Sexual assault reports jump 23 percent at US military academies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sexual assaults reported by students at the three U.S. military academies jumped 23 percent in 2012, underscoring what Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was a "persistent" problem that required a "strong and immediate response" from the services.

Eighty cases of sexual assault were reported by cadets and midshipmen during the 2011-2012 academic year, compared to 65 the previous year, the Pentagon said on Friday in its annual report on sexual harassment and violence at the academies. The victims were primarily women, although four were men.

It was the third straight year of increases, from a low of 25 in 2009. Prior to that, reported sexual assault cases had fallen regularly from 42 in 2006, when the Pentagon first began tracking the issue at the direction of Congress, the report said.

"Despite our considerable and ongoing efforts, this year's annual report ... demonstrates that we have a persistent problem," Panetta said in a memorandum to the secretaries of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

He said the lack of progress at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, merited "a strong and immediate response."

Panetta and he asked the services to identify "new ways to advance a climate of dignity and respect" at the academies and report back to him by the end of March.

The findings drew expressions of concern from lawmakers and special interest groups that track the issue. Representative Niki Tsongas said that while the rise could partly be attributed to improved conditions that encourage people to report assaults, they also showed the issue remains a problem.

"Sexual assault remains a persistent and untenable crime throughout the armed forces," she said in a statement. "These numbers are an affront to the educational institutions that are developing our military's future leaders."

Nancy Parrish, president of Protect Our Defenders, said the report "shines a light on the severity and scope of the crisis" of sexual assault in the military.

"There is a culture of high tolerance for rape and sexual predators in the ranks that pervades the military," she said. "Clearly all the reforms that have been announced over many years aren't making a difference."

The academies are implementing programs to try to reduce sexual assaults. At the same time, they are attempting to create an environment that encourages reporting, whether on a confidential basis that enables victims to get care and counseling or an unrestricted basis that also permits full criminal investigation.

Of the 80 cases reported in 2012, 42 were unrestricted, allowing authorities to pursue a criminal investigation with the assistance of the victim. Thirty-eight cases remained confidential and were not investigated, officials said.

The academies investigated 40 sexual assault cases in 2012, 23 from 2012 and 17 from the previous year. Of that number, 11 were prosecuted and punished, including eight suspects who were court martialed. The others were not prosecuted, either because the military lacked jurisdiction or evidence, officials said.

The Pentagon surveys students every two years to assess gender relations at the schools and to get a better idea about the number of sexual assaults that go unreported.

The survey conducted as part of this year's report found that 12.4 percent of women and 2 percent of men had reported unwanted sexual contact during the previous 12 months - statistically unchanged from the prior survey.

Fifty-one percent of women reported experiencing sexual harassment during the previous year, down from 56 percent in the 2010 survey. Ten percent of men reported experiencing sexual harassment, statistically unchanged from the earlier survey.

Unwanted sexual contact ranged from rape or sexual assault, to attempted attacks, forcible sodomy and other types of sexual contact, officials said. Major General Gary Patton, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said there was an important correlation between sexual assault and sexual harassment.

"Eliminating sexual harassment is critical to preventing sexual assault," he said, adding that those who experience sexual assault in the past year had also been sexually harassed.

"The solution to this problem is ... creating a nonpermissive environment where sexual harassment, sexist behavior, stalking and these types of behaviors are not condoned," Patton said.

(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Will Dunham and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sexual-assault-reports-jump-23-percent-u-military-182855083.html

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Ring in 2013 with a new device from Sprint and Android Central!

What better way to start a brand new year than with a brand new phone? We can't think of anything better, so we've gotten in cahoots with Sprint to give not one, not two, but SEVEN lucky readers a shiny new device.

Up for grabs we have:

• 2 - Galaxy Victory
• 2 - Motorola PHOTON Q
• 2 - LG Mach
• 1 - LG Optimus G

Since these are Sprint devices, you'll need to be in the US to win, and the contest is for the device only which means you're on your own for service, accessories, and anything else your heart may desire. As with all of our contests, if you've won a device in the past year from us, you're not eligible to win one of these. Gotta share the goodies with your fellow Android family! Also, one entry per person please. If we catch you trying to be sneaky and entering more than once, you will be disqualified and put on the naughty list.

So, to enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below telling us which of these fine phones you would like and why. The contest will run until just after the new year, with the winners announced on the blogs as normal. Good luck everyone!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/BpG9cOUJaNs/story01.htm

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Coal's growing role is good news for the energy poor | World Coal ...

Milton Catelin, Chief Executive, WCA

Today the International Energy Agency released its annual ?Medium Term Coal Market Report? (MCMR) which forecasts a growing role for coal in the world?s energy supply over the next five years, potentially surpassing oil as the world?s biggest supplier of primary energy.

In earlier reports, the IEA has already highlighted that coal has met almost half of the increase in the world?s energy demand in the past decade. They?ve also shown that coal will provide more than half of the on-grid electricity needed to meet its ?Energy for All? scenario ? helping to lift 1.3 billion people out of energy poverty. So coal?s growing role in the global energy mix can only be good news for meeting one of the developing world?s most pressing challenges.

It means developing countries will have access to an abundant, affordable and reliable fuel source to meet their growing energy needs well into the future, powering homes and businesses and lifting millions out of poverty. The huge achievement in China of lifting 600 million people out of poverty since the early 1980s has been fuelled by coal.

Unfortunately, many still only see coal use through the lens of climate change. They lament the increasing role coal has in meeting the world?s ever-growing energy needs because of the associated carbon emissions. From today?s launch of the MCMR it seems the head of the IEA, Maria van der Hoeven is firmly within this group. While her comments highlight the need to reduce carbon emissions to meet global climate objectives, she appears to ignore the importance of coal to meeting global energy access objectives.

These two global challenges, energy access and climate change, should be treated as integrated priorities. Governments, the international community and the IEA need to recognise that the increasing demand for coal means they must treat it as part of the solution, not part of the problem.

As Ms van der Hoeven says, we need to get serious about deploying carbon capture and storage, but we can take much more effective, affordable and immediate action by supporting the deployment of high-efficiency low-emission coal-fired power plants. Another IEA report published earlier this month, highlights the role these plants will play in dramatically reducing the emissions from coal. Deploying modern, highly efficient coal plants can reduce CO₂ emissions by as much as 30% from coal-fired power generation and it can do this at a much lower cost than renewable energies. That means there are huge economic and climate benefits from building more efficient coal-fired power stations.

It?s time to add a development filter to the climate lens when looking at coal?s role in the global energy mix. This report from the IEA is good news for the developing world when it comes to meeting their energy access challenges. But there is good news too when it comes to coal?s role in meeting global climate ambitions.

Source: http://www.worldcoal.org/blog/coal%E2%80%99s-growing-role-is-good-news-for-the-energy-poor/

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Josh Williams On Why Facebook Acqhired His Startup Gowalla To Put A ?Nearby? Lens On 250M Geo-Posts Per Month

"A location service only gets interesting when you get to a certain scale," and Foursquare isn't there yet says Josh Williams. His check-in app Gowalla wasn't either, but it was bought by Facebook where a quarter-billion people tag locations each month. In an interview, Williams tells me how the Nearby feature he launched on Facebook today shows you that data "through the lens of what's around you right now".

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Dnsv2TS3pUw/

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Obama makes new ?fiscal cliff? offer; deal may be near

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) walks to his office in the U.S. Capitol after meeting with U.S. President Barack??With time running out to avoid the "fiscal cliff," President Barack Obama made a fresh offer to Republican House Speaker John Boehner on Monday, dropping the total the White House wants in new tax revenues and raising the amount of spending cuts in an effort to forge a compromise. Boehner's office rejected the deal? but vowed to keep talking.

Obama's new proposal ? his third since talks began in earnest ? brings the two sides markedly closer with just two weeks before across-the-board income tax hikes and deep government spending cuts automatically come into force January 1. Experts worry that, taken together, these measures could plunge the economy into a new recession.

But the package's spending cuts, lower levels on tax hikes, and cuts in entitlement spending could prove as hard a sell to Democrats cheered by the November 6 election as its new revenues could be to Republicans. The proposal would let the payroll tax holiday lapse, but would extend unemployment benefits set to expire in two weeks, and includes an unspecified quantity of infrastructure spending.

The president's latest offer calls for raising $1.2 trillion in new tax revenues on individual income ? down from $1.4 trillion in his previous proposal and $1.6 trillion from his opening gambit. It was disclosed after Obama met for 45 minutes with Boehner at the White House on Monday.

Perhaps most notably, the new proposal -- as described by a source familiar with the negotiations -- jettisons the president's core election-campaign demand that Republicans agree to raising tax rates on income above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families. Instead, it would make permanent Bush-era tax cuts on income up to $400,000 while raising them above that level.

The offer would limit itemized deductions to 28 percent while restoring the estate tax to 2009 levels, meaning that assets above the exemption level of $3.5 million would be taxed at 45 percent.

On the spending side of the ledger, Obama offered $800 billion in cuts, plus $130 billion in savings from adopting a new, less generous mechanism for adjusting Social Security benefits for inflation, the so-called "chained consumer price index" (CPI). To soften the blow to liberal Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has warned against any roll-back of benefits, the White House proposed unspecified "tweaks" that will protect "the poorest social security recipients," the source said. Obama gets another $290 billion in interest payment savings.

The president's proposed savings include $400 billion in health outlays, $200 billion in mandatory spending in other areas, and $200 billion in discretionary cuts ? including $100 from the Pentagon. As described, it does not include a Republican push to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.

"Any movement away from the unrealistic offers the President has made previously is a step in the right direction, but a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said. "We hope to continue discussions with the President so we can reach an agreement that is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem."

Obama's offer would also significantly blunt Republican power to use fights over raising the country's "debt ceiling" to demand spending cuts. It would raise that borrowing authority for two years, while letting Congress take largely symbolic votes disapproving of that step. (Boehner reportedly offered a year-long extension in his previous offer, but conservatives in his fractious caucus are reluctant to abandon what they say as their best leverage to force future cuts).

The source underlined that his was not the White House's "final offer" but called it "a good offer" that shows that the Administration has "met the Republicans more than halfway."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-makes-fiscal-cliff-offer-boehner-deal-may-033949755--politics.html

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Helpful Tips On Investing In Commercial Real Estate - Maynas Eric

Commercial property is a very exciting endeavor, however, it takes a ton of work. This can leave you wondering where you should even begin. It can seem overwhelming and difficult to know what to think about when it comes to commercial real estate, yet in this article, you can learn some insightful information on what you should be doing and learning.

Do a walk-through of each property on your short list. You can even take a contractor with you to provide expert advice. Submit a first offer and solicit counteroffers. Don?t decide on anything without careful consideration.

You might have to make improvements to your space before you can use it. It may simply be cosmetic issues that need addressing, such as a fresh coat of paint or some furniture rearrangement. Oftentimes, moving walls and other fixtures is required to redistribute the floorplan. Remind the landlord that these improvements are necessary, and use them to negotiate a lower deposit or reduced rent.

TIP! Think bigger when you are investing in commercial properties. If you were considering purchasing a five-unit building, recognize that managing fifty units is no more difficult than five.

Feng shui might improve your commercial investing profits when used correctly in the interior design of your properties. If you provide a lot of open space in your units and avoid clutter as much as possible, buyers are more likely to be interested in your property.

You must absolutely confirm that your real estate?s asking price is realistic. Different variables can have an impact of the value of a lot.

Research any real estate brokers you are considering working with, and ask questions to determine whether their visions align with yours. Ask about their methods for gathering and interpreting results. Make sure you understand their methods and strategies. Choose a broker who matches you in all of the answers they give, be it the same strategies or complementary ones.

TIP! When looking for commercial real estate properties to house your business, keep in mind that size is among the biggest factors. If you do not want to be looking at properties again soon, it is important to find a commercial space with sufficient room for future expansion.

Dual Agency

Read the fine print about your real estate agent. It is important that you realize that you may be entering a dual agency transaction. Dual agency in real estate is when the agency works for both parties. The real estate agency will represent both the seller and the buyer. If dual agency is the case, it should be out in the open and both the landlord and the tenant should be in agreement with the arrangement.

You may find that you spend a large amount of time at first on your investment. It can take a little time to find a property worth purchasing, and you also may have to make necessary repairs. Don?t let the amount time you need to put in during this phase discourage you. You will reap the rewards of all your hard work.

TIP! It is easy to get emotional when you are venturing into the commercial real estate market, but is is very important to stay patient and remain calm. Don?t rush to make an investment.

There are many ways available to cut down on repair costs when cleaning up the property. You are potentially responsible in paying for cleanup if you have an ownership interest pertaining to the property. It can cost your a lot of money to clean up and get rid of garbage. Attempt to get a written report from an environmental assessment company. Such reports can be expensive, but they are worth it in the long run.`

Pro Forma

This is important because you want to ensure that the terms line up with the pro forma and the rent roll. If you do not look over these key terms, you could find a term that was not considered in the rent roll, which could cause a change in the pro forma.

TIP! Watch for motivated sellers. You have to look for them, particularly the sellers who are willing to sell for less than the market price.

Before you enter the commercial real estate market, be sure you have established your presence online. Make a website for yourself and make a LinkedIn profile. Try using SEO to help yourself place higher in the search results. The intent here is for anyone you deal with being able to find you easily, just by typing your name into their favorite search engine.

Commercial Property

As you have just read, you are now aware that the purchasing and owning process of commercial property requires a lot of hard work and effort on your part to make it a smooth experience. You must also be persistent. Take the advice from this article to heart, and follow it and your dream of owning commercial property.

TIP! Look into the neighborhood you?re planning on buying property in. For example, if you?re offering high-priced goods or services, you might want to purchase property in wealthier areas where people are likely to be able to afford to buy from you.

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/helpful-tips-on-investing-in-commercial-real-estate-3

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'Missing' polar weather systems could impact climate predictions

Dec. 16, 2012 ? Intense but small-scale polar storms could make a big difference to climate predictions according to new research from the University of East Anglia and the University of Massachusetts.

Difficult-to-forecast polar mesoscale storms occur frequently over the polar seas, however they are missing in most climate models.

Research published December 16 in Nature Geoscience shows that their inclusion could paint a different picture of climate change in years to come.

Polar mesoscale storms are capable of producing hurricane-strength winds which cool the ocean and lead to changes in its circulation.

Prof Ian Renfrew, from UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, said: "These polar lows are typically under 500 km in diameter and over within 24-36 hours. They're difficult to predict, but we have shown they play an important role in driving large-scale ocean circulation.

"There are hundreds of them a year in the North Atlantic, and dozens of strong ones. They create a lot of stormy weather, strong winds and snowfall -- particularly over Norway, Iceland, and Canada, and occasionally over Britain, such as in 2003 when a massive dump of snow brought the M11 to a standstill for 24 hours.

"We have shown that adding polar storms into computer-generated models of the ocean results in significant changes in ocean circulation -- including an increase in heat travelling north in the Atlantic Ocean and more overturning in the Sub-polar seas.

"At present, climate models don't have a high enough resolution to account for these small-scale polar lows.

"As Arctic Sea ice continues to retreat, polar lows are likely to migrate further north, which could have consequences for the 'thermohaline' or northward ocean circulation -- potentially leading to it weakening."

Alan Condron from the University of Massachusetts said: "By simulating polar lows, we find that the area of the ocean that becomes denser and sinks each year increases and causes the amount of heat being transported towards Europe to intensify.

"The fact that climate models are not simulating these storms is a real problem because these models will incorrectly predict how much heat is being moved northward towards the poles. This will make it very difficult to reliably predict how the climate of Europe and North America will change in the near-future."

Prof Renfrew added: "Climate models are always improving, and there is a trade-off between the resolution of the model, the complexity of the model, and the number of simulations you can carry out. Our work suggests we should put some more effort into resolving such storms."

'The impact of polar mesoscale storms on Northeast Atlantic ocean circulation' by Alan Condron from the University of Massachusetts (US) and Ian Renfrew from UEA (UK), is published in Nature Geoscience on December 16, 2012.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/cHiDMGtQiR0/121216132505.htm

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