet have always been greatly helpful and helped me improve a lot. As you have already read the story, I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the story on this thread->
Sorry to bother you. Thanks for reading the message.
Would you like to vote in our short story competition final?
Just to say I Liked your Spring poem.
Hey Tailor,
Sorry for the delayed reply; hope you are great.
My own thoughts on publishing are similar. . I would like to pick out the best and put them on Kindle. My brother also does artwork so I will see if he can illustrate it.
I hope your book is a success, whenever you do publish it.
Ah, that's great! I haven't been writing for a week or so.. Yes, all is very well with me, thank you for the kind words.
Do you only write poetry? I pretty much do.
And have you ever thought about publishing? A little while back I learned that, it seems anyway, it's very easy to do so for Kindle on Amazon.
Hi Tailor, just wanted to say hey; hope all is great with you.
Would you like to vote in our Short Story Competition Final?
Registered User
My mind's in rags
The Reddleman
flung (but not far)


text:
Thin, dry, weatherproof warmth for entire head with fleece lined Weather Shield⁜ 2000S fabric. Inset face Masque for contoured fit over nose, cheeks and chin. Great with goggles, hat or helmets. Colour Black.
Sizes: Sizes S - XL
Check out our products. Arrows to scroll, click for details.
© 2007-2015 Specialist Optical Ltd.


text:
The heart of the Internet is a network of high-capacity optical fibers that spans continents. But while optical signals transmit information much more efficiently than electrical signals, they're harder to control. The routers that direct traffic on the Internet typically convert optical signals to electrical ones for processing, then convert them back for transmission, a process that consumes time and energy.
In recent years, however, a group of MIT researchers led by Vincent Chan has demonstrated a new way of organizing optical networks that, in most cases, would eliminate this inefficient conversion process. As a result, it could make the Internet 100 or even 1,000 times faster while actually reducing the amount of energy it consumes.
One of the reasons that optical data transmission is so efficient is that different wavelengths of light loaded with different information can travel over the same fiber. But problems arise when optical signals coming from different directions reach a router at the same time. Converting them to electrical signals allows the router to store them in memory until it can get to them. The wait may be a matter of milliseconds, but there's no cost-effective way to hold an optical signal still for even that short a time.
Chan's approach, called flow switching, solves this problem in a different way. Between locations that exchange large volumes of data -- say, Los Angeles and New York City -- flow switching would establish a dedicated path across the network. For certain wavelengths of light, routers along that path would accept signals coming in from only one direction and send them off in only one direction. Since there's no possibility of signals arriving from multiple directions, there's never a need to store them in memory.
Reaction Time
To some extent, something like this already happens in today's Internet. A large Web company like Facebook or Google, for instance, might maintain huge banks of Web servers at a few different locations in the United States. The servers might exchange so much data that the company will simply lease a particular wavelength of light from one of the telecommunications companies that maintains the country's fiber-optic networks. Across a designated pathway, no other Internet traffic can use that wavelength.
In this case, however, the allotment of bandwidth between the two endpoints is fixed. If for some reason the company's servers aren't exchanging much data, the bandwidth of the dedicated wavelength is being wasted. If the servers are exchanging a lot of data, they might exceed the capacity of the link.
In a flow-switching network, the allotment of bandwidth would change constantly. As traffic between New York and Los Angeles increased, new, dedicated wavelengths would be recruited to handle it; as the traffic tailed off, the wavelengths would be relinquished. Chan and his colleagues have developed network management protocols that can perform these reallocations in a matter of seconds.
In a series of papers published over a span of 20 years they've also performed mathematical analyses of flow-switched networks' capacity and reported the results of extensive computer simulations. They've even tried out their ideas on a small experimental optical network that runs along the Eastern Seaboard.
Their conclusion is that flow switching can easily increase the data rates of optical networks 100-fold and possibly 1,000-fold, with further improvements of the network management scheme. Their recent work has focused on the power savings that flow switching offers: In most applications of information technology, power can be traded for speed and vice versa, but the researchers are trying to quantify that relationship. Among other things, they've shown that even with a 100-fold increase in data rates, flow switching could still reduce the Internet's power consumption.
Growing Appetite
Ori Gerstel, a principal engineer at Cisco Systems, says that several other techniques for increasing the data rate of optical networks, with names like burst switching and optical packet switching, have been proposed, but that flow switching is "much more practical." The chief obstacle to its adoption, he says, isn't technical but economic. Implementing Chan's scheme would mean replacing existing Internet routers with new ones that don't have to convert optical signals to electrical signals. But, Gerstel says, it's not clear that there's currently enough demand for a faster Internet to warrant that expense. "Flow switching works fairly well for fairly large demand -- if you have users who need a lot of bandwidth and want low delay through the network," Gerstel says. "But most customers are not in that niche today."
But Chan points to the explosion of the popularity of both Internet video and high-definition television in recent years. If those two trends converge -- if people begin hungering for high-definition video feeds directly to their computers -- flow switching may make financial sense. Chan points at the 30-inch computer monitor atop his desk in MIT's Research Lab of Electronics. "High resolution at 120 frames per second," he says: "That's a lot of data."


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How much does higher education pay in Colorado?
For many people, the word "college" brings to mind the big four-year school with a tree-lined campus, tenured professors, football program and no shortage of psychology majors.
But when it comes to drawing a paycheck after graduation, students might be better off with a much cheaper two-year degree from a community college in a technical field.
That is one of the key takeaways of a report released Wednesday examining earnings one, five and 10 years after students earn a credential from Colorado colleges and universities. Early-career earnings of graduates with technical, career-oriented associates degrees — or even some certificate programs — can meet or exceed that of graduates with many bachelor's degrees, according to the data.


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Update of "Some of My Writings"
I updated the "Some of my writings" section of this page recently. It has some of my academic as well as journalistic writings on the cinema of Southeast Asia.
Lots to read and download there. Please take a look.
Check it out on the Amazon website.
Pictures from Yvon Hem´s cremation…
…are here on Davy Chou´s Facebook page.
Yvon Hem RIP
Yvon Hem, one of the most distinguished directors of Cambodian cinema, died two days ago at the age of 75. He made some of the most-fondly remembered films of the "Golden Age of Cambodian Cinema" in the 1960s. He also made the first feature length Cambodian film after the Khmer Rouge dictatorship.
Yvon Hem started his film career as a teenager when he was a production assistant on Marcel Camus´ L'oiseau de paradis (Bird of Paradise) in 1963). The film starred his sister Nary Hem, as well as the Cambodian actors Saksy Sabong and Nop Nem, who went on to become some of the biggest stars of Cambodian cinema in the 1960s. The film also inspired young Yvon to take a correspondence course in cinematography.
With the support of his father, brother Yvon and sister Nary started their own production company, aptly named Baksey Thaansuo, Khmer for Bird of Paradise. They made some films together, before Nary left with her French husband for France. Hem´s first feature film was a version of the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Indian Ramayana epic. He made over a dozen movies, before the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975 and all artistic production in Cambodia came to a sudden stop. The exact number is unknown, as many of his films are lost.
However, his movies Cheth Mday (Mother´s Heart), Neang Sovan Panhcha (Lady Sovan Pancha), Abul Kasém (Abul Kasem), Ynav Bosséba (Ynav Bosseba) and Sovanahong (Sovannahong) have survived and are for sale on VCD on the markets of Phnom Penh. He also made documentaries and commercials and served as a cinematographer on the films of other directors.
His Baksey Thaansuo studio on the corner of Sothearos Boulevard and Mao Tse Tung Boulevard, today the site of a small mall, was one of the best-equipped and most professional movie studios of that time. His father Hem Chiam Reun was one of the partners in the company, and also served as the president of the Cambodian Film Maker´s Association.
Hem survived the Khmer Rouge, but lost his wife during their terror. After the liberation of Phnom Penh, he opened a photo studio near Phsar Thmey, a relatively profitable business at that time, because everybody needed portrait pictures for their identity cards. He constructed new cameras and other equipment out of spare parts from junk yards and made the first Cambodian feature film after the Khmer Rouge in 1987: Sror Morl Anthakal (Shadow of Darkness), until today one of the few Cambodian films that directly address the Khmer Rouge holocaust.
I met him several times and learned to appreciate him as one of the most outspoken and accessible elder sources on Cambodian cinema. As such, he featured in Davy Chou´s documentary "Golden Slumbers" that will be released theatrically in France in autumn. He also gave me a sense of the type of Cambodian intellectual that the Khmer Rouge disposed of so successfully and that only now starts to slowly return: smart, cosmopolitan, but at the same time down-to-earth, idiosyncratic and stubborn, oh, so stubborn.
I did an extensive interview with Yvon Hem just two month ago, an interview that might have been his very last. At that time, he was frail and skinny and had just moved to a new home in Phnom Penh´s Toul Kork neighborhood. He seemed weak after a long period of sickness, but appeared to be on his way back to health. He mentioned that he had lost his appetite, but then gave an interview that was focused and spot-on.
I regret that I did not spend more time with him after that interview. My fondest memory of him is his appearance when I and my students at the Department of Media and Communication at the Royal University of Phnom Penh launched our magazine Kon. The Cinema of Cambodia. His car broke down on the way to Meta House, where the event took place, but he wanted to be there so badly, that his wife and he just left the car behind and rushed there.


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Forgotten Greenpoint: Wooden Sidewalk on West Street May Become Extinct
Is one of Greenpoint's most unexpected features—a stretch of historic wooden block paving on West Street near the Greenpoint Terminal Market—in imminent danger? Many say that this is the last place where original wooden paving exists in New York City. These blocks are so rare that one from this section of sidewalk is included in the collection at The City Reliquary. But a new bike path down West Street could mean this final vestige of obscure New York City history will be put on the chopping block. Continue reading


text: Busan Walled by lavish mountains on one side and the breezy sea on the other, and with an urban sprawl all over the city, Busan emits an interesting aura of a "homely" city. The "summer capital" of Korea is where you'll find the country's largest beach, longest river and most beautiful natural landscapes. It is also host for the world famous Busan International Film Festival. With inviting smiles from its warm residents and pleasant weather all year long, it is not surprising that this second largest city in South Korea is a top holiday spot for locals and tourists alike. Top 5 Must Do's Haedong Yonggungsa Temple As far as Buddhist temples go, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple stands out from its contemporaries. Perched on a rocky coastline, the beautiful architecture is a rare find right by the seaside. The main deity here is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, who resides in the sea and it is believed that saying her name over and over again while you are here will result in good fortune. Nurimaru APEC House Built for the APEC Conference in 2005, the building is truly an architecture delight and a symbol of Busan. The concept was inspired by the 'pavilion', a traditional Korean summer house and complementing the scenic atmosphere are stunning views of Haeundae Beach and the Gwangandaegyo Bridge from afar. The house is located in the picturesque Dongbaekseom Island. Jagalchi Fish Market Welcome to the largest seafood market in Korea - the local equivalent of Tokyo's famous Tsukiji Fish Market. Thousands of stalls with tonnes of fish that come and go every day, making it one of the most exciting places to be in Busan. Have your seafood cleaned and cooked on the spot, or have it prepared raw to be consumed as sashimi. Yums! Haeundae Beach Korea's most famous beach is where the excitement is for some jet skiing, surfing and fun frolicking in the sun! The fun doesn't stop there! Get even closer to the rich marine kingdom in Korea's largest aquarium, located right by the beach itself, boasting an impressive 80-meter underwater tunnel and a larger-than-life simulator! Busan Tower If you didn't get to catch Seoul's N Seoul Tower, the Busan Tower is a popular tourist attraction as well! Located in the pleasant Yongdusan Park, the 118-meter tall tower offers a spectacular panoramic view of the entire city. Seal your love with the padlock-adorned fences around the tower, or feed the resident pigeons with corn. You can take the hillside escalator up to the tower. To and from Gimhae International Airport Availability Fare Bus All day Starts from 6,000 Won Taxi All day Starts from 20,000 Won Train (Busan Light Rail) Every 15 minutes Starts from 3,700 Won Your awesome getaway awaits you right here! Book now Quick Facts Currency South Korean Won (KRW) Electricity 220V 60Hz Language Korean Time zone UTC +9 Tel code +82 Religion Buddhism and Christianity Weather JUN - AUG Summer 22°C - 26°C Drink plenty of water SEP - NOV Autumn 18°C - 25°C Great time for sightseeing DEC - FEB Winter -3°C - 6°C Bring a jacket to keep warm on cold nights MAR - MAY Spring 9°C - 18°C Best time to visit as it's during the Cherry Blossom Festival View how you can fly in with our interactive map! Map it out Check out these other destinations! Australia Gold Coast Melbourne Sydney Cambodia Siem Reap China Changsha Hangzhou Kunming Shanghai Wuhan Xi'An Hong Kong Hong Kong India Kochi Indonesia Bali Bandung Jakarta Solo Yogyakarta Japan Osaka Tokyo Malaysia Kota Kinabalu Kuala Lumpur Kuching Langkawi Miri Penang Myanmar Mandalay Nepal Kathmandu Singapore Singapore South Korea Busan Taiwan Taipei Thailand Bangkok Chiang Mai Krabi Phuket Surat Thani Vietnam Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City


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Wisconsin Naturalization
This entry was originally written by Dawn M. Knauft and Carol L. Maki in Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Naturalization records for Wisconsin have historically been kept in the county courthouses. However, they are now generally being transferred to the respective Area Research Center. As of 2002, all but three counties have transferred these records. Milwaukee and Waukesha county papers are deposited with the respective county historical society. Menominee County was created in 1961 and has no older records. Its records are at the county courthouse. Some naturalizations for La Crosse and all those applied for in federal courts are at the National Archives'Great Lakes Region.


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(Santa Ana) - Santa Ana College (SAC) will host a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Clinic on Saturday, June 8, from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. at Santa Ana College John Center (Building U), 1530 W. 17th St., Santa Ana, CA 92706. The event is free and open to the public and free parking is available in student lots. Please do not to park in staff or visitor areas. The community is also advised to come early as space is not guaranteed.
With immigration reform at the center of national debate, this event will offer free legal assistance with the application process and individual document review. "We know that applying for DACA can be daunting and we want to help eligible Orange County residents take advantage of the benefits available to them," said Sara Lundquist, Ph.D., vice president of student affairs at SAC.
DACA eligibility requirements include:
Residents who attend the clinic are asked to bring the following:
The DACA Clinic is offered in collaboration with the Orange County Dream Team and the Asian Pacific Legal Center and co-sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Ana. The public is asked to reserve a seat for this event by contacting SAC Outreach Office, Transfer Center or EOPS Office by June 3.
For more information, contact:
Victor Castro (Outreach) by email or by calling (714) 564-6145Mark Franco (Transfer Center) by email or by calling (714) 564-6698Gloria Ramos (EOPS) by email or by calling (714) 564-6232
About Santa Ana CollegePart of Rancho Santiago Community College District, Santa Ana College serves nearly 35,000 credit and non-credit students each semester and offers 136 certificate and associate degree programs. This mission of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) is to respond to the educational needs of an ever-changing community and to provide programs and services that reflect academic excellence. Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are public community colleges of RSCCD, which serves the residents of Anaheim Hills, East Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park. Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, customized training for business and industry, and programs to train nurses, firefighters and law enforcement personnel.
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Media Contact
Judy Iannaccone(714) firstname.lastname@example.com


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You'll be able to play new versions of some old games on your PlayStation 3 soon.
New collections of God of War, Infamous, and Ratchet & Clank are all coming to PS3 on August 28, Sony said today. They'll be available "starting at" $30, Sony says.
Update: Sony's Cristian Cardona has taken to the comments of the PlayStation Blog to specify that the God of War and Infamous collections will be $40. He also pointed out that 3D will only be available in the God of War: Origins Collection, not God of War III.
Here's what Sony says you'll get in the God of War and Infamous collections:
God of War Saga
- God of War
- God of War II
- God of War III
- God of War: Origins Collection (which includes God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
- Exclusive Bonus Content
- Voucher For 1 Trial Month of PlayStation Plus
- Remastered for HD, DUALSHOCK Control, Full PlayStation Network Trophy Support and 3D (3D supported only in the God of War: Origins Collection)
inFAMOUS Collection
- inFAMOUS
- inFAMOUS 2
- inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood
- Extra missions
- Additional character costumes, power ups and weapon styles
You'll also be able to buy some of these games individually on the PlayStation Store.
Never Stop Playing With PlayStation Collections [PlayStation Blog]


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Earlier this year, Annie Leonard's short film "The Story of Bottled Water" blasted the bottled water industry for its deceptive marketing tactics. She ruffled some feathers along the way, naturally, after suggesting that drinking bottled water is "about as cool as smoking while pregnant."
Now, the International Bottled Water Association wants you to hear their side of the story. Not to be outdone by Leonard's quirky little stick figures, "The Real Story of Bottled Water" uses a claymation water bottle to tell the real story of bottled water:
"The Real Story of Bottled Water" is actually correct in saying that the "demand for bottled water is consumer-driven, like any free market economy." The video goes on to say that bottled water companies do very little advertising, and when they do advertise, they tout the health benefits of bottled water when compared with sodas. This is somewhat ironic, considering the film is an advertisement, and that bottled water offers no more health benefits than tap water.
The film's high-pitched, clay narrator says that many people don't like the smell of chlorine in tap water. But it refuses to mention that the taste and odor of chlorine can be removed easily with inexpensive fridge filters, pitcher filters or faucet filters.
The narrator goes on to say that bottled water is closely watched by the FDA, just like any food. The EPA ensures tap water is safe, but the film fails to mention that.
The bottled water industry is consumer-driven, so instead of criticizing bottled water manufacturers, we should be criticizing ourselves for drinking bottled water. After all, they're not going to take money out of their pockets to tell us why bottled water is bad for the environment.
In closing, the narrator says that water bottles need to be recycled and do not belong in a landfill. It's hard to deny that. But why not carry a reusable water bottle so that new water bottles don't have to be created in the first place? A lot of oil (and ironically, water) goes into manufacturing bottled water and shipping it all across the country.
Most of the film's points can be easily refuted, but the little clay water bottle saves his best for last: "It's a no-brainer: bottled water is among the most environmentally-friendly consumer products we have today."
Mirriam-Webster defines "no-brainer" as "something that requires a minimum of thought." I'd say "The Real Story of Bottled Water," which greatly lacks the insight of Annie Leonard's film, is just that.