Monday 14 May 2012

Unseen: Trailblazing Military Women Forced To Fight For Recognition, Equal Treatment


After a rocket-propelled grenade sent the Black Hawk helicopter tumbling out of the sky over Iraq, the medics got to work fast on the co-pilot, Capt. Duckworth. Standard operating procedure: cut away the desert-camo uniform before burnt fabric melds with burnt flesh. Get at the wounds. Stop the bleeding. Save what's left.
When you show up at Walter Reed Medical Center in that kind of condition, you show up naked, with nothing except the hospital gown. So you're given a "comfort kit," a little backpack containing some toiletries and clothes. Duckworth awoke there around Thanksgiving 2004, a few weeks after the shootdown, to find a comfort kit waiting with slippers, a shaving kit and men's jockey shorts.
She had to laugh.
"It was great. I don't have feet, so I can't wear the slippers, and you know, I just had my legs blown off, it's not like I'm gonna shave my legs any time soon," she chuckles. "I don't have jockey, I'm not gonna wear men's jockey shorts."

Ochigava, Jonas win 1st rounds in women’s boxing worlds in China; 3 Americans win their bouts


QINHUANGDAO, China — Two-time world champion Sofya Ochigava of Russia and Olympic test event winner Natasha Jonas of England won their first bouts in the 132-pound class at the world women’s boxing championships on Saturday.
Ochigava scored a 19-7 win over Kiria Tapia of Puerto Rico, while Jonas beat Rebecca Price of Wales 18-8 in their first steps towards qualifying for the London Olympics.

The championships are held in 10 divisions but the focus is on three: 112-pound flyweight, 132-pound lightweight and 165-pound middleweight. They are the only three classes in the Olympic debut of women’s boxing this summer.
In the lightweight division, Quanita Lee Underwood of the United States defeated Dayana Sanchez of Argentina, 24-13. In the welterweight, Raquel Miller of the U.S. defeated Daena Stephenson of New Zealand, 20-12.
In the middleweight, American Claressa Maria Shields defeated Pooja Rani of India, 27-10.
Eight places are up for grabs in each of the three categories.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Honoring My Mother's Spirit


My mother, Elli, passed away 12 years ago, but there's not a single day that I don't feel her presence with me, especially when I am in festive gatherings where there are people and food involved. She never missed a chance to celebrate life. She was the quintessential caretaker, an earth mother who infused everyone around her with her infectious spirit of generosity and inclusiveness. To my mother, there was no such thing as hierarchy.
So today, Mother's Day, I want to share with all of you her extraordinary spirit that nurtured so many people. She had a remarkable ability to respond to life's call in the moment, in the most ordinary and extraordinary ways. She used to say her religion was the human communion. Nothing was more important to her than the kinds of heart-to-heart connection that can make time stop and give meaning to everything. To this day, people who knew her still quote from her well of wisdom. I want to share with you today some of her soul-stirring sayings, to inspire you.

Greece Crisis: Parties Hit Political Stalemate, Euro Exit Fears Grow


Greece Financial Crisis 2012
* President invites four parties to meeting at 1630 GMT

* Radical left SYRIZA says won't attend unless all parties called

* Markets slide; Spanish, Italian bond yields rise

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS, May 14 (Reuters) - Greece's president met little enthusiasm from political leaders summoned to a final round of talks on Monday to avert a new election, reinforcing fears the country was firmly on the path to bankruptcy and an exit from the euro zone.

European shares slid and Spanish and Italian bond yields rose as the political deadlock threatened to reignite the euro zone debt crisis. Greek banking stocks tumbled 7 percent.

Drew Barrymore Shows Off Growing Baby Bump!



Drew Barrymore and her fiance Will Kopelman have yet to confirm they're expecting, but her growing baby bump leaves little doubt that she's pregnant.

The couple stepped out in matching black and white for the 2012 New York Ballet's Spring Gala. The 37-year-old's flowing gown and jacket couldn't hide her fuller figure. And she definitely has that gorgeous glow!

Also in attendance were Natalie Portman and her husband Benjamin Millepied -- who is a ballet dancer himself (they met on the set of "Black Swan").

Check out all the glamorous photos below!
 
0511_gala_launch

Write the Perfect Craigslist Post

Craigslist is weird. Equal parts shady flea market and poetry slam—and crammed full of just as much junk as either. If you're trying to sell something or rent an apartment, your post needs to stand out. Crafting that perfect post is equal parts art and science.
Good news: I have a Black Belt in Craigslist. I've bought and sold literally dozens of cars and motorcycles, rented and rented out countless apartments, and spent more hours cruising it than I should probably admit. I know first-hand what works, and I am more than happy to let you in on the secret. Just Western Union me $85 and I will mail the secrets to you. I kid!

Play by the rules

The 7th level of Internet Hell is the Craigslist help forums. "Help." Ha. There is no help here, only a posse of insufferable trolls who answer your questions with self-righteous derision. This is where the people who police Craigslist hang out, and users are directed there to find out why their posts were removed. You don't want to go there.
But, on the other hand, thank god for these guys. Seriously, they are the first line of defense that keep you from getting relentlessly scammed on the 'list. Unfortunately, they also flag and remove anything they think is fishy—from violations of CL's terms to the proper price for your vintage motorcycle, which they have never seen and know nothing about. Never before has the term "necessary evil" been so apt.

Kodak Had a Secret Nuclear Reactor Loaded With Weapons-Grade Uranium Hidden In a Basement


Kodak may be going under, but apparently they could have started their own nuclear war if they wanted, just six years ago. Down in a basement in Rochester, NY, they had a nuclear reactor loaded with 3.5 pounds of enriched uranium—the same kind they use in atomic warheads.
But why did Kodak have a hidden nuclear reactor loaded with weapons-grade uranium? And how did they get permission to own it, let alone install it in a basement in the middle of a densely populated city?
Nobody really knows. Kodak officials now admit that they never made any public announcement about it. In fact, nobody in the city—officials, police or firemen—or in the state of New York or anywhere else knew about it until it was recently leaked by an ex-employee. Its existence and whereabouts were purposely kept vague and only a few engineers and Federal employees really knew about the project.

Report: New MacBook Pros Will Be Retina Display, USB 3.0 Monster Machines


It's always best not to put too much stock in the old familiar "supply chain sources," but 9to5Mac knows a guy who knows a guy who has confirmed what we've always thoughtabout Apple's next MacBook Pros: They're going to be thin, fast, and gorgeous.

Oh, and Apple's ditching Ethernet.
According to the report, this summer's MacBook Pros are indeed going to be much thinner than the current iteration, but won't just be MacBook Air clones; they're going to be flat, not tapered, more of a pancake than a blade. No actual dimensions are available at this time, but given that ultrabooks are typically under an inch thick, expect something within that ballpark.
To achieve that, the MBP is going on a strict diet of no optical drives and no Ethernet port (which, hey, hope you went with the SuperBoost XXXtreme Wi-Fi bundle). It would also make sense for the new MBP to follow the MBA into SSD exclusivity, but 9to5Mac doesn't appear to have intel on storage. An SSD might also have too limited a capacity for Apple's pro-level users.

Data Killer tuns hard drives into blank slates with the push of a button (video)


Let's say you're embroiled in an international tale of espionage and intrigue, and you've got hard drives filled with incriminating evidence and top secret information. You could dispose of that potentially dangerous data by manually wiping each disk with multiple passes of a disk erasing app or, you could pop them in the Data Killer and be done with it in seconds. Platform of Japan demonstrated the information obliterating devices at the Information Security Expo. A large powerful magnet realigns the bits on the surface of the drive's platters eliminating all trace of the data that existed before, without physically damaging the hardware. With just the push of a button a Data Killer can wipe practically any magnetic media, including tapes or an aging floppy disk. The data disposals even come in different sizes, allowing you to kill just a single 3.5-inch disk or up to 14 at a time. The larger models can even accept an intact laptop. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.

Elizabeth Warren: Jamie Dimon Should Resign From New York Fed Board



Elizabeth Warren Jamie Dimon
Elizabeth Warren called on JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to resign from his post on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's board, citing the need for "responsibility and accountability" in the financial industry.
Dimon, who disclosed a $2 billion loss by the banking giant last week, should "send a signal to the American people that Wall Street bankers get it and to show that they understand the need for responsibility and accountability," Warren said in a statement following Dimon's Sunday appearance on "Meet the Press."