Beware, lads! 'Downton's' Mary is a black widow

TV

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

17 hours ago

Nick Briggs / Carnival Films

Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley on "Downton Abbey."

It's been three months since the third season of "Downton Abbey" came to a close, but for fans of the drama, the final scene still stings like it was yesterday. Matthew -- the heir to "Downton" and one true love of Lady Mary -- met his final fate.

Sniff!

What a shame. Matthew made it through his wartime engagement to Lavinia with just a temporary bout of paralysis. But his marriage to Mary? It proved fatal.

OK, technically it was a particularly unlucky joyride that proved fatal for Matthew, but his marriage to Mary didn't help things. After all, Lord Grantham's eldest daughter has a bit of a reputation.

Matthew wasn't Mary's first partner. Long before he entered her life, she was betrothed to another -- her cousin, Patrick. But of course, that engagement didn't end in a happily-ever-after either. That's because Patrick, who was the heir apparent to Downton at the time, sank into the icy depths of the North Atlantic Ocean along with the Titanic.

Coincidence? Well?

Things start to seem suspicious when the fate another man is considered. Kermal Pamuk, a Turkish diplomat who was a guest in Lord Grantham's home, seduced his way into Lady Mary's bed one night. But shortly after he and Mary hit the sheets, he suffered a heart attack and died on the spot.

You get the idea. Lady Mary's a black widow -- or at the very least, bad luck for the fellows. Either way, the men of the Roaring Twenties need to take care. When season four of "Downton Abbey" kicks off, she'll be single and (after she devotes an appropriate amount of time to mourning her lost love) ready to mingle.

According to the actress behind the widowed aristocrat, finding a new man only makes sense.

"She has the heir to Downton, she has baby George and she is under pressure to find someone," Michelle Dockery recently told the Los Angeles Times. "In that world, women had to find someone. It was all about marriage and who you'd spend the rest of your life with."

Or given Mary's track record, the man she'd spend the rest of his life with.

And there won't be any shortage of available men for Mary in the upcoming season. In addition to the also single and bereaved Branson (a match that would just be wrong, wrong, wrong), Lady Mary will be free to consider a few new faces. Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen), an old friend of the family, will make an appearance. Another eligible option will be blue blood Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden). And if Mary isn't concerned about the upper-crust set anymore, there will even be a new easy-on-the-eyes jazz singer (Gary Carr) and valet (Nigel Harman) on the scene.

But those men better beware. Only one man offered himself to Mary and lived to tell the tale. Newspaper magnate Sir Richard Carlisle, who was briefly engaged to her back in season two, was left with a bitter, broken -- but still beating -- heart when they parted ways.

It will be a while before fans know for sure which man will tempt fate for Lady Mary. "Downton Abbey" isn't expected to return to PBS until winter of 2014.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/look-out-lads-downton-abbeys-lady-mary-black-widow-6C10128515

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Judge rejects legal challenges by accused Colorado theater gunman

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado judge rejected challenges on Wednesday to the state's insanity defense statute and death penalty law by accused movie theater spree gunman James Holmes, resolving a key legal hurdle in the sensational case.

Lawyers for Holmes, accused of killing 12 moviegoers and wounding dozens more in a rampage last July, had argued that the state's insanity law was unconstitutional because it forces their client to cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists.

They also contended that compelling the 25-year-old former neuroscience graduate student to reveal information to mental health experts that could be used against him at trial violates his constitutional right against self-incrimination. But Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour disagreed.

"The provisions in the insanity statutes and the death penalty statute challenged by the defendant are constitutional," Samour wrote in a 51-page ruling, denying the defense's motions in their entirety.

The defense arguments were the latest legal wrangling surrounding last year's mass shooting in suburban Denver during a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, is scheduled to stand trial in February. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

In March, then-presiding Judge William Sylvester entered a standard not guilty plea for Holmes, but allowed his attorneys to change that to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Samour, who took over the case in April, has ruled that there was "good cause" for Holmes' lawyers to change the plea.

However, Samour said he could not rule on whether he would accept it until the challenges to the insanity defense and death penalty law were resolved, so he could properly advise Holmes of the ramifications of such a plea.

Public defenders for Holmes have said in court pleadings that the former University of Colorado graduate student has been hospitalized twice since his arrest, once for "potential self-inflicted injuries."

He has grown a shaggy beard and longer hair since he was arrested outside the movie theater minutes after the shooting spree. At his first court appearance days after the shooting, he looked dazed and sleepy with his hair dyed orange and red.

Neither prosecutors nor attorneys for Holmes have publicly commented on the case due to a court-imposed gag order.

(Writing and additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Cynthia Johnston, G Crosse and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-rejects-legal-challenges-accused-colorado-theater-gunman-013005393.html

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NYC's Bloomberg: 'I feel perfectly safe'

NEW YORK (AP) ? Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a public face of gun control for years, but he's in a new, unsought spotlight after ricin-laced letters were sent to him and a group he helps lead.

The billionaire hasn't shied from using his political post and his personal fortune to push for gun control well beyond the city limits, garnering both plaudits and complaints that he's overreaching.

The poisoned letters to Bloomberg and the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns essentially threatened that "anyone who comes for my guns will be shot in the face," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday, shortly before the Secret Service disclosed that a similar missive was sent to President Barack Obama.

Bloomberg, speaking Friday on his weekly WOR Radio show, shrugged off any specter of danger.

"There's always threats, unfortunately. That comes with the job," the mayor said. "I trust the police department and I feel perfectly safe. I've got more danger from lightning than from anything else and I'll go about my business."

He added, "We're certainly going to keep working on getting guns off the streets, out of the hands of criminals and people with mental problems."

The letters arrived after Bloomberg played a prominent role in a now-stalled push for new firearms laws in response to the December school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

"The work Mayor Bloomberg does is vitally important to our cause, and our thoughts are with them this week," Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement Thursday. He emphasized that the organization doesn't think the letter episode reflects the mass of Americans engaged in the issue.

Thanks to his office and pocketbook, Bloomberg has become a uniquely influential figure in the gun debate.

Vice President Joe Biden said in March that "there has been no support that has been more consequential" than Bloomberg's in the recent, White House-fueled press for new gun restrictions. And the National Rifle Association has made clear it sees Bloomberg as a leading foe, caricaturing him as an octopus on the cover of its magazine in 2007 and branding him an "evangelist for the nanny state."

Representatives for the NRA and another gun-rights advocacy group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, didn't immediately respond to inquiries Thursday about Bloomberg's stature in the gun-control debate.

As leader of the nation's biggest city, Bloomberg often emphasizes that he feels mayors are on the front lines of a fight against gun violence ? and that killings and shootings have dropped to historic lows in New York during his nearly 12-year tenure. And he has pursued the fight elsewhere.

His administration has set up gun-buying stings in other states to highlight what it said were illegal sales, on the premise that many illicit guns in New York were bought elsewhere. The city has sued dozens of out-of-state gun dealers, resulting in court-appointed monitoring for many. One South Carolina dealer ended up pleading guilty to a federal weapons charge.

Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which now includes more than 900 mayors. Financed partly by Bloomberg, the nonprofit group has spread its message through such means as a Super Bowl ad this year and a $12 million ad campaign less than two months later.

The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-unaffiliated Bloomberg also has spent millions of dollars advancing his gun-control views through political contributions. In one example, his super PAC, Independence USA, spent more than $2 million on ads in the Democratic primary in a special congressional election in Chicago this year.

Bloomberg's favored candidate, then-Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, got the seat. And Bloomberg got some criticism that he was butting in where he didn't belong.

"You had someone from outside of the community determining what the issue was for Chicago and that district," Delmarie Cobb, a Democratic political consultant who worked with one of the other candidates, recalled Thursday. Her candidate, Alderman Anthony Beale, called for tougher gun laws himself during the campaign, but he also sought to focus on job growth and other topics.

Bloomberg said at the time he was just a concerned citizen who happens "to have some money, and that's what I'm going to do with my money ? try to get us some sensible gun laws."

It wasn't the first time he'd been branded a gun-control interloper. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne complained in 2011 that Bloomberg had overstepped his power in authorizing investigators to run a sting at a Phoenix gun show. Bloomberg's representatives noted that Arizona-based private investigators carried out the undercover operation.

Now, government investigators are working to figure out who sent the letters to Bloomberg and Obama.

The two directed at Bloomberg were postmarked from Shreveport, La., according to the postal workers' union, which cited information from a Postal Service briefing. The Shreveport postal center handles mail from Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Julie Lewis noted.

The White House and Bloomberg letters were intercepted at mail facilities before reaching the president or mayor. The third was opened by the mayors' group director, Mark Glaze.

Three New York police officers who examined the letter to Bloomberg experienced minor symptoms that have since abated, authorities said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin is found naturally in castor beans. Exposure can cause difficulty breathing, vomiting and redness on the skin.

The letters were the latest in a string of toxin-laced missives, but authorities would not say whether the letters to Bloomberg and Obama were believed to be linked to any other recent case.

In Washington state, a 37-year-old was charged last week with threatening to kill a federal judge in a letter that contained ricin.

About a month earlier, letters containing the substance were addressed to Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. One of the letters was traced back to Tupelo, Miss., and a Mississippi man was arrested.

___

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

___

Associated Press writers Frank Eltman and Colleen Long in New York; Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss.; and Darlene Superville and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nycs-bloomberg-feel-perfectly-safe-125718184.html

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U.S. Expected to Clear China Smithfield Purchase (WSJ)

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Mayweather to face Alvarez on Sept. 14

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Floyd Mayweather will fight young Mexican star Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand.

"I chose my opponent for September 14th and it's Canelo Alvarez," Mayweather said Wednesday night on Twitter. "I'm giving the fans what they want. It will be at the MGM Grand."

Alvarez sent a tweet in Spanish announcing the fight.

The 36-year-old Mayweather is unbeaten in 44 fights, the last a unanimous 12-round decision over Robert Guerrero on May 4 at the MGM Grand in defense of his 147-pound title.

Alvarez is 42-0-1. The 22-year-old fighter unified the 154-pounds titles April 20 in San Antonio with a unanimous victory over Austin Trout.

The fight will be contested at a catch weight of 152 pounds for all of their titles.

As rare as it is for two unbeaten fighters in their prime to meet, it is just as rare for them to be fighting for titles in two weight classes.

"Floyd has said from Day 1 that he wants to give fans the best fight out there and here it is," Mayweather's co-manager, Leonard Ellerbe, told the AP. "We have the two biggest stars in the sport and they're fighting each other Sept. 14."

The bout will be the second in Mayweather's six-fight, 30-month contract with Showtime that could pay him more than $200 million.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-30-BOX-Mayweather-Alvarez/id-748bf1b27d334a87897e394a2aa215f0

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MIDEAST WEEKAHEAD-Declining Morocco stocks face frontier risk

By Carolyn Cohn and Aziz El Yaakoubi

LONDON/RABAT, May 29 (Reuters) - Morocco's possible demotion

to frontier market status next month may deter international

investors and put the country's stock market, already suffering

from tumbling share prices and trading volumes, further at risk.

Index compiler MSCI, which has $7 trillion in global assets

benchmarked against its indices, put Morocco on review for

downgrade to its frontier index last year, and makes its

decision on June 11.

Relegation from the emerging market index would reduce

foreign investor interest in Morocco, which is suffering from

the financial crisis in the euro zone, its biggest trading

partner.

It would also be a blow to the country's pride as it invests

billions of dollars to maintain its reputation for relative

stability in the politically uncertain Middle East and North

Africa region.

"Morocco's economy is suffering badly due to its close ties

with Europe, the market has been penalized with huge pressure on

earnings," said Sebastien Henin, portfolio investor at The

National Investor in Dubai.

Some Casablanca-listed banking and real estate stocks were

hitting record lows as investors sold shares ahead of the MSCI

announcement, he said.

"If the country is taken out of the emerging market index,

expect the trackers of the index to leave. In an illiquid market

such as Morocco, you could have heavy selling."

Liquidity, one of the key factors for inclusion in the MSCI

emerging market index, against which $1.4 trillion is

benchmarked, is dwindling.

Morocco's overall stock market transactions volume, of which

foreign investors make up 28 percent, was 13.421 billion dirhams

($1.56 billion) in the first quarter, plunging 59 percent from

the fourth quarter of 2012. Compared with the first quarter of

last year, volume was down 8 percent, according to data from

bourse watchdog CDVM.

"It is almost impossible for an investor to make a big trade

without affecting the share price," a local trader said.

Morocco's free-float market cap, another main factor

influencing MSCI's rankings, has lost almost a third since 2009,

falling to around 90 billion dirhams.

The Casablanca bourse's benchmark MASI index has

dropped 14 percent since the MSCI said last June that Morocco

could be downgraded, and is trading at around 8,727 points,

close to its lowest levels in more than six years.

It has fallen 6 percent, including two sessions of downward

gaps - an opening level well below the previous day's low -

since MSCI set the date of its review a few weeks ago.

Moroccan officials say they have been lobbying hard to

retain their place as an emerging market, including making

roadshow presentations.

"We have a short-term action plan promoting scenarios to

help Morocco have more liquidity," Anass Alami, chief executive

of the government's financial arm CDG, told Reuters on a visit

to London earlier this year.

"Long term there are (plans for) laws on short-selling which

will help liquidity."

Investors have also been canvassed for their opinions on

MSCI's review. MSCI is also considering an upgrade from frontier

status for Gulf economies Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Moroccan stocks make up less than 1 percent of the MSCI

emerging market index. One of the three constituents, Maroc

Telecom had its weight reduced by 50 percent last year

due to low liquidity.

A drop to frontier status would mean smaller amounts of

money would track Morocco, and investment banks would probably

assign fewer research analysts to the country.

But Casablanca boasts stronger local liquidity than other

frontier markets such as those in sub-Saharan Africa, according

to Luca del Conte, in capital markets sales at broker Exotix.

Valuations, while historically low by Moroccan standards,

are also above the average for frontier markets, according to

Datastream. (see http://link.reuters.com/sap48t for graphic)

Del Conte thought Morocco may hang onto emerging market

status for now, particularly given Taiwan and South Korea, for

example, have been on review for upgrade to developed market

status for years.

"Just like we have the annual Cannes film festival, we have

the annual MSCI review," he said.

FRONTIER BOOM?

If MSCI does downgrade Morocco, some market watchers see a

silver lining.

Morocco would increase its weighting in its MSCI index from

less than 1 percent to as much as 10 percent.

And as valuations are historically low, the country could

benefit more from the current dash to high-yielding frontier

market assets, as developed market central banks around the

world stick with minimal interest rates.

"It would be sad to lose the MSCI's rating as an emerging

market," CDVM CEO Karim Hajji said, but added:

"It is not necessarily bad news - we can benefit from being

frontier market assets."

When Israel moved the other way, with an upgrade to

developed market status in 2010, foreign investor flows

initially shrank to practically zero, as Israel's weighting in

the index was so small.

If either UAE or Qatar made the leap to emerging market

status, that would leave a hole in the frontier index that

Morocco could go some way to fill.

UAE currently makes up 12 percent of the frontier index and

Qatar 15 percent, according to MSCI.

But Moroccan stocks may have to fall even further before

they attract investors back, with some expecting the

well-developed local fund industry will keep valuations high

relative to other markets in the region.

"Since MSCI's plans last year to downgrade Morocco to the

frontier market index, there has been an outflow of funds from

international investors," said Faid Al Said, head of investments

at ING Investment Management in Dubai.

"As a country, it's an important market, but we're staying

away, in wait for interesting valuations and entry levels."

($1 = 8.5827 Moroccan dirhams)

(Additional reporting by Nadia Saleem in Dubai and Natsuko Waki

in London; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mideast-weekahead-declining-morocco-stocks-face-frontier-risk-140000433.html

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WWE and 'The Flintstones' tag-team to throw down some bedrock

By Tony Maglio

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Have you ever been watching a "Flintstones" cartoon and thought, "This would be much better with professional wrestlers?" Us neither. But we're getting it anyway.

WWE Studios has tag-teamed with Warner Bros. to co-produce a "Flintstones" direct-to-home-video animated movie, to be released on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and digital download in early 2015, WWE Studios said on Wednesday.

WWE talent John Cena, CM Punk and others will join owner Vince McMahon to provide voices for the movie, which will see Fred, Barney and the gang attending a WWE match. Naturally, the wrestlers will play Bedrock versions of themselves, cutely named "John Cenastone," "CM Punkrock" and "Vince McMagma" respectively.

This is not the first time that WWE has infiltrated your old cartoons. The wrestling giant and Warner Bros. also have co-produced an animated "Scooby Doo" cartoon that will be released in March, just before Wrestlemania XXX. (That's "30," not porn. Though expect porn parodies. Just not from Warner Bros.)

"WWE is family-friendly entertainment, so partnering with Warner Bros. on a Flintstones/WWE project was a natural extension of our Scooby Doo deal," Michael Luisi, president of WWE Studios said in a statement. "This new, animated feature allows us to showcase our brand with young fans and loyal Flintstones enthusiasts alike."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wwe-flintstones-tag-team-throw-down-bedrock-003940541.html

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Cambodia PM seeks law to punish Khmer Rouge denial

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ? The Cambodian prime minister said he wants a law to punish people who deny that atrocities occurred during the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime, apparently trying to link his political opponents to the widely despised movement.

Hun Sen's appeal to Parliament on Monday comes ahead of a July 28 election his Cambodian People's Party is expected to win by a landslide. Hun Sen has been campaigning aggressively and has suggested several times that an opposition victory would be akin to bringing back the Khmer Rouge, even though there is no connection between the two.

Hun Sen, an authoritarian elected leader, was once a Khmer Rouge cadre himself, and his political allies include people linked by scholars to Khmer Rouge atrocities. The Khmer Rouge are widely held responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people.

Pro-government media have publicized comments allegedly made by Kem Sokha, deputy president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, that exhibits at the famous Tuol Sleng genocide museum were faked, even though the camp's commander confessed that it was a Khmer Rouge torture center and he was found guilty by a U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal.

Kem Sokha's party says his words were taken out of context.

Last week, Hun Sen suggested that the opposition party shares the philosophy of the long-defunct Khmer Rouge regime.

In a speech to villagers in southern Cambodia, he said the Cambodia National Rescue Party was promising voters it would cancel their banking debts if it won the election. He likened the idea to the communist Khmer Rouge's eradication of the banking system when they took over Cambodia in 1975.

Opposition spokesman Yim Sovann denied the allegation, saying his party is seeking only to have onerous interest rates reduced.

Speaking Monday at the inauguration of a Buddhist pagoda, Hun Sen called for a law to be implemented to silence people who deny that genocide took place and to ensure that the Khmer Rouge movement cannot return. Two top Khmer Rouge leaders who are still alive are currently in U.N. custody being tried on charges of genocide and other crimes.

"Anyone who says there was no Khmer Rouge genocidal regime in Cambodia has to be punished," Hun Sen said, adding that similar laws have been implemented in Europe.

Several European countries have Holocaust denial laws which ban the dissemination of materials seeking to deny that Hitler carried out a mass extermination of Jews and others.

Kem Sokha could not be reached for comment Monday but his party issued a statement calling Hun Sen's statement politically motivated and saying that Kem Sokha's words had been distorted.

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party faces an uphill battle against Hun Sen's well-organized and financed political machine, and is handicapped by having its leader, Sam Rainsy, forced into exile to avoid jail on what are widely seen as politically motivated charges.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cambodia-pm-seeks-law-punish-khmer-rouge-denial-012343408.html

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Just How Fragile Are America’s Bridges?

Following last week's I-5 bridge collapse near Mount Vernon, Wash., the AP reported that the bridge was not structurally deficient but was functionally obsolete, and listed the bridge's ?sufficiency rating," at 47 out of 100. But what does any of that bridge jargon mean to anyone who isn't a civil engineer?

U.S. infrastructure is crumbling. But aside from the occasional report card issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which gives letter grades in categories such as bridges and drinking water based on the wide-ranging assessments of its members, there's no unified measurement for the status of different types of infrastructures. So when a bridge collapses, we're presented with terms fit for bridge inspectors.

Structural Deficiency

First, there's structural deficiency, a designation that can be based on any number of factors. America is awash in structurally deficient bridges. The most famous example in recent memory was the old I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that spanned the Mississippi River. It collapsed in 2007, killing 13 and injuring 145. But the Minnesota bridge was just one of 75,000 such structurally deficient bridges in the country at that time, and that I-35W bridge had carried that designation for 17 years before its failure. It had been slated for replacement in 2020, but the sheer number of structurally deficient bridges (the U.S. has 66,749, as of last year) meant it was simply part of a staggering nationwide backlog.

Functional Obsolescence

The I-5 bridge was not structurally deficient. But it was functionally obsolete, another relatively common designation that means it was effectively over the hill. The bridge was built in 1955, when traffic was lighter and so were the loads borne by trucks.

Functional obsolescence is about modern usage exceeding what the original design intended. It's not about specific cracks, wear, or other structural abuse. Bridges can be both functionally obsolete and structurally deficient. The two designations aren't mutually exclusive, but structural deficiency is more alarming.

Sufficiency Ratings

These are determined by a complex formula taking into account everything from clearance above and below the bridge deck to its ?essentiality" to the public. Sufficiency ratings tend to be based on some of the same factors as designations of structural deficiency and functional obsolescence. But because sufficiency ratings also include nonstructural aspects, the rating serves a different purpose?it attempts to prioritize the repair or replacement of that bridge.

With a sufficiency rating of 47 of 100, the I-5 bridge was a project that desperately needed addressing?not because it was doomed to fail, necessarily, but because it was grossly inadequate. By comparison, the I-35W bridge that collapsed in Minnesota was rated at 50. (Sufficiency ratings are public information, but, perhaps not surprinsingly, the information isn't easy to access. The best source we've see is Nationalbridges.com.)

The Rest of the Story

Still, these designations and ratings don't tell the full story of any given bridge. The I-35W bridge, for example, was a flawed design from the start. Its structure was considered fracture-critical, meaning that a large enough failure would lead not to a staged collapse, but to a systemic shattering. That seemed to be the case in 2007, when construction equipment overloaded its weakened deck during rush hour. When NTSB investigators analyzed the wreckage, however, they found that the I-35W bridge's design was even worse than originally thought, with its too-small gusset plates creating gaps and structural weaknesses far below the observable surface (which was already in a state of cracked disarray, though seemingly for other reasons).

So just because a bridge has a score in the range of these two bridges doesn't mean it's going to fail. Even landmark spans are scary if you look at the statistics: While portions of the Brooklyn Bridge are currently designated as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, local officials continue to assure the drivers of the 105,000 cars that cross it daily that it's nowhere near failure. The statistics mean what they mean, but aren't always harbingers of disaster.

All of this is why, when disaster strikes, we're left with the coldest comfort of all: structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridges are everywhere. Our 84,748 functionally obsolete bridges are a problem and deserve attention. But there are also 66,749 structurally deficient bridges in active daily use in the U.S., representing 11 percent of all bridges, including some 7980 fracture-critical ones.

Those numbers are dropping, but slowly. But however perplexing or misleading the lexicon of civil engineering might be, make no mistake?American infrastructure remains in crisis.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/infrastructure/just-how-fragile-are-americas-bridges-15526104?src=rss

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More Defined Benefit Pension Plans Going Bankrupt - Mike ...

Things are getting rather interesting in the Netherlands as low interest rates have increased pension deficit liabilities. Unlike the US and other parts of Europe where deficits are ignored, Dutch law requires 105% funding and the plans fell from 152% funded in 2007 to 102% funded today.

This has forced pension plans to cut benefits by as much as 7% for some trades. As might be expected, this has given rise to a 50 Plus Party, which won election to the Dutch parliament for the first time last year on promises to defend the interests of pensioners.

Please consider Yawning deficits force Dutch pension funds to cut payouts.

A combination of record low rates, sluggish economic growth and lives that last far longer than anyone imagined even a decade ago have resulted in yawning deficits. At the end of 2012, the funds were ?30bn short of what is needed to cover promised benefits.

For the Dutch, the cutbacks are the first ever in a nation which has the second largest ?defined benefit? system in Europe. But defined benefit provision, under which pensioners are guaranteed a portion of their salary for as long as they live, is unraveling under the pressure of the financial crisis and ensuing recession.

In April, under orders from the Dutch central bank, 66 of the country?s 415 pension funds started cutting their payouts. The average cut is around 2 per cent of the monthly benefit, but that figure conceals a wide range.

Last September the parliament, under pressure from older voters, approved new rules that allow pension schemes to use a higher rate to gauge the pace at which inflation will erode liabilities.

This has lowered liabilities, and funding targets. The sector as a whole now has a coverage ratio of 105 per cent under the new rules, but just 101 per cent under the old rules, according to an analysis by Aon Hewitt.

As at 2007, a quarter of Dutch retirees were below the age of 60. Early retirement has proved extremely expensive for defined benefit schemes, especially as longevity has risen sharply. On average, Dutch men aged 65 can expect to live for another 18 years as of 2011, up from just 15.5 years a decade earlier.

Head in the Sand Solution

Burying your head in the sand is not a solution to the problem but that is exactly what the Dutch parliament did by assuming higher rates of inflation (and interest on bonds) in a low-yield world.?

This is yet another consequence of central bank policy to drive down interest rates. When the US stock market heads south again (and it will), US pension plans, already trillions of dollars underfunded, will become even more underfunded.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com?

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/05/28/more-defined-benefit-pension-plans-going-bankrupt-n1607352

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After visiting Syria, McCain pushes for rebel aid

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Sen. John McCain on Tuesday praised the "brave fighters" battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad and renewed his call for the Obama administration to move aggressively militarily to aid the opposition.

In a series of stops in the Middle East, the Republican lawmaker and former presidential candidate quietly slipped into Syria on Monday for meetings with commanders from the rebel forces and traveled to Yemen on Tuesday to sit down with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

"Important visit with brave fighters in (hash)Syria who are risking their lives for freedom and need our help," McCain said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Gen. Salim Idris, chief of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, accompanied McCain on Monday as the lawmaker traveled inside Syria, the first U.S. senator to travel to the country since the civil war began more than two years ago. McCain has been a forceful proponent of military action against the forces of Assad and a critic of President Barack Obama's handling of the situation.

McCain spent about two hours in Syria, crossing over the border from Turkey, and met with about 10-15 rebel commanders, Idris said in a telephone interview from inside Syria. His discussions focused on the fighting on the ground, the need for military assistance, humanitarian aid and medical care.

"We are peaceful people, we would like to see our country liberated from this dictatorship, liberated from this murder regime, and we would like to have the best relations with all the countries in the world," Idris said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.

McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, favors providing arms to rebel forces in Syria and creation of a no-fly zone. He has stopped short of backing U.S. ground troops in Syria.

Spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that the White House was aware in advance of McCain's plans to travel to Syria. Carney declined to say whether McCain was carrying any message from the administration, but he said White House officials looked forward to hearing about his trip.

A State Department official said the department was aware of McCain crossing into Syrian territory Monday, but referred further questions to McCain's office. McCain spokeswoman Rachael Dean confirmed the Monday trip, but declined further comment.

Yemen's state news agency SABA reported that McCain met with Hadi in the capital Sanaa. The agency said Hadi told McCain that he welcomed Obama's decision to lift the ban on transferring Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to Yemen. Yemeni detainees are the largest contingency in the U.S. prison facility, comprising nearly 100 out of 166 suspects held there. The senator also took a walk through the Old City in Sanaa and some of its bazaars, according to the news agency.

The United States backed Hadi's ascension to power after protests forced longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power early last year. Yemen's military was also assisted by the United States when it fought to regain control of areas in the south of the country that had briefly fallen to al-Qaida , which is active on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

"Very informative visit to (hash)Yemen today - another nation under threat by al-Qaida," McCain said on Twitter.

McCain's Syria trip took place at the same time as meetings in Paris involving efforts to secure participation of Syria's fractured opposition in an international peace conference in Geneva.

And in Brussels, the European Union decided late Monday to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition while maintaining all other sanctions against President Bashar Assad's regime after June 1, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Two years of violence in Syria have killed more than 70,000 people, according to the United Nations. President Barack Obama has demanded that Assad leave power, while Russia has stood by Syria, its closest ally in the Arab world.

Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to provide weapons to rebels in Syria, as well as military training to vetted rebel groups and sanctions against anyone who sells oil or transfers arms to the Assad regime.

___

Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Paris, Julie Pace in Washington, Karin Laub in Beirut and Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mccain-pushes-greater-us-help-syrian-rebels-194834651.html

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Valerie Berset-Price: The Global Mindset, the Esperanto of ...

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Man's Video Gaming Prompts Wife To Petition For Divorce - Kotaku

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Robots, drones tested to help Australians with farming

14 hours ago

David Gray / Reuters

Salah Sukkarieh, professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney, Australian Centre for Field Robotics, stands next to one of his robotic aircraft in his laboratory in Sydney April 24, 2013.

SYDNEY ? Moving carefully along a row of apple trees, two of Australia's newest agricultural workers check if the fruit is ripe or the soil needs water or fertilizer.

Meet "Mantis" and "Shrimp", agricultural robots being tested to do these tasks and more in a bid to cut costs and improve productivity in Australia's economically vital farm sector, which exported the U.S. equivalent of $38.8 billion of produce in 2012.

Australia is one of the leaders in the field and, with a minimum wage of about $15 U.S. an hour and a limited workforce, has a big incentive to use robots and other technology such as unmanned aircraft to improve efficiency.

It hopes to tap fast-growing Asian neighbors, where the swelling ranks of the middle class increasingly want more varied and better quality food from blueberries to beef.

"The adoption of new technology is going to be crucial for Australia to maintain its competitiveness in terms of the global agricultural sector," said Luke Matthews, commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"If we don't adopt new technology, we can give up on these high-flying ambitions of being the food bowl of Asia."

Agriculture now accounts for 2 percent of Australia's gross domestic product, but the government forecasts it could reach 5 percent by 2050. Its growth is particularly important now the once-booming mining sector is slowing.

Australia is the world's second-biggest wheat exporter and arable farmers are already using specialized technology aimed at improving efficiency, including satellite positioning software to allow farmers to map out land and soil to determine optimal inputs.

Using such technology to optimize the use of fertilizer can boost profitability at grain farms by 14 percent, according to a study by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Plucky ability

A robot effortlessly plucking fruit is some way off, though a range of simpler tasks are within reach to add to existing technology such as automatic steering of harvesters.

Salah Sukkarieh, professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney and developer of Mantis and Shrimp, says the next phase aims for robots to do increasingly complex jobs such as watering and ultimately harvesting.

"We have fitted them with a lot of sensors, vision, laser, radar and conductivity sensors ? including GPS and thermal sensors," said Sukkarieh, speaking at his laboratory housing a collection of both ground robots and unmanned air vehicles.

The technology could have the biggest application in horticulture, Australia's third-largest agricultural sector with exports of $1.71 billion in the last marketing year, since a fixed farm layout lends itself better to using robots.

Robots and an unmanned air vehicle that are being developed at the University of Sydney had passed field tests at an almond farm in Mildura, Victoria state, said Sukkarieh.

Propelled by sets of wheels and about the height of a man, the robots were named after the native Mantis shrimp because of the marine crustacean's 16 different color receptors, capable of detecting up to 12 colors. Humans only have four, three of which pick up colors.

This capacity to recognize color already allows the robots to sense whether fruit is ripe.

Reuters

A scientist performs a field test with a 'Hexi-copter' air robot and two ground robots named Mantis and Shrimp, in reference to the marine crustacean's 16 different color receptors, at an almond farm near the Victorian city of Mildura.

The data can then be processed by computer algorithms to determine what action the robot should take. This could be to water or apply fertilizer or pesticides, or to sweep and prune vegetation, and eventually the aim is to harvest the crop.

"If tomorrow we got an apple, orange or tomato farmer that wants a robot to go up and down these tree crops reliably and accurately, we can do that within six months to a year."

"The question is can we make them more intelligent," added Sukkarieh, who also sees the technology being attached to standard farm vehicles and foresees a fully automated horticulture farm within 10 years.

But no robots and apples

Australian farmers, who depend on seasonal labor for jobs such as picking fruit and vegetables, said they would welcome high-tech help.

"Berry picking by a robot would be difficult but if they could produce a robot, I could make a significant saving," said Allan Dixon, co-owner of the Clyde River Berry Farm in New South Wales, who typically takes on five people every year.

To get enough agricultural workers, Australia allows in some labor from neighboring Pacific island countries and East Timor, as well as using backpackers on temporary work visas.

Some fruit farmers remain skeptical.

"Apples will always need to be harvested by hand, due to their fragile nature. They bruise very easily," said Lucinda Giblett, director at Newton Orchards in Western Australia.

"We see no current opportunities offered by agricultural robots. Even as a pruning device, application is very limited," added Giblett.

Goal of supplying Asia

Further productivity gains will be needed if Australia is to reach its target of being the main food supplier to Asia.

A 2011 study by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences said around two-thirds of the increase in the monetary value of agricultural production in the last 50 years in the country was down to gains in productivity

Another survey by the Grains Research and Development Corporation showed 67 percent of respondents in 2011 used auto-steer technology to guide machinery such as harvesters and sprayers, up from 47 percent in 2008.

Obstacles to using more technology remain, however, including the cost of buying or renting equipment and slower growth in research and development spending. Some studies show growth in the use of satellite imagery and soil mapping has stagnated in Australia and the United States in recent years.

Regardless of whether it can meet its targets to supply more food to Asia, Australia is expected to play a big role in global food security by being one of the test beds for new ways to produce food more efficiently in often harsh conditions.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c6ef171/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Crobots0Edrones0Etested0Ehelp0Eaustralians0Efarming0E6C10A0A840A0A2/story01.htm

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How would you change HP's Envy Sleekbook 6z?

Intel's Kirk Skaugen was relaxed about "me too" thin-and-light devices trailing behind Ultrabooks like Remoras. Perhaps it's because of our lukewarm reception of devices like HP's Envy Sleekbook 6z, which we found to be a little lumpen. While we liked its understated design, the sluggish AMD internals and flaky trackpad meant we weren't feeling particularly fondly on this piece of hardware. This is where you come in. Why not dream up a budget laptop that could hit the same price point but without the flaws -- the more imaginative, the better.

Filed under: Laptops, HP

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Everyday Carry Gear ? Elizabeth Rodriguez

This entry is part 10 of 10 in the series

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/26/everyday-carry-gear-elizabeth-rodriguez/

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Braves-Mets suspended, game to resume Saturday

By HOWIE RUMBERG

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 11:54 p.m. ET May 24, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) - Fredi Gonzalez thought his Atlanta Braves would have the advantage going into the bottom of the eighth inning with the rain coming down and a gusty wind blowing.

The manager is not so sure now.

Evan Gattis had a two-run, pinch-hit single in the top of the eighth, then the Mets rallied to tie it in a downpour in the bottom half before the game between Atlanta and New York was suspended with the score 5-5 Friday night.

The teams will resume play with none out in the top of the ninth inning on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. The regularly scheduled game is set to start 7:15 p.m.

"I thought it would benefit us as we had the lead," Gonzalez said. "One guy's trying to throw a wet ball and the other guy is trying to hit it with all the rain in their face. You just don't know."

With rain starting to fall heavily, Gattis put Atlanta up 5-3 with a bases-loaded single off Greg Burke. The Mets tied it in a wet and wild bottom half, taking advantage of center fielder B.J. Upton's error on Daniel Murphy's RBI single and scoring on a wild pitch by Anthony Varvaro.

The game was suspended after a 75-minute delay, the second of the night. There was a 16-minute wait at the start.

Varvaro could be seen struggling to get a good grip on the ball throughout the inning, repeatedly rubbing his hand on his jersey and pants. Catcher Brian McCann even visited Varvaro to calm him down.

Gonzalez is not sure how he'll use his bullpen for the completion of the first suspended game in Mets history.

"I could even run Varvaro back out there," Gonzalez said. "It's like going back-to-back days."

Mets manager Terry Collins will definitely use a reliever, not his Saturday starter, Dillon Gee.

"I'm going to start the game with a relief pitcher," Collins said. "Otherwise, if the thing's over in 10 minutes, the guy's already warmed up, now he has to sit for an hour. That's not what I want to happen."

The tarp was brought out after Rick Ankiel struck out to end the eighth.

The Braves were trying for their seventh straight win - they swept two home series - but only a second win in seven road games. The Mets were swept by Cincinnati in a three-game series at Citi Field. They entered Friday 0-9 in games following a start by young star Matt Harvey.

New York led 3-2 behind the impressive pitching of Jeremy Hefner for six innings, but LaTroy Hawkins gave up a homer to Dan Uggla leading off the seventh to tie it. It was Uggla's fourth hit in 38 at-bats.

Hefner gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman in the first then was sharp the rest of his outing, giving up three hits and two walks. He struck out seven. But Uggla's homer ensured he would remain winless in his nine starts.

Braves starter Kris Medlen allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out nine, but yielded a homer leading off the fourth to John Buck that tied it 2-all.

"You have these huge stands in front of you and you still feel the wind," Medlen said of the conditions. "It was a crazy, crazy night."

Justin Upton was walked by Scott Rice with one out in the eighth and advanced to third on Freeman's single. Rice struck out McCann for the second out and was replaced by Greg Burke. Uggla walked to load the bases for Gattis.

The rookie with a made-for-Hollywood story came to the plate having hit three homers - two as a pinch-hitter - in his last six at-bats, including a grand slam on Wednesday. As a heavy rain started to fall, he worked the count to 1-2 before lining a single up the middle.

"It's almost better," Gonzalez said of using Gattis as a pinch-hitter as opposed to starting him. "You can plug him in where you want to."

Struggling in the conditions, Varvaro walked Buck then struck out Ike Davis - his fourth strikeout of the night - and pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin before Ruben Tejada singled.

Murphy, who had three hits for his second straight game, hit a soft line drive to center field that hit off Upton's glove as he came in on it and Buck scored.

Tejada was able to race to third base when B.J. Upton struggled picking up the ball. Varvaro bounced the first pitch to Ankiel and it scooted to the left of catcher Buck allowing Tejada to score and tie it 5-all.

New York last scored more than four runs at home on April 24, a 7-3 win in 10 innings over the Dodgers.

NOTES: Marlon Byrd had an RBI single in the fifth. ... Braves RHP Brandon Beachy (elbow surgery, June 2012) was scheduled to make a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday night. ... Mets RHP Jenrry Mejia (elbow inflammation, 60-day DL) is set to have a rebab outing Saturday for Class A St. Lucie. ... Gonzalez said rookie sensation Gattis and McCann will split the catching and designated hitter duties for the two-game series in Toronto next week. Atlanta's third catcher, Gerald Laird is lined up to be behind the plate against the Mets on Sunday for Julio Teheran's start.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Another almost

Add another near miss in this 2013 baseball season - this time it was Detroit's Anibal Sanchez falling just short of a no-hitter.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51997466/ns/sports-baseball/

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Angel Flight crashes in NY, 2 killed, 1 missing

EPHRATAH, N.Y. (AP) ? The crash of a volunteer Angel Flight in upstate New York that killed at least two people is under investigation, and the search for the missing pilot is ongoing, authorities said.

Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey said the flight's two passengers were found dead near where the twin-engine plane crashed in a wooded area in Ephratah, about an hour west of Albany. He said the search for the pilot will continue Saturday morning. Officials did not immediately identify the passengers or pilot.

"The bulk of the plane is in the water, in a pond, completely submerged and we have to wait until daylight to put divers in," the sheriff said.

The twin-engine Piper PA 34 departed from Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., and was headed to Rome, N.Y., before it crashed just after 5 p.m. Friday, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

Angel Flight is a nonprofit group that arranges free air transportation for sick patients from volunteer pilots. Larry Camerlin, president and founder of Angel Flight Northeast, said the organization was "tremendously saddened" by the tragic news of the crash.

"We all offer our thoughts and prayers to the families of those affected," Camerlin said in a statement. "Our volunteer pilots are the most compassionate and generous individuals who donate their time, aircraft and fuel to transport patients and loved ones for free to essential medical care that would otherwise not be readily available to them. There are no words that can adequately express our sorrow."

An employee at an ice cream shop in nearby Johnstown who refused to give her name said she heard what sounded like engine failure and then a loud explosion, "like a gun shot."

She said she went outside and "there were pieces of airplane coming out of the sky."

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, including what the weather conditions were like at the time of the accident.

At the time of the crash, in Rome, N.Y., visibility was 10 miles, there was slight rain and winds of about 13 to 14 mph, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Montgomery.

Angel Flight Northeast said since it was founded in 1996 the group has set up free air transportation and medical care for more than 65,000 children and adults on about 60,000 flights covering a total of more than 12 million miles.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/angel-flight-crashes-ny-2-killed-1-missing-064620829.html

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Next Browser for Android mashes up its rivals' greatest hits (video)

When few (if any) web browsers do everything well, many of us have more than one client just to cover all the bases. The GO Launcher Dev Team's just-launched Next Browser for Android tries to solve this in the simplest way possible: it cherry picks features from established rivals. Sharing extensions from Dolphin? Check. Chrome's frequently visited pages? Check. Speed Dial from Opera? Check. There's even a Flipboard-style RSS reader. As there's also bookmark syncing and voice search, Next Browser is theoretically the only client that Android users could want. How well that pastiche works is another matter, but those who've been pining for an all-encompassing browser can give the new app a try at the source link.

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Tracking Killer Tornadoes

A series of tornadoes struck the central United States this week, including a powerful storm in Oklahoma that killed at least 24 people. Marshall Shepherd, the president of the American Meteorological Society, describes the ingredients of major tornadoes, and how they are predicted.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=186450901&ft=1&f=1007

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Official: 2 dead after Angel Flight crashes in NY

EPHRATAH, N.Y. (AP) ? A small airplane operating as a volunteer Angel Flight crashed in upstate New York on Friday evening, killing at least two people, authorities said.

Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey said the flight's two passengers were found dead and investigators are searching for the pilot, who is missing. Officials did not immediately identify the passengers or pilot.

The Piper PA 34 airplane originated in Massachusetts and crashed about a half-mile west of Caroga, N.Y., just after 5 p.m. Friday, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

Lorey said the twin-engine plane crashed in a wooded area in Ephratah, about an hour west of Albany

"The bulk of the plane is in the water, in a pond, completely submerged and we have to wait until daylight to put divers in," the sheriff said.

Larry Camerlin, president and founder of Angel Flight Northeast, a nonprofit group that arranges free air transportation for sick patients from volunteer pilots, said the organization was "tremendously saddened" by the tragic news of the crash.

"We all offer our thoughts and prayers to the families of those affected," Camerlin said in a statement. "Our volunteer pilots are the most compassionate and generous individuals who donate their time, aircraft and fuel to transport patients and loved ones for free to essential medical care that would otherwise not be readily available to them. There are no words that can adequately express our sorrow."

An employee at an ice cream shop in nearby Johnstown who refused to give her name said she heard what sounded like engine failure and then a loud explosion, "like a gun shot."

She said she went outside and "there were pieces of airplane coming out of the sky."

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, including what the weather conditions were like at the time of the accident.

At the time of the crash, in Rome, N.Y., visibility was 10 miles, there was slight rain and winds of about 13 to 14 mph, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Montgomery.

The flight departed from Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., and was headed to Rome, N.Y., before crashing about 57 miles to the east, near Caroga, according to Bergen.

Camerlin's statement said that since Angel Flight NE was founded in 1996, the group has set up free air transportation and medical care for more than 65,000 children and adults on about 60,000 flights covering a total of more than 12 million miles.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-25-Angel%20Flight-Crash/id-36a393fcc0154658a3cae6389d00640c

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