Tokyo Works for you to Evacuation and additionally Tidy up

TOKYOThe Japoneses governing administration made the awareness of longer-term problems including washing as well as moving back lots of evacuees in their family homes, immediately after boasting Tuesday that your Fukushima Daiichi energy put achieved cool shutdown.

In the November. 12, 2011 submit image, all the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear vitality train station is viewed by having a motor coach rv screen inside Okuma, The japanese, because growing media had been made it possible for straight into Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear strength grow intended for to begin with as being the 03 11 complete distruction.

"We sometimes have concluded simple steps, still what is important is certainly how are you affected an excellent, '' says Goshi Hosono, Moncler Giubbotti any display case minister conspiring all the nuclear catastrophe, within a job relating to Japoneses TV FOR PC pursuing the statement.

Dealing using out of place home buyers is actually appears any government's to-do listing. Conversing on a televised info national gathering Fri, Nippon Outstanding Minister Yoshihiko Noda stated the costa rica government could assessment the particular evacuation purchases trying to keep nearly 88, 000 men and women skincare products buildings, generally from a 20-kilometer (12. 4-mile) radius surrounding the seed.

He talked about the us government is just about to save money compared to 1 trillion ($12. 8 billion dollars) to make sure you decontaminate the actual zones surrounding the seed and also might contemplate purchasing get who cannot be laundered right up.

Once Nuclear Motorola milestone, a challenging Highway Japan Substantial Time: Fukushima Daiichi Post-Shutdown: Available to your Programs

The overall the radiation distributed over the wide swath for n . Okazaki, japan is definitely of about on the subject of 15% involving the gist unveiled 30 in years past by Chernobyl, Canada Goose Jakke your most extreme nuclear auto accident ever sold.

The evacuations possess obligated community inhabitants in order to forego their own real estate not to mention organisations plus managed to get it essential for the us govenment not to mention seed driver Tokyo Electrical power Company., or simply Tepco, paying recompense believed that will full practically 5 trillion yen in the following two year period.

The government's story Tuesday had been pegged towards a practical way of measuring steadiness suggesting which, Expedition Parka seven times searching for tsunami brought on meltdowns from a couple of reactors, resource climate now are awesome a sufficient amount of to get deemed risk-free. Your cold climate imply the ones reactors are generally emitting tiny brand new rays within the atmosphere, and tend to be don't present process nuclear fission.

The assertion that your vegetable is actually sturdy exposed to typically the attention tons with various important conditions Asia ought to cope with during the get up in the second-worst nuclear car accident ever. Many feature queries for easy methods to decontaminate the location adjoining Fukushima Daiichi, Canada Goose Parka easy methods to hire people evacuated right from places the place the radiation ranges had been best, and while to see individuals they are come back.

As countless while 150, 000 everyone was required for you to both evacuate or even keep on being inside for a longer length of time usually in the height from the uncertainty. By simply clearing all the toxin heavy places, the costa rica government thinks to make sure you repair a nearby market along with control within pay out obligations.

The topic about what amount of contaminants is certainly bearable is often a sticky a single, yet. The us government presently evacuates home owners via locations exactly where they might come in contact with beyond 20 millisieverts each and every year, according to measures agreed to with the Worldwide Atomic Electrical power Firm.

But which usually tier may possibly end up being too much, as per a number of advisors. For you to strongly encourage home buyers to go back, a fabulous solar panel for people about Thurs proposed into the federal government the fact that in the following that two year period, it will particular target a fabulous optimum gross annual the radiation a higher level 10 millisieverts or perhaps much less, the place probable. Pertaining to venues quite often made use of by kids, rays tier ought not emulate 1 millisievert, it all explained.

Fukushima home buyers pressured due to your residences point out which as you move the wintry shutdown is mostly a encouraged enhancement, this is a very small tip regarding producing your neighborhoods and also towns inhabitable all over again.

"The state of affairs within the sow is actually distinguish via our own principal interest, your decontamination of your the city, inches explained Hirobumi Sanpei, deputy gran involving Tomioka, a good seaside the city about sixteen, 000 which usually was required to evacuate it's existing area problems . closeness to grow. The idea damaged or lost 21 citizens into the tsunami, along with an alternative four continue to unaccounted with regard to.

Surveys within Fukushima citizens demonstrated the fact that about 30% regarding evacuees have zero purpose connected with coming back even after her death your urban areas can be proclaimed safer.

Underscoring frequent anxieties across nuclear vitality, not one within the state's various other reactors came again using the web through frequent upkeep pays out who manifest each individual 13 many months. One other reactor, within the Ohi center for north west Asia, ended up being taken from all the mobile phone network upon Wednesday, exiting only key reactors working with countrywide, nurturing challenges about reconditioned energy shortages.

The proclamation that your Fukushima Daiichi sow is actually reliable occurs among ongoing open doubtfulness in the governing administration not to mention Tepco. The case is normally much completely different from an everyday frigid shutdown, wherever nuclear resource is normally held amazing from a water-filled package. For the reason that container with the Fukushima Daiichi really are seriously weakened by simply dissolved energy in addition to cannot support the water, Tepco is required to strain numerous quite a few normal water throughout the molten gas every single day.

Tepco Web design manager Toshio Nishizawa, from a the latest job, hammered out general public point of view approximately grow health and safety along with openness from Tepco. "We've damaged or lost open public self esteem by reason of each of our limited discharge connected with info ahead of time on the disaster, inches they talked about.

With regard to Indignant Workers, Lawful Insure with regard to Rants

Workers let go or simply self-disciplined with regard to bad-mouthing firms with social-networking web sites can be fighting with each other backside utilizing a decades-old work lawa different forward while in the murky showdown across just what exactly trades-people can perform plus claim internet.

Since the actual escalate associated with Twitter together with Facebook, Moncler Outlet businesses imagined they'd the ideal that will flames workers who seem to placed problems and unpredictable and also impolite opinions over the internet around most of the firms.

WSJ's Melanie Trottman information to the Country wide Work Interaction React in which insures workers' oftentimes once they criticize its companies in public places running forums, for example social-networking web pages. Picture: Getty Images

But recently, Belstaff Blouson employees currently have searched in order to resolve his or her really present day occupation scenario using the regulations who kick-started a Ough. Utes. work action: the actual Country's Work Interaction Action involving 1935. What the law states supplies private-sector workers specified proper rights for you to grumble pertaining to fork out, wellbeing along with other operating situations. It does not secure easy griping.

More compared to 100 firms, Canada Goose Expedition Parka such as your saloon, the BMW store as well as Wal-Mart Suppliers Inc., were falsely accused by just personnel during the last 12 several weeks with the wrong type of action associated with social-media habits and / or insurance plans, based on the Country's Work Interaction Snowboard, your government business the fact that enforces what the law states along with chooses if employees' claims have got worthiness.

That which you Might as well as Aren't able to Undertake in Myspace Prior: Myspace Heating Situation is definitely Wrapped up

NLRB attorneys around Buenos aires decided in which about 50 % of from the reproaches they may have considered to date currently have adequate virtue to the service to help you intercede, Canada Goose Trillium Parka usually as your city issue submitted from recruiters regarding staff. Issues will be noticed by way of some sort of NLRB decide, who are able to purchase a fix.

The NLRB measures, the majority of which will include nonunion workforce, depict a brand new sector where the firm is actually saying per se on the job. Them currently is definitely about the incredibly hot seats along with Republicans plus small business teams, who seem to state it's chosen unions about business employers below Web design manager Barack Obama's check out, particularly if this inhibited Boeing Corp. is final decision to set up a good nonunion generation collection around Sc.

Rafael Gomez with lawyer Lo Tempio Dark brown around Buffalo grass, D. B., who's symbolizing your non-profit class inside an NLRB situation concerned with Facebook or myspace posts, reported this scenario yet others recommend a bureau will be "seeking to say once more inside a nonunion office environment. inch

In another instance, Dawnmarie Souza, the paramedic to get United states Health Solution involving Connecticut Inc., had been let go following dialing your girlfriend inspector the "scumbag" for Facebook or myspace, out of the woman's desktop computer. The woman had been depressed any inspector experienced inquired the woman in regards to a consumer gripe, based on the NLRB's examination.

The NLRB's problem for Microsoft. Souza's behalfthe agency's very first possibly associating a new shooting associated with public mediacame soon after NLRB legal professionals on Miami worked out the actual heating was basically illegally reproduced because articles ended up being developed for the duration of a internet controversy within staff members concerning supervisory stage, that is regarded as "protected concerted activity" in the legal requirements.

The commentary were definitely triggered in what the actual NLRB thought this supervisor's illegal refusal from un rendering by carrying out a work place appointment concerning the site visitor grouse. The situation appeared to be wrapped up throughout Feb in advance of it would enhance for an NLRB admin evaluate.

Near NLRB solicitors with California decided which will about 50 % of from the symptoms they may have researched to date possess acceptable caliber to the organisation to make sure you get involved.

American Health Reaction turned down that will review concerning the situation continue thirty days. The organization includes stated before the fact that Milliseconds. Souza had been let go "for severe infractions for infirmary as well as AMR standards in addition to treatments. inch Inside a split agreement together with the NLRB, the actual ambulance enterprise decided to bring up to date their Internet-posting plan it won't violate workers' protection under the law.

Ms. Souza, who had been a short while ago nevertheless without a job, declined bad deliver the results results along with stated within an occupation interview your lover failed to dismiss labeling the girl's boss leaders.

After Microsoft. Souza's situation, other people aim to within. Through Could, based on the agency's hottest information, the actual NLRB's local workplaces obtained attained 113 grievances, known as "charges, inch out of people alleging a number of outlawed exercise based on social-media tactics in addition to procedures, in contrast to a little small number reasoning better calendar months previous.

Of a 39 instances researched by survive thirty day period, company solicitors during Buenos aires decided this 51% have sufficient deserve to be able to start working on a powerful management ascertain. A attorneys continue to be examining 16 people. The rest of your 113 costs ended up being wrapped up as well as removed in advance of accomplishing organization practitioners through Arizona, or even may possibly be in exploration while in the local locations, a company spokeswoman reported.

The scenarios switch on irrespective of whether on-line posts emulate pastime that is definitely safeguarded underneath the Wagner Operate, since the 1935 regulation is likewise well-known. Handed simply to shield collective-bargaining protection under the law, what the law states allows people the right to interact throughout "protected concerted exercise, inches for example talking about pay back or simply various other problems. Consumers is often shielded when they tend to be engaging with respect to different staff for the company.

To end up being safe, there has to be set exercise, within plan or even final result, stated NLRB Working Common Suggest Lafe Solomon. Simple moaning is not safe, he or she reported.

Translating individuals key points in order to internet hobbies isn't really simple, and also the NLRB doesn't have supplied precise information. Will be posts produced from work area laptops shielded? A company doesn't have experienced this type of scenario. Whenever a workforce blogposts a note in order to several co-workers with zero a person takes action, is actually this information safe? This will depend to the details, the actual business stated, like what precisely can have transpired at work prior to and also following the placing.

Erina Peterson, your vice leader in the HOUR OR SO Protection plan Relationship, the commerce team to get human-resources operatives, argues which employees' detrimental on line listings might ruin some sort of firm's history which typically the business ought to provide crisper support. "You come with an business the fact that comes into play and it is very intense for most of these concerns, nonetheless isn't actually obvious for pulling in collections, inch your dog stated.

The NLRB's Mr. Solomon stated he's ended up enjoy scenario value based upon in the real world precedent, however he is aware the way in which firms may just be baffled. "I may exclusively emotional stress that will all these instances is rather truthful. It isn't all of apples-to-apples, inch your dog stated.

The main point here: "Companies can't possess a knee-jerk a reaction to these kind of terminations, inch reported Erina Pepperman, significant other from Philadelphia lawyer Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell Hippel, that connotes companies.

Some instances might seem clear-cut. The manufacturing facility staff member in Frito-Lay had been let go soon after creating at Squidoo your dog had been "a frizzy hair from putting the application shut off in the h, inches evidently talking about a assembly line wherever he or she previously worked. He or she designed any review following a boss reported although eliminate work elements should your dog remaining job fast considering the person was feeling ill.

A human-resources supervisor eventually said to your worker a thoughts seemed just like a hazards towards photograph everybody while in the assembly line, based on the NLRB's authored accounts with a exploration.

The worker, Roy Rhone Junior., shared with the actual forex broker she ended up being simply air flow in addition to "setting that off" required swearing by anyone or even running through at work, based on a strong NLRB statement. The actual NLRB reported the actual commentary just weren't shielded. The spokesman to get Frito-Lay, possessed by way of PepsiCo Inc., stated the organization would not reply to people, with regard to personal privacy factors.

Erina Owens, Mr. Rhone's attorney, reported she recorded a good attraction past calendar month using the NLRB's home office from speaks confident of having the actual agent towards re-think medical record your grouse, citing an alternative offer which he talked about referenced Mr. Rhone's business office inconvenience. They moreover talked about all the managers' pursuits show these failed to look and feel insecure.

The NLRB moreover came to the conclusion suggestions were unable guarded inside Wal-Mart condition, that a staff generally known as an individual's helper currency broker any derogatory list for the duration of some Youtube content right after she seemed to be punished. Your employees, John Morris, was first terminated for the moment as well as have advertising possibility declined for one month. Mr. Morris do not reply to desires just for ideas.

A Wal-Mart spokesman explained that employee's "inappropriate" pursuits, no matter where some people appeared and additionally for what ever mode, "had a bad relation to all the job natural world, knowning that brought about all the poor behavior all of us procured. "

Many various other occasions commonly are not roughly like obvious. Chicago-area dealership Knauz BMW was first reached that have an NLRB grouse more than a shooting about store assistant Robert Becker. Throughout Sept, a powerful NLRB calculate disagreed while using agency's coming across as broad counsel's problem the fact that supposed Mr. Becker is wrongfully shot and additionally sided while using dealer rather, taking over who's previously had were around it's proper rights.

The trouble: Mr. Becker crafted articles in connection with couple of varied occasions, plus the coming across as broad help additionally, the assess disagreed related to which usually offer became the dog terminated. That offer quotation with the NLRB help, which in turn mentioned like sheltered spiel, belittled the actual store regarding cup popular k9s and also water in bottles to be able to users within a luxury-car marketing and advertising as well as accompanied a tender dialogue between individuals one on one which will earnings may suffer from. That offer quotation with the calculate, which in turn wasn’t sheltered, recorded pictures of an automotive held utilizing a related store surrounding who was inadvertently pushed perfectly into a pool.

According on the NLRB performing arts broad help, that hiring manager shot all the employee once reprimanding your pet to the sales-event portraits a hiring manager referred to as uncomfortable, afterward a few months later on says the real reason for the particular heating appeared to be all the submitting for the automobile on the pool. That NLRB calculate talked about the person thought statements manufactured by car dealership skippers this Mr. Becker was first shot primarily with regard to this submitting in the van with the pool.

The judge's taking over have been become a huge hit via the NLRB's coming across as common advisor. Mr. Becker, that's to be met for just by any NLRB attorney during Chi town, refused ideas using an office spokeswoman.

John Hendricks in Frd Harrison LLP, a legal professional in the automotive dealer, explained his particular patron is normally contesting all the attractiveness, using which businesses are developing any cut a lot more a NLRB is normally "going to be able to study every last insurance policy you've gotten upon regardless of whether the application violates guarded concerted action. "

Science in the Military

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, out of more than 1.4 million people on active duty in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, at least 200,000 perform science, engineering,Canada goose and technical roles. Some of those people are building robots. Others are remotely piloting underwater vehicles. According to experts interviewed by Science Careers, all share one characteristic: They are military first, scientists second.

Science-minded soldiers and sailors must be comfortable with military life: conforming to strict rules, codes,Canada goose parka and honor systems, and being ready to participate in combat missions if necessary. Serving in the military can be dangerous even in peacetime, so it’s important to understand the nature of the commitment. But as long as you know what to expect, the military can offer a wide range of opportunities for challenging and rewarding careers.
The entry level: enlist and train

To enlist in the U.S. military, the basic requirement is a high school diploma, or the equivalent, and good physical and mental health. After enlisting, personnel can specialize in a basic science,Canada goose outlet technical, or engineering role, depending on the needs of their branch. For example, intelligence analysts interpret complex field data, electronics specialists operate tracking equipment, and environmental health technicians monitor the air, ground, and water for bacteria and other health hazards.

Many choose to gain a bachelor’s degree before embarking on active service, which allows them to join as an officer. Every year,Canada goose expedition parka more than 1200 high school graduates enroll in each of the three main federal military academies -- the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland, the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York, and the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Colorado -- to become officers-in-training. Admission to the military academies is extremely competitive, says Commander William Marks, public affairs officer at USNA. “Last year we received more than 19,000 applications for about 1240 spots.”

Over 4 years, military academy students absorb a core curriculum of engineering, natural sciences, mathematics,Canada goose trillium parka social sciences, and humanities. Particularly at Annapolis and West Point, students can choose from an array of scientific disciplines such as molecular biology, environmental chemistry, ecology, polar oceanography, climate change, remote sensing, and astronomy. “We believe a well-rounded science and technology curriculum is based on a broad spectrum of study, including fields not traditionally linked with the military,” Marks says. In return for Army, Navy, or Air Force funding, graduates from the military academies can expect a minimum requirement of 5 years of active service.

Didn't get admitted to a military academy? The on-the-job training received by enlisted personnel -- those not trained to the officer level -- can also lead to college credit. The American Council on Education (ACE) recognizes training in the Armed Forces by awarding academic credit toward a Bachelor of Science degree.

Exceptional active-duty personnel may be funded 100% to study for a bachelor’s degree at a civilian institution -- for example, through a Tuition Assistance program. By joining the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), high school students can embark on a regular college experience (which, however, includes 3 to 5 hours of military instruction per week) and join the military after they graduate. ROTC grads are expected to serve full-time for at least 4 years, or, in a few special cases, part time for a longer period.
With specialist scientific knowledge, a multitude of jobs become available within the military. “You can be a Navy SEAL, a doctor, a diver, a jet pilot, a nuclear engineer, or an expert in computer systems and networks,” Marks says.
Postgraduate training

About 200 officers are accepted each year to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, to study full time for a master’s or Ph.D. qualification in engineering or science. NPS programs include engineering, acoustics, nanomaterials, sensor development, robotics, power and propulsion studies, oceanography, meteorology, and space systems; there's even a program focused on free electron lasers.

Oceanography postgraduates, for example, might study how coastal dynamics affect amphibious warfare, or how decreasing polar sea ice might influence global climate patterns. “Many of our students in meteorology and oceanography find it both challenging and satisfying to apply their interest in earth sciences to improve safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of military operations,” says Professor Phil Durkee, interim dean of the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at NPS.

“My thesis project focused on the Smart Gator concept,” says Captain Cedric Pringle, who graduated from NPS with a master’s degree in National Security Strategy in 1998. “I looked at the employment of technology, machinery controls, and systems automation that could effectively reduce manning aboard amphibious ships.” Pringle was recently named commanding officer of the hybrid (part electric and part gas-powered) amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, a position he will take up in February 2012.

The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio runs an operation similar to the one at NPS, providing postgraduate academic training to officers of the U.S. Air Force. The Army doesn't have a graduate school, but Army soldiers can attend either of the other institutions.

Microsoft Preps Xbox Live Users for New Social, Video Features

Microsoft is adding some new social and streaming video features to Xbox.com and the software giant is bracing Xbox Live users for what looks to be a fairly significant navigation revamp which includes the elimination of "My Xbox."

"In the coming days, the familiar 'My Xbox' section of Xbox.com is going away," Microsoft's Denny Atkin told Xbox Live members in an official Xbox.com blog post this week. "Fear not: It's being replaced with a significant update that will make it even easier to see what your friends are doing on Xbox Live."

Replacing My Xbox will be a new section called "Social,"Belstaff which adds access to Microsoft's new Beacons feature, a tool that lets users tag games they want to play with other Xbox 360 gamers as well as serving as social networking platform for friends on Xbox Live.

Beacons is part of Microsoft's next big Xbox 360 dashboard update. Moncler Spaccio Other new stuff coming down the pike includes access to the Zune video catalog, which will allow Xbox Live users to use their browser to buy movies and television shows.

"Social" basically replaces "My Xbox". To help folks get used to the change in the navigation menu,Sito Ufficiale Moncler Microsoft will be dropping users onto the new Social page when they sign into Xbox.com.

The first thing users will see when they visit the new Social page is a group of Microsoft's new "Metro" tiles at the top, which will be populated with links to Marketplace previews, Xbox Live events, new releases, Gamer Spotlight, and more, Atkin writes.

Avatars retain their pride of place on the page, but they'll be surrounded by links to tasks like profile viewing, a "Friends Activity" column that shows users what their friends are up to—games they've played recently and which of them are playing them at the moment,Belstaff Outlet plus a list of games a user has loaded and how many of their friends are playing that game.

At the top of the screen, there's an "Activity" button that takes users to Xbox Live's new Activity page. This is where Beacon comes in—users can tick off up to three games they want to play with others here and also customize the request, for example, by setting a time to play.

Microsoft has also revamped its Messages section and users will now be able to visit their friends' profiles to check on their Beacon activity, according to Atkin.

Washington-area schools confront the ‘gifted gap’

The school district is trying to change the racial makeup of a gifted program that has long been mostly white.

The budding scholars in Alexandria’s gifted ­classes are bright and curious enough to make any teacher beam, but these days they’re also an emblem of what the school system calls one of its greatest failures: a lack of diversity among the academic elite.Belstaff Outlet

Most of the city’s students are black or Hispanic. Most in gifted programs are white.
This imbalance in classes tailored to gifted and talented students is echoed across the region and the nation, a source of embarrassment to many educators.

In theory, a racial enrollment gap in gifted programs should be easier for schools to close than a racial achievement gap. But in practice, experts say, there are many obstacles. Among them, they say, are testing and outreach methods that fail to ensure children from all backgrounds get an equal shot.Belstaff Italia　

In Alexandria, where a bitter struggle to desegregate public schools ended a half century ago, administrators have vowed over the next year to tackle the problem.

“It’s simply unacceptable,” said Gregory Hutchings, director of preK-12 initiatives for city schools. “These numbers tell us that we’re not serving all kids.”

At Cora Kelley Elementary School, Rosalyne Cameron teaches seven gifted fourth-graders, all of them engaged in the kind of high-level inquiry considered a hallmark of gifted education. Last month, Cameron launched a discussion about modern art by asking the class, “What is art?”Moncler Outlet　

The philosophical volleying commenced.

“Anything can be art,” one said.

“No, it has to be beautiful,” another responded.

“It has to be beautiful and interesting,” a third said.

The debate continued, getting increasingly heated.

Four of Cameron’s students are white, two black and one Hispanic. In the city’s elementary and middle school gifted program, 61 percent are white, 17 percent black, 11 percent Hispanic and 6 percent Asian.

By contrast, 25 percent of Alexandria’s 12,000 students are non-Hispanic white. About 5 percent are Asian, 31 percent are Hispanic and 34 percent black.

Alexandria is debating how to diversify gifted classes without sacrificing rigor. That pursuit could raise questions such as how intelligence is measured and the function of a program catering to the academic elite. “It’s all on the table,” Hutchings said.

While educators across the country face the same problem, Alexandria is particularly sensitive to racial questions. In the 1950s, the city resisted early efforts to allow black students into public schools, firing employees who disagreed.

As the school system today redoubles efforts to boost minority achievement, officials see the “gifted gap” as a hurdle to that aspiration.

“In many ways, the district has been resegregated,” Superintendent Morton Sherman said.

To get into a gifted class in Alexandria, the first step is generally a parent or teacher referral. Sometimes candidates are identified through high state-test scores. Then, candidates are typically given tests that measure intellectual and academic aptitude.

In recent decades, local school agencies and state and federal governments have wrestled with how to define gifted students. Intelligence tests have been tweaked. The referral process in many districts has changed. But many gifted classes remain stacked with white and Asian students.
“It’s a national problem,” said Joyce VanTassel-Baska, an education professor at the College of William and Mary, “and in some districts it’s extremely hard to make progress.”

Hutchings, a product of Alexandria schools, remembers thinking that gifted classes were “off-limits.” As a black student, he said, the classes “didn’t include any kids that looked like me.”
That was more than 20 years ago. Hutchings worries that not much has changed. He’s now crisscrossing the city, holding town-hall-style meetings about the gifted program and who might be eligible for it.

“There are parts of the city where parents have never considered that their kids might be gifted,” he said. “No one has ever told them. That needs to change.”

Among local school systems, Prince William County’s has taken perhaps the most aggressive policy on diversity in gifted classes. It mandates that the demographic composition of the gifted program reflect the overall racial and ethnic makeup of the school system. To do that, Prince William has amended its identification process to ensure that it finds gifted students from a variety of backgrounds.

The Fairfax County system and others in Northern Virginia have started an enrichment program that targets high-achieving minority students.

Fairfax’s “Young Scholars” program aims to find underrepresented minorities and get them into gifted classes. Some parents have voiced opposition to that initiative, claiming it shouldn’t restrict such services to a narrow population when thousands of students countywide might benefit from them. Still, Fairfax’s gifted program is overwhelmingly white and Asian.

Gifted programs vary from place to place. Some local schools provide “gifted centers,” others an hour of special instruction per day.

In nearly every local system, white students are disproportionately represented, even though most gifted programs explicitly target students with natural talents and aptitude, which are spread evenly across racial groups and social classes.

Experts say one factor that skews enrollment in gifted classes is intelligence testing.

Students living in poverty, particularly those whose parents are uneducated or speak English as a second language, are less likely to develop verbal skills measured by traditional intelligence tests. But that doesn’t mean they’re not gifted. Assessments that measure spatial and mathematical intelligence as well as curiosity and leadership abilities are more likely to identify a diverse crop of gifted students, experts say.

“We used to think that gifted meant students who could read and write at an early age. That’s changed,” said Carol Horn, director of gifted education in Fairfax. She said that Fairfax has learned that using a variety of assessments can help broaden the pool of gifted students.

Some experts say that the parental- and teacher-referral process leads to uneven representation. Many parents might not refer children for testing because they are not familiar with gifted programs. Without a teacher or parent referral, most students are not fully evaluated.

In Alexandria and elsewhere, officials have started a campaign to recast the referral process, encouraging more parents to recommend their children and training teachers to consider a wider range of criteria.

First-grade teacher Sheila Walsh said she looks for students who are not just academically advanced but able to make connections between their studies and the world around them. In such moments, the Alexandria teacher says to herself, “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with this little person.”

She typically finds about two of those students a year. For those who are found, the payoff is clear.

“I used to get bored in my class. Everything moved so slow,” said Jawad Adams, 9, a black student in Cameron’s fourth- grade class at Cora Kelly Elementary. “Now things are up to speed.”

Euro bailout wrangles spook markets as fears of slump intensify

Fears intensified of a fresh global slump on Tuesday as it emerged that Europe's leaders were still at loggerheads over a three-pronged plan to save the single currency.

Hopes that summits in Brussels on Wednesday would deliver a "grand bargain" that would finally draw an end to an 18-month sovereign debt crisis were fading fast as talks planned for Wednesday morning were cancelled, rumours surfaced of a collapse in Silvio Berlusconi's Italian government and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, adopted a hard line in negotiations with her French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, over the shape of a rescue package.

The lack of progress forced the cancellation of a meeting of the EU's 27 finance ministers, including Britain's George Osborne, in Brussels on Wednesday.

However, two meetings – the first involving leaders of all 27 European Union countries and the second limited to the 17 members of the single currency – are expected to proceed, to the despair of several EU diplomats.

"Everybody realises that we are on the brink of such a total catastrophe that anything that prevents it and a huge recession must be grasped," one EU diplomat said. "The markets will kill us if they haven't laughed themselves to death."

Shares have been rising in the past few days amid speculation that Wednesday's meetings, delayed from the weekend to give officials more time to piece together a deal, would agree the terms of a Greek debt write-down, bolster the firepower of Europe's bailout fund – the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) – and pump up to €108bn into Europe's weakest banks. Negotiations continued into the night on each strand.

But with receding expectations of a deal, even in political outline, that could be signed, sealed and delivered by early Thursday, sources said the only hope of a "miracle" lay in a meeting of senior euro working group officials late on Tuesday.

Shares fell sharply late on in Europe and in New York as evidence of a potential failure began spooking markets. At a Senate hearing in Washington, Charles Collyns, a senior US treasury official, said: "The European financial crisis presents the most serious risk today to global recovery and the prospects for US exports and American jobs."

But he said: "We do think they are going to take action comprehensively in the next few days." The US has been putting intense pressure on Europe to "get its act together" amid concerns that the crisis will push the world economy into a double-dip recession. Washington is eager for a deal to be agreed before Barack Obama travels to Cannes for next week's summit meeting of the G20 group of developed and developing countries.

Such was the gravity of the situation on Tuesday night that there were reports that the International Monetary Fund was considering putting money into the EFSF to spare cash-strapped European governments the cost of adding more capital to the €440bn (about ￡380bn) facility. The IMF believes Europe needs to have €2tn at its disposal to head off market pressure on the two big problem countries, Italy and Spain, and has been exploring with Brussels ways of leveraging up the EFSF's resources.

A suggestion doing the rounds of Brussels corridors is that Wednesday'ssummit could reach a last-minute political agreement, leaving finance ministers to sort out the complex technical issues later this week – perhaps even at the weekend.

But this has already prompted analysts to question whether the EU can ever get its act together and be ahead of the market curve. "The job facing European leaders is no small one and can be likened to climbing Everest without crampons," said Angus Campbell at Capital Spreads.

Brian Barry, a bond market expert at Evolution Securities, said: "It's coming down to the wire. It's about restoring confidence. There has been very little so far to do that. Something has to be done. If this doesn't work to restore confidence it will be quite worrying."

Were officers too eager to fire their 50,000-volt Taser guns in the Battle of Basildon?

Police who smashed their way on to Dale Farm were accused of being too eager to use 50,000-volt electric stun guns to bring down protesters.
Witnesses claimed at least two Tasers were fired as officers surged through a fortified metal fence in the dawn raid.
It is believed to be the first time the controversial weapon has been deployed by police when faced with activists, and there were fears that this could mark a worrying escalation of its use in Britain.

But Essex Police insisted Tasers were not used to quell protest and an officer pulled the trigger only after facing a ‘serious level of violence’.
Dramatic amateur footage showed the moment officers brandished their Tasers as they stormed the barricades. One officer could be seen and heard discharging the weapon, which fires two metal prongs before delivering the incapacitating charge through a thin wire.
A young man was hit and collapsed to the ground but managed to pull the barbs from his skin before disappearing in the crowd. The shot narrowly missed a legal observer.

Senior officers on the ground initially said two men were shot, but checks later revealed only one weapon had been fired.
Traveller Mary Sheridan watched as the mass of police officers forced their way through the fencing shortly after 7am.
She said: ‘They were pushing things out of the way. When the boy was Tasered, he was hopping – it was like an electric shock. It was terrifying.’

But property developer Len Gridley, 52, whose home backs on to the illegal site, said police had little choice.
He said: ‘I have no sympathy for the travellers or the protesters. If anything the police did it too light-handed rather than too heavy-handed.
‘The amount of missiles that were thrown at the police, well those protesters deserved everything they got – Tasered or gas or whatever they had wanted to do.’

Kate Allen, of Amnesty International UK, said the watchdog was examining the use of stun guns during the eviction.
‘The use of force by police and bailiffs must always be strictly proportionate, necessary, appropriate and an absolute last resort,’ she said.
‘This includes the use of Tasers which, as police guidelines acknowledge, should only ever be targeted against violent individuals.’
An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘A Taser was used during an isolated incident on one man by officers who were faced with a serious level of violence.’

The High That Killed the King of Pop

When the 2009 autopsy report on Michael Jackson listed the cause of death as “acute propofol intoxication,” his fans were not the only ones who wondered why he was being given this powerful intravenous anesthetic to sleep, as his physician—Conrad Murray, now on trial in Los Angeles for involuntary manslaughter—said. Propofol is not a sleeping aid; that’s “not even in the ballpark of appropriate use,” says anesthesiologist Beverly Philip of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. But propofol has another property that experts are only beginning to focus on: it has a signifi cant potential for recreational use and abuse. “It’s not a narcotic like heroin, and doesn’t get you high,” says anesthesiologist Ethan Bryson of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. “But it does provide the feeling of oblivion or being spaced out ... And there is an association between having a history of sexual abuse and seeking the escape that propofol provides.”
Jackson, who was acquitted of charges that he sexually abused a child, had said his father abused him physically and emotionally. If you wanted to draw any inferences regarding Jackson’s use of propofol and sexual abuse, it would be abuse that he suffered as a child and not perpetrated on another as an adult, says Bryson.

As a general anesthetic, propofol acts on the brain’s GABA receptors, which cause inhibitory neurons—those that quiet other circuits—to fire; that’s how it induces unconsciousness. Propofol also increases levels of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine, triggering a sense of reward not unlike sex or cocaine. Some patients experience euphoria, sexual disinhibition, and even hallucinations, followed by a feeling of calm and an upbeat mood. Since propofol is so widely used—it revolutionized ambulatory anesthesia, allowing a physician to knock someone out in seconds to perform, say, a colonoscopy, and have them up and about after only 10 minutes—scientists have had no shortage of subjects able to describe the experience. About one third don’t remember a thing, and another third say they dreamed, but don’t recall specifics. The rest experience "vivid, strange dreams, sometimes of a sexual nature," says Bryson
Once propofol wears off, some patients report feeling well rested, energetic, and happy. Murray said he gave Jackson propofol because the singer wanted to feel energized for rehearsals, but propofol does not provide a restorative sleep; anyone using it regularly could become dependent on the drug to function.

Soon after the drug was introduced in 1989, reports of abuse surfaced—all among medical professionals. Since propofol is not a controlled substance like morphine, hospitals tend not to keep it locked up, making it fairly easy for someone to swipe. Reports of such cases appeared as far back as 1992, when an anesthesiologist was found to be self-injecting 10 to 15 times a day. Abuse has since spread. A 2007 survey of academic anesthesiology departments found that 18 percent reported propofol abuse by physicians or nurses—a 500 percent increase from 10 years earlier.

As for patients, some "like it and want to know what it is," says Bryson. "People who have no history of drug-seeking behavior." Physicians are reporting more cases of laypeople becoming addicted. One man who was given propofol for headaches liked it so much he managed to obtain the drug from veterinarians; he was found unconscious after an overdose. In 2009 a woman was found dead in her home, killed by propofol; a friend who was an ICU nurse had access to the drug. Upward of 30 percent of abusers eventually die from using propofol, says Dr. Kenneth Pauker, president of the California Society of Anesthesiologists. In Jackson’s case, propofol caused cardiac arrest. Unlike other anesthetics, it has no reversing agent, and there is no straightforward way to rescue someone who takes too much. That helps explain why, in a study of 25 people abusing propofol, seven died. Last year, alarmed by the growing abuse, the American Society of Anesthesiologists formally endorsed a proposal by the Drug Enforcement Administration to classify it as a controlled substance. No action has been taken.

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Sharon Begley is the science columnist and science editor of Newsweek. She is the coauthor of the 2002 book The Mind and the Brain and the author of the 2007 book Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain.

Occupy Wall Street protesters predict confrontation, others civil disobedience

NEW YORK (AP) — Officials on Thursday announced that the monthlong occupation by Wall Street protesters of a park that spawned similar gatherings across the nation will have to clear out for a cleanup, a move that protesters say is a move to shut them down.

Demonstrators at the half-acre park in lower Manhattan said they won't go anywhere at the Friday morning deadline when the park's owners, their patience worn thin, want them to clear out and stop pitching tents or using sleeping bags.
Other protesters said they would wait and see if they are allowed back into the park after the cleanup. If not, they said, they will engage in nonviolent civil disobedience. Some 100 protesters volunteered Thursday to get arrested and protesters went over various scenarios, including what happens if police are confrontational.

Han Shan, 39, of New York, a spokesman for Occupy Wall Street, said it was clear to everyone that the plan is to shut down the protest.

"There is a strong commitment to nonviolence, but I know people are going to vigorously resist eviction," he said. "I think we're going to see a huge number of supporters throughout New York and the surrounding area defend this thing ... I'm hoping that cooler heads will prevail, but I'm not holding my breath."

The company that owns the private park where the demonstrators have camped out said it has become trashed and unsanitary. Brookfield Office Properties planned to begin a section-by-section power-washing of Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street, at 7 a.m.

"They're going to use the cleanup to get us out of here," said Justin Wedes, a 25-year-old part-time public high school science teacher from Brooklyn who was one of about 400 people in the park Thursday night. "It's a de facto eviction notice."

The demand that protesters clear out sets up a turning point in a movement that began Sept. 17 with a small group of activists and has swelled to include several thousand people at times, from many walks of life. Occupy Wall Street has inspired similar demonstrations across the country and become an issue in the Republican presidential primary race.

The protesters' demands are amorphous, but they are united in blaming Wall Street and corporate interests for the economic pain they say all but the wealthiest Americans have endured since the financial meltdown.

There was a scramble of activity in the park Thursday afternoon and throughout the night. Hundreds of demonstrators scrubbed benches and mopped the park's stone flooring in an attempt to get Brookfield to abandon its plan.

Members of the protesters' sanitation working group passed out 30-gallon bins for people to organize their belongings. Jordan McCarthy, a 22-year-old member of the group, said she wouldn't be sleeping at all.

Protesters would be allowed to return after the cleaning, which was expected to take 12 hours, but Brookfield said it plans to start enforcing regulations that have been ignored.

No more tarps, no more sleeping bags, no more storing personal property on the ground. In other words, no more camping out for the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who have been living at Zuccotti Park for weeks. The park is privately owned but is required to be open to the public 24 hours per day.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose girlfriend is a member of Brookfield's board of directors, said Brookfield has requested the city's assistance in maintaining the park.

"We will continue to defend and guarantee their free speech rights, but those rights do not include the ability to infringe on the rights of others," Bloomberg spokesman Marc La Vorgna said, "which is why the rules governing the park will be enforced."

Protesters say the only way they will leave is by force. Organizers sent out a mass email asking supporters to "defend the occupation from eviction."

"We are doubling up on our determination to stay here as a result of this," said 26-year-old Sophie Mascia, a Queens resident who has been living in Zuccotti Park for three weeks and intends to sleep there Friday night. "I think this is only going to strengthen our movement."

Protesters have had some run-ins with police, but mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge and an incident in which some protesters were pepper-sprayed seemed to energize their movement.

The New York Police Department says it will make arrests if Brookfield requests it and laws are broken. Brookfield would not comment on how it will ensure that protesters do not try to set up camp again, only saying that the cleaning was necessary because conditions in the park had become unsanitary due to the occupation.

Paul Merson in motorway car crash after falling asleep at the wheel - and is arrested for suspected drink-driving

FORMER England football star Paul Merson was arrested yesterday for suspected drink-driving after he cheated death in a motorway smash.

The Sky Sports pundit admits he fell asleep at the wheel of his ￡40,000 Mercedes before crashing into the central reservation and a lorry.

Merson, 43, was arrested after being given a breath test on the hard shoulder of the M40 shortly after 3am.

He escaped from the 70mph crash yesterday with facial injuries and was taken to hospital where police took blood samples for analysis.

He left hospital with bloodstains on his suit and white shirt. Stitches covered a wound above his left eye.

Merson, who played for England 21 times, told the Mirror: “I fell asleep and just hit the central reservation.

“I banged my head on the windscreen and the car is a write-off. I’m very lucky to have survived.

“I managed to get out by myself and the emergency services were brilliant.

“Now I just want to get home and have some rest.”

A source said: “He had not been wearing a seatbelt and the car spun round at least once before it ploughed into the central reservation.

“He was very fortunate to get out alive. The roadside breath test proved positive and the blood tests have been sent away for analysis.”

Former Arsenal forward Merson had been driving home to Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, from a Children in Need charity gala in Battersea, South London, attended by Sir Terry Wogan.

Twice-married Merson crashed after nodding off near Warwick. His wrecked Mercedes ML350 was taken by a recovery truck to a vehicle compound in Leamington Spa, Warks.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We received a report of an accident on the M40 northbound between J14 and 15 at 3.12am this morning involving a black Mercedes ML350 and a lorry.

“Following a roadside breath test, the 43-year-old male driver of the Mercedes was arrested on suspicion of driving with excess alcohol.

“He was taken to Warwick Hospital for treatment to a cut to the head. A blood sample was taken for analysis.”

Dad-of-five Merson was allowed home six hours after being admitted.

The lorry driver, who is in his 50s, suffered whiplash injuries during the crash. He was recovering at home last night after hospital treatment.

Merson, who won five trophies at Arsenal during a glittering career with the North London club, has admitted his life off the field was a “p*****-up mess”. He was addicted to booze and drugs and says he blew ￡7million at the bookies.

In a book this year he admitted he still gambled and had occasional alcohol relapses but said it was under control.

He said his addiction spiralled in 1998 when he lived with troubled England midfielder Paul Gascoigne while they played for Middlesbrough.

Merson said: “We were the original screwed up couple.

“It was like a time-bomb waiting to go off – but it was a laugh.

“Gaz was an alcoholic and a nutter. I was an alcoholic and a compulsive gambler with a history of Class A drugs.”



Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/10/13/paul-merson-in-motorway-car-crash-after-falling-asleep-at-the-wheel-and-is-arrested-for-suspected-drink-driving-115875-23484996/#ixzz1ad3IQ0Bp
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New rugby shame as England star is held for diving off a ferry and swimming to port

England's disastrous rugby World Cup tour ended in more shame last night when star player Manu Tuilagi was detained by New Zealand police for a dangerous prank.
The 20-year-old, who came close to being deported from Britain last year for overstaying his visa, was held in Auckland after he jumped from a ferry as it was about to berth and swam ashore, egged on by other players.
His antics came at the end of a team visit to Waiheke Island, which lies 35 minutes by ferry from Auckland, during which the players and management toured the island’s famous vineyards.
Tuilagi jumped from the catamaran ferry, Superflyte, as it prepared to berth at the Auckland waterfront with the defeated England team on board.
The Samoan-born player swam a short distance to Pier 3 and while there were shouts of encouragement from many passengers on the ferry, the police were not amused and Tuilagi was taken to Auckland Central police station.
He could have been charged with disorderly conduct, but was given a warning and allowed to return to the team hotel.
Tuilagi was last night fined ￡3,000 by the Rugby Football Union. England manager Martin Johnson said: ‘This was an irresponsible thing to do. Manu has been disciplined internally and I have warned him about his future conduct.’
Tuilagi added: ‘I’m really sorry. It was a silly thing to do and I apologise to everybody for any inconvenience caused.’
Angry officials of the company that operates the ferry said the incident was ‘extremely dangerous’. Spokesman Warren Fowler said: ‘The ferry had made a turn and was about to reverse to its berth when this happened.
‘It could have been tragic with vessels coming in here and someone jumping off the back of a vessel when it is going to be reversing shortly.’
Waiheke Island boasts 30 vineyards, as well as cafes and restaurants.
The prank caps a dismal few weeks for England’s team, where they were criticised for their off-the-pitch antics as much as their woeful on-field performances.
Players and fans were left distraught by a 19-12 loss to France in the quarter-finals on Saturday, ironically with several moments of brilliance from Tuilagi preventing a heavier defeat.
The young centre is seen as a future star of the world game, but few of his colleagues return to this country with their reputations intact.
Early on in the tour, captain Mike Tindall was caught  flirting with a mystery blonde woman – later revealed to be ex-girlfriend Jessica Palmer – in a bar in Queenstown, just weeks after marrying the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips.
Things got worse when three players – Chris Ashton, James Haskell and Dylan Hartley – were forced to apologise to a female hotel worker for lecherous comments. Tuilagi, whose five older brothers all played rugby for Samoa, last year faced deportation from Britain after it emerged he had entered the country on a tourist visa six years earlier and had stayed on illegally.
He was later granted indefinite leave to remain.

BofA Blames Website Slowness on Upgrade

A botched technology upgrade was responsible for online banking problems that spilled into a sixth day at Bank of America Corp., inconveniencing customers and handing the biggest U.S. bank by assets fresh image problems.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal late Wednesday, the bank's head of online and mobile banking blamed the glitches on heavy customer traffic amid a continuing effort to upgrade Web capabilities. The executive, David Owen, said the troubles of the past week were caused by a "convergence" of those factors.

The problems hit the most-trafficked U.S. bank website at a time when Bank of America, under pressure from investors because of weak revenue and high expenses, has been promoting Internet banking services in a bid to cut costs. The problems also come on the heels of an unpopular $5 fee the bank unveiled last week on purchases made using debit cards.
Until Wednesday afternoon, the bank hadn't said what was behind the outages, leaving customers exasperated and inconvenienced. At one point the bank urged them to avoid using the website during heavy-usage periods—typically during daylight hours on weekdays.

"They need to tell me what happened," said Allison Ross, a regular Bank of America online-banking customer who was at a branch Wednesday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan's busy Herald Square. "They owe me an explanation."

Mr. Owen said the website has had full accessibility since Monday. But the Charlotte, N.C., company warned users in a message on its site Wednesday that pages would be slow to load, and customers have had intermittent trouble accessing online banking services since late last week.

Even before the bank acknowledged that the upgrade was at fault, observers said the problems looked like the result of a failed information-technology upgrade. "This is not a good day for somebody in the IT department," said Tom Obermaier, chief executive of Regulatory DataCorp, a King of Prussia, Pa., company that provides risk and compliance services to banks but doesn't count BofA as a client.
Mr. Obermaier, who is a former chief risk officer at Citigroup Inc.'s global transactions-services unit, said clients had called with concerns that Bank of America was under attack.

But he said he has seen no evidence of an attack and called the site's problems "shocking" because of the bank's strong reputation in information technology. The bank has said it hasn't been hit by attacks from computer hackers who seek to steal customer data, or by denial-of-service attacks that render sites inoperable by flooding computers with communications requests.

BofA shares have dropped 6% over the past week, a period that includes the debit-card fee announcement and the start of the online troubles. That compares with no change in the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods index of big bank stocks, and a drop of less than 1% in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Bank of America shares rose a penny to $5.77 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading Wednesday.

Some local lenders have said they have seen an uptick in new accounts in recent days. Arizona State Credit Union, for example, has seen a 20% increase in account openings. Many of the new customers have complained about debit-card fees recently announced by Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co., an executive said, and a few have cited BofA's recent Web outages.

Wells Fargo is testing a $3 monthly fee in five states, though Arizona isn't one of them. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman declined to comment about customer reaction.

For the first time, "we are seeing consumers…taking action on feelings they have had for a long time," said Paul B. Stull, a senior vice president at the credit union, which has $1.3 billion in assets and 21 offices in Arizona. He calls the new debit-card fees "the straw that broke the camel's back."
To be sure, Bank of America isn't alone among banks in suffering a widespread Internet problems. Customers of J.P. Morgan Chase were hit by service interruptions for about three consecutive days in September 2010, resulting in a backlash for the company, which had provided few details about the disruption.

The New York-based bank ultimately disclosed that the outage occurred because a vendor's database software corrupted the log-in process. It said no customer data was at risk, but the episode forced Chief Executive James Dimon to apologize, and prompted the bank to make whole customers who may have incurred late payment fees because of the site's issues.

Bank of America has recently reshuffled checking-account offerings, including a push to get its customers to use an account that is free as long as the customer doesn't visit a teller. The bank charges $8.95 a month if the customer visits a teller.

A spokeswoman said the bank would work with any customers who accumulated fees on an individual basis amid the website problems.

Afghanistan: ten years of reportage

The Irish bar in the Mustafa Hotel became the hub of the adventurers and oddballs who had drifted to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban. There was a dancing Osama bin Laden doll, bullet holes in the ceiling and men who wore wraparound sunglasses at night while lovingly cradled their guns.

The seats for drinking al fresco on the adjacent terrace were supposedly from Russian MiG's shot down by the Mujaheddin using US-supplied Stinger missiles. One night a chimpanzee was liberated from the city zoo and put on sentry duty with a Kalashnikov. It was only afterwards that the sole person who was sober, a former boxer, noticed that the safety-catch was off.

Some of the customers were bad and possibly mad. One such was Jack Idema, a short, wiry man with rapid -fire patter who claimed to be an ex-CIA agent. He used to turn up at the hotel where we were staying, the Intercontinental, selling grainy video footage of "al-Qa'ida training camps" he had supposedly obtained from his "friends in intelligence". We were warned by Afghan and Western officials that he was a Walter Mitty. This did not stop him from going on to set up "Task Force Sabre 7" and open an unofficial prison where "terrorist" suspects, arbitrarily arrested, were hung upside down from the ceiling and beaten.

In 2001, Afghanistan was the Wild East. The invasion following the 9/11 attacks was deemed a success for the US and its allies. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary in Washington, was arguing that the job was done with the fall of the Taliban; America was not into nation-building and the troops on the ground would be thinned out. The customers at the Mustafa Bar, private security contractors, were there to fill the vacuum. From then on these men would be very much the camp followers in the various fronts of the War on Terror, leaving a highly controversial, and sometimes bloody, footprint.

Some curbs were eventually brought in to control them and the flaky ones drifted off to make cameo appearances in other war zones. Idema was arrested and imprisoned. It emerged at his trial that he had already served a sentence in the States for wire fraud.

But it was not all a three-ringed circus. There was a genuine sense of hope. The Taliban had been shattered and the movement's leadership had fled to their havens in Pakistan. The warlords had grudgingly accepted that they would have to disband their private armies. Afghanistan had a new government led by Hamid Karzai, inaugurated in a loya jirga [grand assembly] presided over by the former President, Burhanuddin Rabbani. Tony Blair's ringing declaration: "This time we would not walk away," as had happened when the US and UK had used the Afghans in the war against the Soviets and then abandoned them to a savage civil war, pointed to a bright future.

Investment, we were told, would pour in for development as security was established. Bin Laden, it was true, had escaped with a handful of followers from Tora Bora into Pakistan. But, we were assured, it would be a matter of months, if not weeks, before he was killed or captured.

In Kandahar, at the home of Mullah Omar, the semi-literate cleric who had headed the austere Taliban regime, with its gold-plated chandeliers, formica wall panels and a rococo mosque with green and blue mirrors, American soldiers prowled looking for souvenirs.

A corporal from Alabama lay on the mullah's bed with its imported Italian mattress, a big grin on his face saying "ain't this something". In Mazhar-e-Sharif in the north, Donald Rumsfeld stressed to a group of us during a flying visit that the war was truly over. "The Taliban are marginalised, they will have no future role to play. This is a new Afghanistan."

The best thing about this brave new world was how the most oppressed section of the population, women, were being emancipated. They were walking around not just without the burka, but unveiled, in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban. Schools were opening for girls in province after province after years of being banned by Islamists.

I met women in 2002 who were reaching positions of authority. Safia Amajan, who had survived the Taliban years secretly running classes for girls – partly because she was a Hafiz, someone who could recite the whole Koran – was setting up a women's workshop. There was also Malalai Kakar, the most prominent policewoman in the country, who led a team of 10 female officers who rescued abused women.

Safia, whose family name was Warashta, but had had become known as Amajan ("our aunt") by the girls she had helped, was optimistic. "Yes, we shall now see a way ahead for women. It'll be slow but it shall take place. But we must have support, there are people who'll try and stop this." she said.

Commander Kakar, who liked to cook breakfast for her husband and her six children before putting her pistol in her handbag and going to work, knew what she had to do. "I have been accused of being rough with husbands who beat up their wives. That is not true, we just do what the law requires. These men kill women as easily as they would kill a bird."

The two women had begun to work closely with Zarghuna Kakar, preparing to run in the elections to become Kandahar's first female MP. Cherie Blair and Laura Bush spoke of the importance of women playing their part in public life in the Afghanistan of the future, Zarghuna had watched them on television.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the President's brother and "Mr Kandahar" was full of assurances that he would protect female public officials. But establishing any form of stability would depend on the West's attention span in Afghanistan, he said. "The Taliban are waiting. They will get help from those who want to control them, the Pakistanis, and they will try to come back, for sure."

AWK was to be accused later of running Afghanistan's second city like a Mafia don, running roughshod over the law. He always denied the accusations, at our last meeting, a lunch at his heavily fortified home in January this year, he was philosophical. "I have been accused of so many things that I've begun to forget them. The only thing I haven't been accused so far is prostitution. But I have made sure the Taliban doesn't control Kandahar, they've tried to kill me nine times."

But AWK was prescient about what lay ahead. It was not long before America and Britain, yet again, walked away, this time into the disaster of Iraq in 2003. Funds for reconstruction were switched over. The thinly spread forces were denuded even further. CIA and special forces operatives trying to track down Bin Laden and the al-Qa'ida hierarchy on the Pakistani border were switched to the hunt for Saddam Hussein and senior Ba'athists.

I met one of them, Alex, a former US army Ranger of 19 years experience, fluent in Dari, Pashtu and Urdu, at "Camp Victory" next to Baghdad airport at the end of 2003. "We were actually getting somewhere and then we were ordered to move here. We have had to leave our Afghan agents – some of them have been killed." he shook his head in disgust.

"I was an Afghan specialist, spent years with the Muj. I don't even speak Arabic for God's sake, but they don't give a fuck about Afghanistan in DC any longer." Alex was among those later interviewed by a Congressional committee looking into the conduct of the war. But by then, he pointed out, the damage had been done.

The media, too, were focused on the mayhem of Iraq. Fleeting visits to Afghanistan revealed an alarming rise in strife. During one trip we watched British Gurkha soldiers arrest a senior lieutenant of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former Mujaheddin leader who had once been the West's blue-eyed boy and had tea with Margaret Thatcher in London, as he was coming into Kabul to organise a suicide attack.

UK forces were to face their most lethal experience of the Afghan war in 2006 with the move to Helmand, a deployment, defence secretary John Reid had declared may "end without a shot being fired in anger". The campaign veered off in precisely the opposite direction to the one advised by General Sir David Richards, now head of the British military, then leading Nato forces in the country.

Instead of securing population centres, bases were set up in outlying districts such as Sangin and Musa Qala, effectively inviting the Taliban to come and fight. The challenge was taken up, casualties mounted, especially after the insurgents began using roadside bombs on an industrial scale.

I went with British and American forces into operations often ending in ferocious fighting. Last year, at Babaji in Helmand, Company Sergeant Major Steve Taylor, of the Coldstream Guards, said quietly "Out of 130 men we have had four deaths and 35 casualties, four of them have been double amputees, two single amputees. It hasn't been easy, not easy at all. I have had young lads pleading that they didn't want to go out on patrol, but you say: 'Son, you have to go through with this, this is what we do.' They have gone out and they have done the job. I don't think I could have asked for more."

During one patrol, Sergeant John Amer was injured by a booby trap as he rushed to help an injured comrade. As we returned with the stretcher party, another IED, placed on a route cleared just a few hours previously, exploded, blowing others off their feet. The injured were evacuated to a medical centre at Camp Bastion. One of them, Sergeant Paul Bains, said afterwards "We saw John Amer fade away. I think he would have survived the first attack, but not what happened afterwards." The Afghans, too, were paying a lethal price at the hands of the Islamists with a string of assassinations of prominent public figures, among them Ahmed Wali Karzai (on 12 July this year) and, most recently on 20 September, former President Rabbani who was heading peace talks with the insurgents. Attacks mounted in the capital and The Intercontinental, the media hotel in 2001, came under siege. Suspects were arrested outside the Mustafa.

The US and Afghan governments produced evidence that the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI, were directing the terrorist campaign.

Women became particular targets for vengeance. In September 2006, at the age of 65, Safia Amajan was shot dead. I met the two men, in their early twenties, arrested for her murder at the Sarposa prison in Kandahar. They had carried out the murder in return for $5,000 offered by a mullah in Pakistan. The men were caught when the mullah wanted proof they had carried out their task and they attempted, by night, to dig up the body for a lock of hair.

A Taliban commander, Mullah Hayat Khan, put out a statement saying Amajan had been "executed" for refusing to stop working. Commander Malalai Kakar had thrown herself into the investigation. "They would not have been caught if they had not tried to disturb Safia's body" she said.

"I do not trust myself to be in the same cell as those men. They murdered someone old enough to be their grandmother. They murdered someone who has done so much for Afghanistan." A month later Malalai herself was killed. A false report had been placed that a young woman was being held captive, her life in danger. Commander Kakar was ambushed on her way to the police station to pick up her team.

Zarghuna Kakar, who had succeeded in becoming an MP, attended Malalai's funeral. She was herself under a Taliban death sentence, but had failed to get any protection from either Nato or Afghan officials. A little while later she and her family were attacked at the local market. Her husband, Mohammed Nasir, was killed and she suffered head wounds. Zarghuna fled to Kabul with her children.

Even just discussing women's rights has become risky. Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a 24-year-old trainee journalist was arrested on charges of blasphemy and sentenced to death after distributing a pamphlet on equality at his university in Mazar-i-Sharif. His case became an international cause célèbre after it was exposed by The Independent. A petition to secure justice organized by this newspaper gathered more than 100,000 signatures. In September 2009, following his re-election, President Karzai secretly pardoned him. He was freed from jail flown out of the country to start a new life in the West.

Jack Idema had been released from prison, also on a Karzai pardon, two years earlier. He returned to the US he began legal proceedings (later dropped) against Steven Spielberg. A character in a 1997 film The Peacemaker, played by George Clooney, was, he claimed, based on him. On the anniversary of 9/11, Idema was to be found barricaded in a house in Yucatan, Mexico, with police attempting to question him over an alleged assault. He was also said to be writing a screenplay about his "undercover counter-insurgency role".

Kate Middleton admits Prince William wears the trousers in their marriage

VISITING patients in hospital yesterday, the Duchess of Cambridge admitted that husband William wears the trousers in their marriage.

As the couple left Britain’s most famous cancer hospital, Shirley Carpenter asked Kate: “Are you going to make this one of your charities?” and Kate told her: “We’ll have to see – William’s in charge.”

Earlier, the Duke of Cambridge called London’s Royal Marsden Hospital “inspirational” before opening the new ￡18million Oak Centre for Children.

He and Kate, who wore a ￡450 Amanda Wakeley dress and LK Bennett beige heels, were carrying on the work done by William’s mother Princess Diana, who actively supported the hospital.

In the Teenage and Young Adult Chemotherapy Suite Fabian Bate, nine, being treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, told Kate about his blog and she replied, “I’ll look that up and post a message”. William talked golf with brain tumour patient Kieran Weeks, 17, who said: “He told me he was hit by a club when he was eight and only plays crazy golf now.”

In a particularly touching scene the couple sat on 14-year-old Digby Davidson’s bed and chatted about his pictures. “Is that you?” William asked about a boy in military uniform and the teenager explained he was in the Army Cadet Force.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge arrive at the Royal Mardsen hospital (Pic: Splashnews.com)

William made it to the hospital despite having just completed a gruelling 24-hour shift as a Search and Rescue pilot, joking “it was a bit of an early morning”.

A source said: “Nothing would stop him carrying out this engagement. It means so much to him.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, meet patient Digby Davidson at the new Oak Centre for Children and Young People (Pic: PA)

William has been President of the Royal Marsden since 2007. Diana made her first solo engagement to the hospital in 1982 and in 2007 it shared in the ￡1.2million raised by William and Harry’s 10th anniversary memorial concert for her.

Hunter bags reality TV star of bear world By Stephen Foley in New York

The story of Hope was not meant to end like this. A life lived from the start on the internet has been cut short by a bullet from a Minnesota hunter's gun, robbing researchers of an animal who they have been tracking for years.

The black bear, whose birth last year was streamed on the internet, is believed to have been shot after slipping her tracking collar and being lured by a hunter's bait. Researchers who have been tracking Hope and her family, with the aim of restoring dwindling bear populations, are in the position of trying to protect the identity of the hunter, who came forward to say he had shot the bear.

"We know the hunter and he has been cooperative and helpful in the past," biologists Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield wrote in a post on the bear family's Facebook page. "He would never shoot a collared bear – and he would not have deliberately shot Hope."

Hunters prefer younger bears, aged from one to three years, because of the quality of their meat, and more than 9,000 Minnesotans have permits to hunt the animals in what the state calls a "sustainable harvest" from the population of about 19,000 animals.
Hope's young life was followed by wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan in the documentary The Bear Family & Me, which aired on BBC Two at the start of this year. Lily, Hope's mother, attracted 130,000 followers on Facebook, even if some of them seemed more inclined to make jokes about eating the family.

Thousands more messages of sadness have been posted since Hope first went missing, and many of them are critical of hunting. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fielded scores of angry calls, including some from Britain.

Dr Rogers has been working with bears for four decades, and was able to win the trust of the animals in the Minnesota forest to such an extent that he could place a webcam on Lily's den for her 22-hour labour. He expressed sadness, and cautioned against anger.

"It's an emotional time for all of us," he told supporters. "At first it's tears. Then it's anger and a search for why. Then a sense of loss sets in. Please respect our desire to keep the hunter's name confidential. Attacks on him or hunters in general will only serve to undermine our potential for future research and education."

Beauty queen wife of Mexico's most wanted drugs lord crosses border to give birth to twins in California

The wife of Mexico's most wanted drug lord has given birth to twin girls at a hospital in northern Los Angeles County, it has been reported.

Emma Coronel, the 22-year-old wife of multibillionaire Joaquin Guzman - who is widely considered the world's wealthiest drug trafficker - freely crossed the border as she has U.S. citizenship.

She arrived in the U.S. in mid-July before delivering her daughters at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster on August 15, reported the LA times.

The former beauty queen returned to Mexico after they were born.

Birth certificates listed Coronel as the mother of the girls, but the spaces for the father's name are blank.

U.S. law enforcement officials, who tracked her movements even before she travelled to Lancaster, told the Times that Coronel was not arrested because there are no charges against her.

Coronel is believed to be the third or fourth wife of Guzman, the 54-year-old multibillionaire head of Mexico's most powerful drug-trafficking gang, the Sinaloa cartel.

The couple married the day she turned 18 at a lavish wedding in the highlands of central Mexico in 2007.

Carol Vorderman: I'm single for the first time in my life - and I really like it!

SHe’S without a man for the first time in decades – and Carol Vorderman is loving every single minute of it.
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The new Loose Women presenter, who turned 50 last Christmas, says: “I’ve always been with someone from the age of 15, I’ve always had a boyfriend, husband or lived with someone.

“Now’s the first time in my life I’ve been single and I really like it. But that’s not to say I’m not dating, by the way...”

She certainly won’t be short of offers. Her confidence is at an all-time high – and she recently pipped Pippa Middleton’s dainty derriere to the Rear of the Year award.

“Turning 50 changed me and I’m far more accepting of myself,” she says.

“I’m not thin, but I am a size 10. I go in at the middle and very much out at the bottom and top. And now I think, ‘Well, that’s how I am’. Does my bum look big in this? The answer is always yes. But now I don’t try to fight what’s not going to change.”
However, despite her enviable looks and fierce intelligence, she admits that an early rejection from Dutch father Anton has left her with insecurities.

Twice-wed Carol, who grew up in Prestatyn, North Wales, says: “The experience with my dad has left its mark, there’s no question about that.

“I often feel insecure. He had an affair with a 16-year-old when mum was pregnant with me. She left him when I was three weeks old.

“He would come and take my elder brother and sister out, but never me and I never knew why. It’s hard to deal with that level of rejection.

“Growing up, money was always short. But you just have to get on with things. My upbringing taught me that I could sit around saying, ‘Oooh, poor me’ and feel sorry for myself. Or I could think ‘bugger that’ and just get on with things.

“I chose the latter. I wanted to make the most of what I had, and I had to work bloody hard.

“The sad truth is if you’re from a poor background you have to work even harder. But that’s what makes you who you are.”

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/09/28/carol-vorderman-i-m-single-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-and-i-really-like-it-115875-23450750/#ixzz1ZDuEqOJp
Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more information
It’s something Carol knows all too well after hosting the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards for the past 12 years.

As she prepares to present this year’s show, which champions the nation’s unsung heroes in front of A-list stars and millions of ITV viewers, she reckons it is just the morale boost Britain needs.

Carol says: “People were horrified by what they saw in the riots, and feel disappointed and disillusioned with the country. But Pride of Britain shows the opposite extreme by highlighting incredible people and an abundance of generosity of spirit.

“It’s uplifting, it’s humbling, it’s inspiring. Watching it changes you and makes you a nicer person, and it has a lasting effect.”

It’s not the only show which has recently changed her life. Carol has settled in to her new role on ITV1’s lunchtime hit Loose Women – and has so far stayed true to one of her vows.

Spilling the beans on sex seems to be a prerequisite for every guest and presenter on the show but no amount of cajoling by her famously frank colleagues Denise Welch and Carol McGiffin will persuade Carol to do the same. Not even to reveal the tiniest detail? “No, no, no, no, no,” says Carol, who is determined to keep her love life private. Carol, who has a daughter Katie, 19, and son Cameron, 14, adds: “There are things you can discuss, just as you would with your own girlfriends, without giving away too much. I’ll just think of my mum back home watching me and telling me off. And I wouldn’t want to embarrass Katie and Cameron in front of their friends.

“But if the other ladies are happy talking about sex, that’s up to them. I’m not at all judgmental of other people. Denise and Carol, carry on!” No stranger to daytime TV after starring on Channel 4’s Countdown for 26 years and almost 5,000 episodes, Carol was chosen alongside former Coronation Street star Sally Lindsay to replace Loose Women regulars Kate Thornton, 38, and Zoe Tyler, 41.

And while she may not be willing to discuss her sex life, she has drawn up a wish list of dreamboat male guests to sit alongside her and fellow panellists Lisa Maxwell, 47, Sherrie Hewson, 60, and Lynda Bellingham, 63. “I would love Eddie Izzard to come on because I really fancy him!” she says. “I’ve met him a few times and once saw him backstage at Wembley Arena. I had on black tights, black boots, a black polo-neck and a little mini-kilt.

“As soon as I walked into his dressing room he said, ‘Oh my God – I love your kilt! Can I try it on?’ Within five minutes of meeting he’d whipped my skirt off. When my boyfriend walked in he wasn’t sure what was going on And I LOVE Hugh Laurie. Jeff Brazier too – such a nice lad.”

Carol insists she is far from the super-glossy glamazon who appears on TV. She says: “I just hope viewers will see the real me on Loose Women and don’t just say, ‘Oh, there she goes again in her Roland Mouret dress’.

“Most people have the wrong idea about me because I’ve been very private. They assume things that are the opposite to how I really am. The photoshoot glitz and TV studio make-up isn’t the real me.

“My life is very different. I spend most of my days at home in Bristol in jeans and a T-shirt running around after the kids or shopping in the Co-op. I drive a tiny Toyota iQ car, which is like a smart car. I’m quite frugal and often cut my own hair. I spend Friday nights with mum and we have chips and a mini bottle of wine. It’s hardly glam.”

Carol’s gearing up to honour the worthy winners at the 13th Pride of Britain Awards, sponsored by Littlewoods.com.

Prince Charles, David Beckham and Prime Minister David Cameron will be taking part. And Carol will also be joined by stars including Gary Barlow, JLS, Ant and Dec and Gemma Arterton at the ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, which will be screened on ITV1 at 8pm on Wednesday, October 5.

But, as Carol explains, Pride of Britain award winners will outshine the famous guests. She says: “Standing there, in front of so many famous faces from films, sport, music, politics and even royalty is, of course, nerve-racking.

“But as soon as the stories of the incredible winners are told, these ordinary people who have done extraordinary things become the stars.

“They’re the ones who everyone in the room stands to applaud. The winners from all walks of life are so awe-inspiring, their stories so moving, that afterwards the celebrities queue up to have their pictures taken with them, instead of the other way round.

“Each year I see great names from sport to theatre, politics to music, sobbing into their napkins. It happened the first time I presented and each year since. That tells you how special Pride of Britain is.”

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/09/28/carol-vorderman-i-m-single-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-and-i-really-like-it-115875-23450750/#ixzz1ZDuMDjEy
Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more information