Daily Kos: Democrats, Small Business, & Cash Mobs in Watauga ...

Watauga County, North Carolina has a strong and active local Democratic Party. We think out of the box, run strong local candidates, and never stop trying to move our county "forward," even when we get trounced as we did in 2010. After a good cry, we just pick ourselves up off the floor, dust off the damage, and head for the next open door. That's how we were able to defeat Amendment One in this year's primary election.

We are involved in numerous community outreach projects (local homeless shelter, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, etc), but yesterday we held our first "Cash Mob."

Bigger cities have been organizing Cash Mobs for about a year now.

The general idea is to encourage people to go into small, local businesses and spend their money, en masse, to give the business owner a little bit of economic stimulus.... ...the first gathering called a ?Cash Mob? appears to have been held in Buffalo, NY, on August 5, 2011, and was organized by blogger, Christopher Smith.

Cash Mobs are not generally defined as "political events," in the traditional sense of the word, and we don't know if other political parties are engaging in this excellent idea, but we decided to give one a go. ?I'll tell you why and share our pictures below the orange.

Which political party, if any, is really supportive of small, local businesses?

Democrats know that small businesses are the engines that drive our economy. From family-owned restaurants to high-tech startups, entrepreneurs and small-business owners are crucial elements of our communities and our economy. They ?represent the essence of the American spirit.?

The GOP "has done a nice job of coming up with a talking point that appeals to the Republican base, that presents the president as contemptuous of the private sector and dismissive of small business," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan political newsletter.

Republicans: "We're for small business!"

Democrats: "No. WE'RE for small business!"

The American Public: "You both suck."

Lots of talk, lots of spin, and still hard times for local business. ?The Watauga County Democratic Party decided to prove who really stands for small, local business once and for all in the name of all politics is local.

The Democrats' first stop yesterday was"Village Hardware" in Blowing Rock, NC. ?The business is owned and operated by a local family that has found its store now off the beaten path. Oh, and did I mention? When we called ahead of time to let them know we were coming (a very good idea BTW), they quietly admitted they were "registered" Republicans. All the better! After all, what has the local Republican Party ever done for them!

Here we are in all our glory (and having an absolute blast!):

We collectively spent over $800 in just an hour in this small business:

We bought brooms and birdseed and glue and commode parts and hoes:

Sylvia was having a hard time with her choices, so she focused on birthday presents:

Some folks spent a couple of dollars; others spent much more. The checkout line got really long:

A quick break before our next stop:

Onward to "Papa Joe's Restaurant" for lunch! Yes, that's right. No "Chick-Fil-A" on our schedule.

About 50 of us showed for lunch and spent around $500 with the fine folks at Joe's:

Here's Cullie Tarleton. ?He's our very excellent candidate for NC House. He has been targeted by both Art Pope's flying monkeys as well as our state Democratic House Caucus as one of (if not the) top seats in play for the state House this year. Show him some love, why don't ya:

Oh, and a special shout out to Lonnie Webster, who took these great pics yesterday. The local press published our original press release about the Cash Mob but didn't show for the actual event. ?we're following up today with a press release. And we're already planning our next mob!

Thanks for letting me share. For more information on cash mobs, go here.

Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/29/1114742/-Democrats-Small-Business-Cash-Mobs-in-Watauga-County-NC-Great-Pics

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Troops, students to fill empty seats at Olympics

LONDON -- Organizing chief Sebastian Coe says troops and local students will be given tickets to fill empty seats at Olympic venues.

There has been widespread criticism after blocks of prime seats went unused Saturday, largely by Olympic and sports officials. Coe, head of the London organizers, predicts this will be sorted out as the games go forward.

He declines to blame Olympic sponsors, whom he had promised to "name and shame" if they did not use their ticket allocations. Coe says it is normal at the Olympics for national team officials to be too busy to attend events in the opening days.

Coe's organizing team has long promised to fill venues, avoiding the problem of empty seats at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/olympics/troops_students_to_fill_empty_seats_UTJzjtIJbVCjlEP5eTRwZO?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Olympics

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Aleppo rebels under fire, Syrian fighter jet flies over

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian military stepped up its campaign to drive rebel fighters out of Aleppo on Monday, firing artillery and mortars while a fighter jet flew over a district the army said it had retaken the day before.

However, opposition activists denied government forces had entered the Salaheddine district, which lies in the southwest of the country's biggest city and straddles the most obvious route for Syrian troop reinforcements coming from the south.

Hospitals and makeshift clinics in rebel-held eastern neighborhoods were filling up with casualties from a week of fighting in Aleppo, a commercial hub that had previously stayed out of a 16-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

"Some days we get around 30, 40 people, not including the bodies," said a young medic in one clinic. "A few days ago we got 30 injured and maybe 20 corpses, but half of those bodies were ripped to pieces. We can't figure out who they are."

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 40 people, including 30 civilians, were killed in Syria on Monday. Two rebel fighters died in Salaheddine.

Outgunned rebel fighters, patrolling in flat-bed trucks flying green-white-and-black "independence" flags, said they were holding out in Salaheddine despite a battering by the army's heavy weapons and helicopter gunships.

"MERCENARY GUNMEN"

"We always knew the regime's grave would be Aleppo," said Mohammed, a young fighter, fingering the bullets in his tattered brown ammunition vest. "Damascus is the capital, but here we have a fourth of the country's population and the entire force of its economy. Bashar's forces will be buried here."

An unidentified Syrian army officer said on state television late on Sunday that troops had pushed "those mercenary gunmen" completely out of Salaheddine, adding: "In a few days safety and security will return to the city of Aleppo."

The army's assault on Salaheddine echoed its tactics in Damascus earlier this month when it used its overwhelming firepower to mop up rebel fighters district by district.

Assad's forces are determined not to let go of Aleppo, where defeat would be a serious strategic and psychological blow.

Military experts believe the rebels are too lightly armed and poorly commanded to overcome the army, whose artillery pounds the city at will and whose gunships control the skies.

Reuters journalists in Aleppo have been unable to approach Salaheddine to verify who controls it.

"Yesterday they were shelling the area at a rate of two shells a minute. We couldn't move at all," said a man calling himself a spokesman for the "Aleppo Revolution" group. "It's not true at all that the regime's forces are in Salaheddine."

Warfare has stilled the usual commercial bustle in this city of 2.5 million. Vegetable markets are open but few people are buying. Instead, crowds of sweating men and women wait nearly three hours to buy limited amounts of heavily subsidized bread.

In a city where loyalties have been divided, with sections of the population in favor of the Assad government, some seemed wary of speaking out in the presence of the fighters, many of whom have been drafted in from surrounding areas.

Asked about his allegiances, one man waiting at a police station that had been badly damaged by shellfire said: "We are not with anyone. We are on the side of truth."

Asked whose side that was, he replied: "Only God."

Others stopped members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and asked them to do something about the supply of bread and petrol.

Rebel fighters remain in control of swathes of the city, moving around those areas armed with assault rifles and dressed in items of camouflage clothing in an edgy show of confidence.

They were emboldened to strike at Aleppo and Damascus after a July 18 explosion that killed four of Assad's top security officials in a damaging blow at the president's inner circle.

The army has regained its grip on the capital and is now intent on denying Aleppo to FSA rebels, some of whose roadblocks fly the black and white banners of Islamist militants.

BIG POWERS DIVIDED

With big powers divided, the outside world has been unable to restrain Syria's slide into civil war.

France said it would ask for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council to try and break the diplomatic deadlock on Syria, but gave no indication that Russia and China would end their longstanding policy of blocking measures against Assad.

In London, Syria's most senior diplomat resigned because he could no longer represent a government that committed such "violent and oppressive acts" against its own people, the Foreign Office said. Charge d'affaires Khaled al-Ayoubi joins a growing number of senior Syrian officials who have defected.

The deputy police chief of Syria's western Latakia city also defected and fled to Turkey overnight with 11 other Syrian officers, a Turkish official said. Another 600 Syrians had arrived in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Syrian refugees in Turkey to around 43,500, he added.

Amid growing concern about security on its southern frontier, Turkey sent a convoy of troops, missile batteries and armored vehicles to the border with Syria on Monday.

There has however been no indication that Turkish forces will cross the border, and the troop movements may just be precautionary in the face of spiraling violence in Syria.

The United Nations humanitarian chief said 200,000 people had fled Aleppo, only 50 km (30 miles) from the Turkish border, in two days. It was not clear how this estimate had been reached given the difficulties of assessing relief needs in war zones.

Assad's ruling system is dominated by his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, while his opponents are mostly from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority.

The sectarian element in the conflict has raised fears that it could inflame Sunni-Shi'ite tensions elsewhere, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shellfire-hits-aleppo-army-says-retook-rebel-area-103707161.html

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Source: http://twitter.com/wcnc/statuses/229679428127567872

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WHO launches action plan against 'hidden' hepatitis

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday measures to fight the "hidden epidemic" of hepatitis which kills more than one million people a year.

The virus, which settles in the liver causing inflammation, affects 500 million people worldwide but can go unnoticed for years and even decades, the UN health agency told reporters in Geneva.

"The vast majority of people infected with hepatitis are unaware, undiagnosed and untreated," says Dr Sylvie Briand of WHO's Pandemic and Epidemic Disease Department.

"Only by increasing awareness of the different forms of hepatitis, and how they can be prevented and treated, can we take the first step towards full control of the disease and save thousands of lives," she added.

One in 12 people are infected by the virus which exists in five forms: A, B, C, D and E.

The WHO is particulary keen to target types B and C since "a high proportion" of people only become aware of their infection when they are chronically ill.

"This can sometimes be decades after infection," said Briand.

Launched ahead of World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the WHO's multi-pronged action plan to eradicate the virus calls on governments to raise awareness, transform research into policy and action, and prevent transmission by effective screening, care and treatment.

"It's a framework for global action so we all collaborate to fight the hidden epidemic", said Briand.

Individuals can protect themselves by washing their hands, food safety practices, practising safe sex and avoiding injecting drugs with infected needles, "one of the most common ways of getting infected in some countries", said Briand.

The virus was only discovered in 1989 but vaccines are available for all virus types except C.

A new generation of anti-viral treatments is also on offer for hepatitis C, said Briand, adding that other treatments to stop the B type developing into cirrhosis and cancer are also coming online.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/launches-action-plan-against-hidden-hepatitis-104750572.html

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Ecopsychology -- a major new area of study

Public release date: 24-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Cathia Falvey
cfalvey@liebertpub.com
914-740-2165
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, July 24, 2012Hundreds of colleges and universities around the world are offering courses and even graduate degrees in ecopsychology and other forms of environmentally focused psychology. Ecopsychology examines the psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature relationships, concern about environmental issues, and responsibility for protecting natural places and other species. Educators are increasingly recognizing the value of integrating psychology and environmental content to help students appreciate the link between their own well-being and that of the natural world around them. Innovative strategies and techniques for exploring the intersection of these disciplines in the classroom are featured in a special issue of Ecopsychology, a peer-reviewed, online journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. (http://www.liebertpub.com), the issue is available free online at Ecopsychology (http://www.liebertpub.com/eco) website.

As an introduction to the special focus issue of the Journal, the editorial entitled "Teaching Environmentally Focused Psychology (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/eco.2012.0062)" says that "so-called 'environmental problems' are really human behavioral problems." Numerous resources are now available to help teachers introduce students to the concept of the interdependence between their physical and psychological health and that of the planet, including the subdisciplines of ecopsychology, environmental psychology, and conservation psychology.

This special issue of Ecopsychology highlights a variety of approaches that incorporate traditional classroom instruction, inquiry-based learning, experiential learning, and teaching in field settings. It describes unique stand-alone courses and recommendations of activities and assignments that educators can incorporate into existing psychology and environmental science curricula.

"Our special issue, 'Teaching Ecopsychology and Environmentally-focused Psychology (http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/eco/4/2),' is one of the first surveys of its kind, and its examples of timely and innovative environmental psychology pedagogy will be a resource and inspiration for educators and students worldwide," says Editor-in-Chief Thomas Joseph Doherty, PsyD, Graduate School of Counseling, Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR).

###

About the Journal

Ecopsychology (http://www.liebertpub.com/eco) is a peer-reviewed journal that explores the relationship between environmental issues and mental health and well-being. The Journal examines the psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature relationships, concern about environmental issues, and responsibility for protecting natural places and other species. It provides a forum for international dialogue among experts from a range of disciplines: psychology and healthcare; environmental conservation, sociology, anthropology, and environmental studies; and related areas such as ecology, landscape restoration, eco-spirituality, and social and environmental justice movements. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed at the Ecopsychology (http://www.liebertpub.com/eco) website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Sustainability: The Journal of Record, Environmental Justice, and Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com)website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215
http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100
(800) M-LIEBERT
Fax: (914) 740-2101

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 24-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Cathia Falvey
cfalvey@liebertpub.com
914-740-2165
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

New Rochelle, NY, July 24, 2012Hundreds of colleges and universities around the world are offering courses and even graduate degrees in ecopsychology and other forms of environmentally focused psychology. Ecopsychology examines the psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature relationships, concern about environmental issues, and responsibility for protecting natural places and other species. Educators are increasingly recognizing the value of integrating psychology and environmental content to help students appreciate the link between their own well-being and that of the natural world around them. Innovative strategies and techniques for exploring the intersection of these disciplines in the classroom are featured in a special issue of Ecopsychology, a peer-reviewed, online journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. (http://www.liebertpub.com), the issue is available free online at Ecopsychology (http://www.liebertpub.com/eco) website.

As an introduction to the special focus issue of the Journal, the editorial entitled "Teaching Environmentally Focused Psychology (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/eco.2012.0062)" says that "so-called 'environmental problems' are really human behavioral problems." Numerous resources are now available to help teachers introduce students to the concept of the interdependence between their physical and psychological health and that of the planet, including the subdisciplines of ecopsychology, environmental psychology, and conservation psychology.

This special issue of Ecopsychology highlights a variety of approaches that incorporate traditional classroom instruction, inquiry-based learning, experiential learning, and teaching in field settings. It describes unique stand-alone courses and recommendations of activities and assignments that educators can incorporate into existing psychology and environmental science curricula.

"Our special issue, 'Teaching Ecopsychology and Environmentally-focused Psychology (http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/eco/4/2),' is one of the first surveys of its kind, and its examples of timely and innovative environmental psychology pedagogy will be a resource and inspiration for educators and students worldwide," says Editor-in-Chief Thomas Joseph Doherty, PsyD, Graduate School of Counseling, Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR).

###

About the Journal

Ecopsychology (http://www.liebertpub.com/eco) is a peer-reviewed journal that explores the relationship between environmental issues and mental health and well-being. The Journal examines the psychological, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects of human-nature relationships, concern about environmental issues, and responsibility for protecting natural places and other species. It provides a forum for international dialogue among experts from a range of disciplines: psychology and healthcare; environmental conservation, sociology, anthropology, and environmental studies; and related areas such as ecology, landscape restoration, eco-spirituality, and social and environmental justice movements. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed at the Ecopsychology (http://www.liebertpub.com/eco) website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Sustainability: The Journal of Record, Environmental Justice, and Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com)website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215
http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100
(800) M-LIEBERT
Fax: (914) 740-2101

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/mali-emn072412.php

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Iran says Olympians will compete against Israelis

IOC President Jacques Rogge poses in front of the Olympic rings during his visit to the Athletes' Village at the Olympic Park, Monday, July 23, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

IOC President Jacques Rogge poses in front of the Olympic rings during his visit to the Athletes' Village at the Olympic Park, Monday, July 23, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LONDON (AP) ? Iranian athletes will compete against Israelis at the London Olympics, according to the country's chef de mission.

Iran has been criticized in the past because some of its athletes withdrew from events against Israelis at the 2004 Athens Games and 2008 Beijing Games.

"We will be truthful to sport," said Bahram Afsharzadeh, who is also the secretary general of the Iranian Olympic committee said.

Afsharzadeh, who was at times speaking through a translator, also said his team had no plans to boycott events because of the nationality of opponents.

"We just follow the sportsmanship and play every country," Afsharzadeh said.

Afsharzadeh spoke in the athletes village after signing the "truce wall," a U.N.-backed initiative calling on warring parties around the world to end hostilities during the period of the games.

"In sport and in Olympics, all the countries must (be) together with the teams in friendship," Afsharzadeh said in English. "Solidarity for all the countries is very important."

Afsharzadeh also said Iran would "respect" a minute of silence if it was held in the opening ceremony to remember the 11 Israelis murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, though, is currently rebuffing Israel's plea for the commemoration.

"This case is for the IOC," Afsharzadeh said. "Everything from the IOC we respect."

Iran has 54 athletes in Britain for the games.

Outside the Olympics, Iran is involved in an ongoing standoff with Israel over the country's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at producing an atomic weapon. Iran denies the charge, insisting the program is for peaceful purposes only.

In 2011, Britain cut ties with Iran and closed its embassy in Tehran after militant Iranian students stormed the mission.

Despite the bitter relations between Iran and Britain, Afsharzadeh said: "Everything about the country (Britain) is very, very fantastic and everything is really normal."

___

Rob Harris can be reached at http://twitter.com/RobHarris

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-23-OLY-Iran-London-Games/id-41049a8d4368436eb23da8ab64aa3b85

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How makers of phones and tablets are faring

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/makers-phones-tablets-faring-145513655--finance.html

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Source: http://twitter.com/Emirates247/statuses/227285936180965377

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Iraq's bloodiest day of year: More than 100 killed

A wave of seemingly synchronized bomb and gun attacks swept Iraq on Monday. With scores killed throughout the country, the death toll was the highest seen so far in 2012. NBC's Kristy Breetzke reports.

By NBC News wire services

Updated at?9:40 a.m. ET: BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A wave of bombings and an attack on an?Iraqi military base killed more than 100 people on Monday. The death toll made it the bloodiest day of the year in the country, The Associated Press reported.?

In addition to those killed, at least 268 other people were wounded?by bombings and shootings in Shiite areas of Baghdad, the town of Taji to the north, the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul and many other places, hospital and police sources told Reuters.

---

The bloodshed, which coincided with an intensifying of the conflict in neighboring Syria, pointed up the deficiencies of the Iraqi security forces, which failed to prevent insurgents from striking in multiple locations across the country.

No group has claimed responsibility for the wave of assaults but a senior Iraqi security official blamed the local wing of al-Qaida, made up of Sunni Muslim militants bitterly hostile to the Shiite-led government, which is friendly with Iran.

"Recent attacks are a clear message that al-Qaida in Iraq is determined to spark a bloody sectarian war," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

"With what's going on in Syria, these attacks should be taken seriously as a potential threat to our country. Al-Qaida is trying to push Iraq to the verge of Shiite-Sunni war," he said. "They want things to be as bad as in Syria."

'Innocent people killed'
The last two days of attacks shattered a two-week lull in violence in the run-up to the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which started in Iraq on Saturday.

Sectarian slaughter peaked in 2006-2007 but deadly attacks have persisted while political tensions among Iraq's main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions have increased since U.S. troops completed their withdrawal in December.

"I ask the government if security forces are capable of keeping control," a man named Ahmed Salim shouted angrily at the scene of a car bomb in Kirkuk. "With all these bloody bombs and innocent people killed, the government should reconsider its security plans," he told Reuters Television.

Trail of destruction
The security forces themselves were often the targets or victims of the assaults perpetrated across Iraq.

Gunmen using assault rifles and hand grenades killed at least 16 soldiers in an attack on an army post near Dhuluiya, 45 miles north of Baghdad, police and army sources said.

In Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, six explosions, including a car bombing, occurred near a housing complex. A seventh blast there caused carnage among police who had arrived at the scene of the earlier ones. In all, 32 people were killed, including 14 police, with 48 wounded, 10 of them police.

Two car bombs struck near a government building in Sadr City, a vast, poor Shiite swathe of Baghdad, and in the mainly Shiite area of Hussainiya on the outskirts of the capital, killing a total of 21 people and wounding 73, police said.

Full international coverage from NBCNews.com

Nine people, including six soldiers, were killed in attacks in the northern city of Mosul, police and army sources told Reuters.

In Kirkuk, five car bombs killed six people and wounded 17, while explosions and gun attacks on security checkpoints around the restive province of Diyala killed six people, including four soldiers and policemen, and wounded 30, police sources told Reuters.

Other deadly attacks occurred in the towns of Khan Bani Saad, Udhaim, Tuz Khurmato, Samarra and Dujail, all north of Baghdad, as well as in the southern city of Diwaniya.

The orchestrated spate of violence followed car bombs on Sunday in two towns south of Baghdad and in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf that?killed a total of 20 people and wounded 80.

Last month was one of the bloodiest since the U.S. withdrawal, with at least 237 people killed and 603 wounded.

Latest news about Iraq from NBCNews.com

Iraq, whose huge desert province of Anbar, a Sunni heartland, borders Syria, is nervous about the impact of the conflict in its neighbor where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to end President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite-dominated rule.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took refuge in Syria from bloodshed that lasted for years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Last week the Iraqi government urged them to return home to escape the violence in Syria.

20 unarmed men executed in Damascus, Syria activists say; battle begins for Aleppo

At least 80 buses laden with returning Iraqi refugees crossed the border last week, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

Iraq's Shiite-led government is also worried about the longer-term implications if Assad falls and Syria's majority Sunnis overthrow the supremacy of the president's Alawite sect, which traces its roots to Shiite Islam.

A sectarian struggle for control in post-Assad Syria could raise tensions across the border and damage Iraq's chances of overcoming its own formidable security and political challenges.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/23/12897673-wave-of-attacks-kills-at-least-82-across-iraq?lite

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Official: Shooting suspect was former med student

AURORA, Colo. (AP) ? A former medical student in a gas mask barged into a crowded Denver-area theater during a midnight showing of the Batman movie on Friday, hurled a gas canister and then opened fire, killing 12 people and injuring at least 50 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.

When the gas began to spread, some moviegoers thought it was a stunt that was part of the "The Dark Knight Rises," one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. They saw a silhouette of a person in the smoke near the screen, first pointing a gun at the crowd and then shooting.

"There were bullet (casings) just falling on my head. They were burning my forehead," Jennifer Seeger said, adding that the gunman, dressed like a SWAT team member, fired steadily except when he stopped to reload.

"Every few seconds it was just: Boom, boom, boom," she said. "He would reload and shoot and anyone who would try to leave would just get killed."

The suspect was taken into custody and identified by federal law enforcement officials as 24-year-old James Holmes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Authorities did not release a motive. The FBI said there was no indication that the shooting is tied to any terrorist groups.

Holmes had an assault rifle, a shotgun and two pistols, a federal law enforcement official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

FBI agents and police used a hook and ladder fire truck to reach Holmes' apartment in suburban Denver, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates said. They put a camera at the end of 12-foot pole inside the apartment, and discovered that the unit was booby trapped. Authorities evacuated five buildings as they determine how to disarm flammable and explosive material.

Victims were being treated for chemical exposure apparently related to canisters thrown by the gunman. Some of those injured are children, including a 4-month-old baby who was released from the hospital.

Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania on ABC's "Good Morning America" said he didn't know yet if all the injuries were gunshot wounds. He said some might have been caused by other things such as shrapnel.

The movie opened across the world Friday with midnight showings in the U.S. The shooting prompted officials to cancel the Paris premiere, with workers pulling down the red carpet display at a theater on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue.

President Barack Obama said he was saddened by the "horrific and tragic shooting," pledging that his administration was "committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded."

It was the worst mass shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at the school in the Denver suburb of Littleton, about 15 miles west of Aurora, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves.

Friday's attack began shortly after midnight at the multiplex theater at a mall in Aurora, the state's third-largest city.

The film has several scenes of public mayhem ? a hallmark of superhero movies. In one scene, the main villain Bane leads an attack on the stock exchange and, in another, leads a shooting and bombing rampage on a packed football stadium.

It was the final installment of the "Dark Knight" trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale as Batman. The series has a darker tone than previous Batman incarnations. It is the follow-up to "The Dark Knight," which won Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his searing portrayal of The Joker.

The gunman released a gas that smelled like pepper spray from a green canister with a tag on it, Seeger said.

"I thought it was showmanship. I didn't think it was real," she said.

Seeger said she was in the second row, about four feet from the gunman, when he pointed a gun at her face. At first, "I was just a deer in headlights. I didn't know what to do," she said. Then she ducked to the ground as the gunman shot people seated behind her.

She said she began crawling toward an exit when she saw a girl about 14 years old "lying lifeless on the stairs." She saw a man with a bullet wound in his back and tried to check his pulse, but "I had to go. I was going to get shot."

Witness Shayla Roeder said she saw a young teenage girl on the ground bleeding outside the theater. "She just had this horrible look in her eyes .... We made eye contact and I could tell she was not all right," Roeder said.

Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said. Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.

Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he heard several shots. "Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station. Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."

Officers later found the gunman near a car behind the theater. Oates said there was no evidence of any other attackers.

Holmes was a student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver until last month, spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said. She did not know when he started school or why he withdrew.

At least 24 people were being treated at Denver area hospitals.

"Warner Bros. and the filmmakers are deeply saddened to learn about this shocking incident. We extend our sincere sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims at this tragic time," the studio said.

___

Associated Press writers Kristen Wyatt, Steven K. Paulson, P. Solomon Banda, Ivan Moreno and Mead Gruver in Aurora, Dan Elliott and Colleen Slevin in Denver and Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/official-shooting-suspect-former-med-student-151814975.html

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Ashley Moser, Mother Of Veronica Moser, 6-Year-Old Batman Shooting Victim, Too Fragile To Be Told Of Daughter's Death

Ashley Moser, the 25-year-old victim of Friday morning's movie theatre massacre in Aurora, Colo., remains in critical condition at the Aurora Medical Center with bullets lodged in her throat and abdomen. In her lucid moments she asks for Veronica, her 6-year-old daughter, unaware that the little girl has passed away, making her the youngest victim of the gunman's shooting rampage at Aurora's Century 16 movie theatre.

"Nobody can tell her about it," Annie Dalton, Ashley Moser's niece, told the Associated Press. "She is in critical condition, but all she's asking about is her daughter."

The Denver Post describes Veronica as a "vibrant" child who was bragging a few days ago about learning to swim.

Doctors told the Post Ashley fades in and out of consciousness and will likely suffer some paralysis, but that they are hopeful she will regain some use of her hands. According to the report, Ashley was recently accepted to medical school.

Ashley's situation is not unlike that of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). When Giffords stabilized after being shot in the January 2011 Tucson, Ariz., massacre, her husband, Mark Kelly, had to tell her about the incident, and those who died, following the massacre. In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Giffords touched on the moment she found out about the other injuries and fatalities,

"I cried," she told Sawyer in her halted speech, adding she felt "sad."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/21/veronica-moser-ashley-moser-aurora-colorado-theater-shooting_n_1692150.html

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Saudi to non-Muslims: Respect fast or be expelled

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-non-muslims-respect-fast-expelled-154022656.html

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Angry Birds meets bioinformatics

ScienceDaily (July 20, 2012) ? For years researchers have been looking for ways to improve patient care by making better use of health information. So far, Big Data and Web 3.0, techie terms for massive stores of patient data and a unified global system to analyze it -- have not realized their full potential in medical research.

Meanwhile, you can cruise your favorite app store for hundreds of Web applications that analyze data, in many cases to create a smartphone game. No need to buy pricey hard drives or software packages. Ironically, the market asked Web browsers, the part of your computer that talks to the internet, to do so many things in recent years that this cheap, universal computing environment became an analytical powerhouse, especially when you network browsers together in "clouds."

Bioinformatics experts have looked on with envy, wishing they too had access to simple, powerful and free Web apps like those that drive Angry Birds. Now a team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has made a start at delivering that.

As detailed in the July 20 edition of the Journal of Pathology Informatics, ImageJS is a free app system in some ways like Angry Birds, or perhaps more like Instagram, except that it analyzes tissue images instead of offering a digital shooting gallery or dressing up family photos. Specifically, the first ImageJS module enables pathologists to drag a digitized pathology slide into a Web app and analyze it for malignancy based on color changes that occur when cancer cells are exposed to standard dyes. But the developers' vision is more ambitious than that.

The pathology modules are the first in a series coming from Jonas Almeida, Ph.D., director of the Division of Informatics in the UAB School of Medicine Department of Pathology and corresponding author of the JPI study.

Future modules will seek to perform genomics analysis, make the system capable of cloud computing and enable doctors to compare their patient's data to similar cases stored in national databases. Such comparisons promise to increase diagnostic accuracy and rule out treatments that clash with a person's genetic signature.

"We created a new kind of computational tool that promises to make patient data more useful where it's collected," says Almeida. A demonstration is online on YouTube, and it's available from the Google Chrome App store, Google Code and Github.

"But ImageJS is an informatics experiment at this point; it will only become something special if pathologists embrace it," he says.

Public resources such as The Cancer Atlas, Gene Expression Omnibus and 1,000 Genomes Project have been generating massive data sets for years, but researchers are just beginning to harness it with Web apps to improve health-care delivery. To tap this potential, experts need apps that are neither overly complex nor require unsafe downloads of desktop applications.

The promise of ImageJS, Almeida says, lies in the willingness of pathologists to partner with biostatisticians at other institutions to write modules for this open-coded system that add value or resolve their specific problems. If that happens, ImageJS could come to resemble the social coding communities that surround smart phones, in this case to deliver better healthcare.

"Pathologists are extremely eager for this, but the barriers so far have made it frustrating," says James Robinson Hackney, M.D., a UAB pathologist who consulted on the ImageJS project. "It's great to watch a colleague's face when this system enables them almost instantly to accomplish a goal they had given up on using past applications."

The "ImageJS" name pays homage to the "ImageJ," an image-analysis program pioneered by the National Institutes of Health. ImageJ was written in the JAVA language and required hours of programming and security-breaching software to make the small changes needed to work with a hospital's system. Because hospital systems often prevent just such software downloads, its use has been limited there.

JAVA also posed challenges for the mobile Web and tablet platforms, which seldom support code written in languages other than the browser's native JavaScript, says Almeida. In contrast, the new ImageJS, a collection of Web-based algorithms written in JavaScript, enables researchers to change apps to fit their specific needs with a few lines of code and repeat each other's informatics experiments.

Most important, ImageJS code migrates from the code repository to the browser and eliminates the risks of travel-related data damage and exposure that violates patient privacy.

The central barrier to Web 3.0, an approaching era when all computers act as one to achieve new levels of collaboration and computing power, is that data compiled to date worldwide has been locked in silos that can't be searched, shared or analyzed.

While researchers hope to translate existing databases into the simple, universal Web 3.0 data formats that will allow this kind of sharing, they are also starting fresh. Almeida's team, for instance, will be attempting over the next year to build a database that offers future ImageJS users the option to store images and related analysis in a resource description framework or RDF.

Once data is stored in this format, it can be found by queries written in SPARQL, a simple computer language that can be learned by most people in a couple of hours. That is extremely important, says Almeida, because the next generation of bioinformatics must not remain the province of programmers. Instead, the researchers running the clinical trials and translational studies must write their own programs, which would add "stunning, new analytic value" to their research and feed into the new global databases.

The UAB team's work proceeds alongside other academic efforts, such as Tetherless World Constellation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and ventures such as LinkedLifeData, Sindice and Hadoop.

Like a game, everyone's hoping to get to the next level. But for the field of bioinformatics -- and for patients -- the stakes are real, and they're much higher.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120720103349.htm

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Despite UConn outcry, NCAA keeps same APR system, penalties

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CBSSports.com wire reports

July 13, 2012 4:52 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA is keeping the academic performance procedures it uses to determine postseason eligibility, an issue that has angered Connecticut after the Huskies' men's basketball team was banned from the postseason.

The NCAA said Friday its Committee on Academic Performance decided the current system uses the most accurate data available and provides the fullest opportunity for appeals.

Under rules implemented last October, the NCAA requires a team to have a 900 APR average over four years or a 930 over two years to qualify for the postseason. The NCAA recently released its annual Academic Progress Rate report for 2010-2011 and UConn received a 978 of a possible 1,000 -- not enough to allow the team to qualify for the 2013 NCAA tournament.

UConn knew last fall it would be banned and in January filed an appeal for an NCAA waiver, citing improving academics and other changes in the program. But that appeal was denied. UConn wants the NCAA to use data from 2011-12, arguing that tougher academic standards should not be applied retroactively to scores recorded before the rule was in effect.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

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Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=10e41cd8f2932566fb8cac196a9936fb

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Exclusive hands-on with the LUMOback smart posture sensor (video)

We first met Andrew Chang -- one of the co-founders behind LUMOback -- when he approached us at the end of our panel at SXSW and offered to show us his smart posture sensor. He was wearing it right then and demoed it for us on the spot. We were impressed enough to stay in touch. Fast forward four months and the device has launched on Kickstarter and already surpassed its $100,000 funding goal. We recently caught up with Andrew to learn a little more about the device's evolution from mockup to pre-production and to get some hands-on time.

While we didn't get the chance to wear the smart posture sensor ourselves, Andrew gave us a thorough rundown and brought along various iterations of the device which you'll find in the photo gallery below. LUMOback is an 8.5mm thick appliance roughly the size of a credit card that's worn like a belt and rests against your lower back. It's packed with sensors, a vibration motor, an iOS-compatible Bluetooth 4.0 LE radio and a Li-Ion battery which provides about 4 days of operation on a charge. The only visible components are a single capacitive button, an LED and a micro-USB charging port. It's splash resistant and features an adjustable elastic strap.

Gallery: LUMOback smart posture sensor hands-on

The hardware may be interesting, but it's the software that really makes LUMOback useful. Paired with an iOS device over Bluetooth, the smart posture sensor monitors if you're running, walking, standing, sitting or laying down. When you're standing or sitting, it knows if you're slouching and optionally alerts you by vibrating. It even measures how much you're slouching and to which side, and knows if you're laying on your stomach, back, left or right side. Best of all, the app logs your posture over time, gives you feedback, and lets you journal how you feel. There's a social networking component as well, and you're able to share some of that information with others.

Andrew and his team are still tweaking the hardware and the software (nothing we saw is finalized yet), but the LUMOback smart posture sensor should cost between $100 and $125 when it ships this fall. Hit the break for our hands on video, and be sure to check out the screenshots gallery below.

Gallery: LUMOback smart posture sensor screenshots

Continue reading Exclusive hands-on with the LUMOback smart posture sensor (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Wearables

Exclusive hands-on with the LUMOback smart posture sensor (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tight security, queues, moans: A very British Olympics

Luke Macgregor / Reuters

Soldiers man a security checkpoint at an entrance to the London 2012 Olympic Park at Stratford in London on July 12, 2012.

By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

LONDON ? The military has been drafted?to plug a security gap, the road surface along a key arrival route is cracking up and London Heathrow International Airport is expecting long lines. Only 14 days before the Olympics, are the wheels coming off London's Games planning or are Britons just finding excuses to grumble?

It has not been an encouraging week for organizers, or for London's 7.5 million residents. A crowd control rehearsal at main stations during Tuesday's morning commute caused frayed tempers?and led to predictions that the city's creaking transport infrastructure may not be able to cope.

---

@Shoutsatcows on Twitter

A sign in the London Olympic Park, posted to Twitter, explaining that French fries cannot be served -- except to those ordering traditional British fish and chips together.

Then NBC News broke the news on Wednesday that Britain's military will have to come up with 3,500 bodies to fill a shortfall in security personnel because private contractor G4S admitted it might not meet its agreed targets to supply workers.

Competing athletes, due to arrive from all corners of the world on Monday, were warned on Thursday that the M4 motorway link that was supposed to whisk them from Heathrow to their hotels and training bases may still be closed after cracks were discovered in a concrete viaduct. Meanwhile, delays at airport immigration recently were so bad that passengers began slow-clapping in protest.

And anyone at the Olympic site trying to cheer themselves up with a snack might also be disappointed. Under the multi-million dollar?International Olympic Committee sponsorship deals, chips ? as fries are known in the U.K. ? are banned at the site unless they come from McDonald's, or if they are served as part of a traditional British fish and chips meal. A sign in the workers' cafeteria, posted on Twitter, struck a note of disappointment.

The military, currently undergoing a painful round of layoffs and cost-cutting, is far from pleased at mopping up the failings of a private contractor. Retired Colonel Richard Kemp, a former UK commander in Afghanistan, told the BBC on Thursday:

?Many of the soldiers that are coming ? this extra 3,500 ? I understand are soldiers who have just returned from Afghanistan. As always when you give any part of the armed forces a task they will do it extremely well, extremely professionally and with a smile on their face? but we shouldn't forget also that many of these soldiers are people who have been told in the last few days that they are going to be made redundant, that their regiments are being scrapped and they are under great pressure already. The wider morale in the armed forces now is very fragile and this will simply add to that fragility.?

Britain's Home Secretary, Theresa May, has offered free Olympic tickets to the extra soldiers to compensate them for having their leave canceled.?

Summoned to parliament on Thursday to explain the security shortfall, May?denied claims by opposition lawmakers that Games preparations were "a shambles." She also dismissed concerns that the presence of up to 11,000 soldiers at Games venues ? more than the 9,500 troops Britain currently has deployed in Afghanistan ? would make visitors feel uncomfortable.

London Mayor Boris Johnson went a step farther, saying the military presence "adds to the tone of the occasion."

But the tone of the Games is precisely what is raising concern in some quarters. Early evidence from the main Olympic Park suggests the often-officious character of British event organization could be a serious irritant: Identity passes and access credentials are zealously scrutinized at every turn by guards brandishing official buttons and lanyards, but maps or signs have yet to be installed at the vast site.

Brits revel in gloom ahead of London Olympics, but don't believe the gripe

The Spectator

The cover of the July 14 issue of weekly conservative magazine, The Spectator.

Many local parks, stations and access roads have already been shut down two weeks before the Games, effectively extending the inconveniences associated with airports to the entire city. Conservative commentator Charles Moore, writing in a special issue of The Spectator magazine, took particular exception to the mantra of officialdom, 'for security reasons,' calling it "the great tyrant's excuse of our times."

Strict enforcement of Olympic branding rules and sponsorship clauses has also come under criticism. Pierre Williams, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, castigated LOCOG (the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) for "petty officiousness" and for having been "absurdly over-protective" of its corporate sponsors, according to a report in the Financial Times.?"In its almost paranoid attempts to protect the Olympic brand and its corporate sponsors, it has largely destroyed the goodwill that was there for the taking from businesses supplying the games," he said.

Onlookers taking pictures at the 'O2' music arena have reported being hassled by security staff because the site will shortly become an Olympic venue for basketball and thus off-limits for photography. (It can't be called the 'O2' either, because it is named after a non-Olympic commercial sponsor: It will be known during the games as 'North Greenwich Arena 1'.)

However, these alone are not indications that the Olympics will be a disaster. It seems unlikely that a city that has learned to live with crush-loaded Tube trains and has spent decades under the threat of terror ? first from the IRA, which used explosives and bomb warnings to disrupt London's public transport for a generation, and then from Islamic militants ? could not cope with two weeks of similar inconvenience.

Just two weeks away from the Olympic Opening Ceremony, the British government has announced thousands of additional soldiers will be sent to provide security at Game venues.

Complaints are to be expected, especially in a country where moaning might be regarded as an Olympic event in its own right.

"I hope, and expect, it will be a success," said author and transport expert Christian Wolmar. "I am optimistic that the transport system will cope just fine. If anything goes wrong at the Olympics it will be overzealous and dumb security, not public transport."

There has been one small victory for the common man: McDonald's on Thursday said it had relaxed its position on French fries in a deal with LOCOG that allows workers to be served individual portions of fries at other restaurants on the main Games site.

But perhaps the most encouraging sign came on Thursday afternoon, when transit authority Transport for London asked for volunteers to rehearse waiting in line and "simulate the unloading of a crush Central line car" to test crowd control measures.?"How much fun does that sound like to you?" asked David Hill of The Guardian.?

You may think the last thing the British needed to practice was waiting in line or putting up with crowded trains, but it seems no detail is being left to chance at the 2012 Olympics. There was no shortage of unpaid volunteers, and the event was reportedly a success.?Maybe things will run just fine after all.

More London 2012 coverage:

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/13/12704778-troops-everywhere-long-lines-and-moans-a-very-british-olympic-games?lite

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