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Monday, October 31, 2011
Qantas Indefinitely Grounds Its Entire Fleet [Airlines]
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Qantas Airways grounds global fleet due to strikes
Stranded passengers line up at the Qantas Airways counter for asking information in Hong Kong International Airport Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 as their flight to Sydney was cancelled. Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely Saturday imposing an employee lockout after weeks of disruptive strikes, and the Australian government sought emergency arbitration. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Stranded passengers line up at the Qantas Airways counter for asking information in Hong Kong International Airport Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 as their flight to Sydney was cancelled. Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely Saturday imposing an employee lockout after weeks of disruptive strikes, and the Australian government sought emergency arbitration. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
A Qantas Airbus A380 sit on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport, London Saturday Oct. 29, 2011 after Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely after weeks of disruptive strikes. Flights in the air continued to their destinations, but others were stopped even taxiing on the runway, according to one flier. Booked passengers were being rescheduled at Qantas' expense, chief executive Alan Joyce said. The Australian government was seeking emergency arbitration to end the strikes. Qantas is the world's 10th largest airline and among the most profitable. (AP Photo) UK OUT, NO MAGAZINES, NO SALES
Brothers Kevin and Chris Crulley, sit on the floor at the Qantas check-in counter at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, after they were removed from their flight home to England. Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely Saturday in a lockout of workers whose strikes have disrupted airline operations for weeks, and the government said it would seek arbitration. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FILE - In this April 21, 2010 file photo, Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce address the media in Sydney, Australia. Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely Saturday in a lockout of workers whose strikes have disrupted airline operations for weeks, and the government said it would seek arbitration. Flights in the air were continuing to their destinations. Booked passengers were being rescheduled at Qantas' expense, chief executive Alan Joyce said. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
FILE - In this June 12, 2011 file photo, Qantas jets sit on the tarmac at the international airport in Sydney, Australia. Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in a lockout of workers whose strikes have disrupted airline operations for weeks, and the government said it would seek arbitration. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) ? Australia's government ordered an emergency arbitration hearing on Sunday after Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet amid a bitter dispute with striking workers, stranding passengers around the world.
Government leaders, who expressed frustration over the airline's actions, were expected to argue at the hearing that Qantas should be forced to fly in Australia's economic interests.
"It's not our place to start allocating responsibility, but what I also know is there is a better way to resolve these matters ... than locking your customers out," Australian Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten told reporters ahead of the arbitration hearing in the southern city of Melbourne. "We want more common sense than that."
Qantas, the world's 10th-largest airline, announced Saturday that it would ground all flights. But CEO Alan Joyce said the airline could be flying again within hours if the three arbitration judges rule to permanently terminate the grounding and the unions' strike action.
The unions want the judges to rule for a suspension so that the strikes can be resumed if their negotiations with the airline fail.
"Within six hours, we can get the fleet flying again" after the aviation regulator provides a routine clearance, Joyce told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television Sunday.
"We have to wait and see what that process generates today," he said, referring to the court hearing.
Planes in the air when the grounding was announced continued to their destinations, and at least one taxiing flight stopped on the runway, a passenger said. Among the stranded passengers are 17 world leaders attending a Commonwealth summit in the western Australian city of Perth.
When the grounding was announced, 36 international and 28 domestic Australian flights were in the air, the airline said.
Qantas, which flies 70,000 passengers a day, said 108 airplanes were being grounded at 22 airports, but did not say how many flights were involved. Spokesman Tom Woodward said 13,000 passengers were booked to fly international flights to Australia within 24 hours of the grounding.
The lockout was expected to have little impact in the United States. Only about 1,000 people fly daily between the U.S. and Australia, said aviation consultant Michael Boyd. "It's not a big deal," he said. Qantas is "not a huge player here."
Douglas Phillips and his wife, Diane, were among about 400 travelers at Los Angeles International Airport who were scrambling to find another way to Australia after their Qantas flight to Melbourne was halted at the last minute.
Douglas Phillips said they were buckled in and awaiting takeoff early Saturday when the pilot informed passengers that all Qantas flights had been grounded due to a company-wide "industrial action."
"At first everyone thought they were kidding for some reason, but then we realized they were deadly serious," said Phillips, of Dover, Delaware.
After getting a few hours of sleep at a Los Angeles motel, the couple managed to secure a spot on a Saturday night Virgin Australia flight to Sydney. They expected an eight-hour layover there before finally getting to Melbourne, nearly three days late.
Los Angeles International Airport spokeswoman Diana Sanchez said Saturday that she was not aware of any passengers stranded at the airport because of the strike. Five Los Angeles-bound Qantas flights were already in the air when the lockout began and were expected to arrive as scheduled, she said.
Sanchez said Qantas indicated it planned to cancel the handful of flights scheduled to depart from Los Angeles on Saturday.
The real problems for travelers were more likely to be at far busier Qantas hubs in Singapore and London's Heathrow Airport, said another aviation consultant, Robert Mann.
Booked passengers were being rescheduled on a 24-hour basis, with Qantas handling any costs in transferring bookings to other airlines, said Woodward, the Qantas spokesman.
Bookings already had collapsed after unions warned travelers to fly other airlines through the busy Christmas-New Year period.
Joyce told a news conference in Sydney that the unions' actions had created a crisis for Qantas.
"They are trashing our strategy and our brand," Joyce said. "They are deliberately destabilizing the company, and there is no end in sight."
Union leaders criticized the action as extreme. Qantas is among the most profitable airlines in the world, but Joyce estimated that the grounding would cost Qantas $20 million a day.
Qantas already had reduced and rescheduled flights for weeks after union workers struck and refused to work overtime out of worries a restructuring plan would move some of Qantas' 35,000 jobs overseas.
The grounding of the largest of Australia's four national domestic airlines will take a major economic toll and could disrupt the national Parliament, due to resume in Canberra on Tuesday after a two-week recess. Qantas' budget subsidiary Jetstar continues to fly.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government would help the Commonwealth leaders fly home after 17 were due to fly out of Perth on Qantas planes over the next couple of days.
"They took it in good spirits when I briefed them about it," Gillard told reporters.
British tourist Chris Crulley, 25, said the pilot on his Qantas flight informed passengers while taxiing down a Sydney runway that he had to return to the terminal "to take an important phone call." The flight was then grounded.
"We're all set for the flight and settled in and the next thing ? I'm stunned. We're getting back off the plane," the firefighter told The Associated Press from Sydney Airport by phone.
Crulley was happy to be heading home to Newcastle after a five-week vacation when his flight was interrupted. "I've got to get back to the other side of the world by Wednesday for work. It's a nightmare," he said.
Qantas offered him up to 350 Australian dollars ($375) a day for food and accommodation, but Crulley expected to struggle to find a hotel at short notice in Sydney on a Saturday night.
Australians Len and Christie Dunlop were stranded at London's Heathrow Airport when their flight to Sydney was grounded.
The couple, who have lived in Leeds for four years, said they would have to catch up with fewer friends when they return to Perth for three weeks for a friend's wedding.
"We've got dinners and lunch booked every day, so now we've missed two or three days worth of catching up with friends," Len Dunlop told ABC television. "It just a lot of frustration."
Gillard said her center-left government, which is affiliated with the trade union movement, had "taken a rare decision" to seek an end to the strike action out of necessity.
"I believe it is warranted in the circumstances we now face with Qantas ... circumstances with this industrial dispute that could have implications for our national economy," Gillard said.
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese described the grounding as "disappointing" and "extraordinary." Albanese was angry that Qantas gave him only three hours' notice.
All 108 aircraft will be grounded until unions representing pilots, mechanics, baggage handlers and caterers reach agreements with Qantas over pay and conditions, Joyce said.
"We are locking out until the unions withdraw their extreme claim and reach agreement with us," the chief executive said, referring to shutting staff out of their work stations. Staff will not be paid starting Monday.
"This is a crisis for Qantas. If the action continues as the unions have promised, we will have no choice but to close down Qantas part by part," Joyce said.
Richard Woodward, vice president of the pilots' union, accused Qantas of "holding a knife to the nation's throat" and said Joyce had "gone mad."
Steve Purvinas, federal secretary of the mechanics' union, described the grounding as "an extreme measure."
Long-haul budget airline AirAsia tried stepping into the void with what it called "rescue fares" for Qantas passengers. The offer was valid for ticket-holders flying within 48 hours to AirAsia destinations, the airline said.
Malaysia-based AirAsia flies to three Australian destinations, as well as New Zealand.
The recent strike action, in which two unions have had rolling four-hour strikes on differing days, has most severely affected Qantas domestic flights.
In mid-October, Qantas grounded five jets and reduced domestic service by almost 100 flights a week because aircraft mechanics had reduced the hours they were prepared to work.
Qantas infuriated unions in August when it said it would improve its loss-making overseas business by creating an Asia-based airline with its own name and brand. The five-year restructure plan will cost 1,000 jobs.
Qantas also announced in August that it had more than doubled annual profit to AU$250 million, but warned that the business environment was too challenging to forecast earnings for the current fiscal year.
___
Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Katie Oyan in Phoenix and Associated Press Economics Writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
Red Bulls hold off FC Dallas to advance
updated 12:33 a.m. ET Oct. 27, 2011
FRISCO, Texas - Joel Lindpere scored in the 61st minute and the New York Red Bulls withstood a late charge to hold off FC Dallas 2-0 on Wednesday night in an MLS Wild Card playoff match.
New York advanced to face Los Angeles in the semifinals. The Red Bulls host the first leg Sunday and the second leg is at the Galaxy on Nov. 3.
Frank Rost made eight saves for the shutout, despite the team playing a man down from the 79th minute on after Solli Jan Gunnar was ejected with a red card.
"I suppose you can compare this match with the match four weeks ago, it was the same," said Rost, referring to New York's 1-0 win here Sept. 17 that sparked the Red Bulls' 4-2-1 stretch run that helped them land the final spot in the postseason. "We defended well and we scored with our two chances and that's football."
Thierry Henry scored in the 96th minute to finish it off just seconds before the final whistle.
"A solid game for us, definitely the key for us was our defense," said New York coach Hans Backe, whose club has now won four consecutive road playoff matches. "Even when we were one down, they still showed unbelievable discipline in our defense. I'm excited, I'm very pleased with our defense."
Dallas lost in the MLS Cup final last season.
"I really thought that we came out very lively and with really good team chemistry and to do everything we possibly could to get the result we wanted," said Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman. "I thought we put some really good pressure on New York, but we just couldn't get on the end of some of the services, or we couldn't get the shot on frame. I thought we did everything we possibly could. No excuses, they came in and beat us on our field."
Lindpere connected in the 61st minute to put New York up 1-0. Seconds after Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made a spectacular diving save on Lindpere's blast from 25 yards out, Mehdi Ballouchy fed a pass from the right side of the penalty area into the middle, where the charging Lindpere slid feet-first to chip it past Hartman.
"I ended up cutting back and playing it to my left," said Ballouchy, who had just entered the game two minutes earlier. "Their back stepped up and opened up Joel and he was able to finish it. We were fortunate to get the first goal of the game."
It was the second career MLS playoff goal for Lindpere, who had seven goals and seven assists during the regular season.
Dallas nearly tied it in the 76th minute when leading scorer Brek Shea chased down a loose ball on the left side of the area and popped it over the sliding Rost towards the open net, but defender Tim Ream managed to clear it out.
"He knows if I go out, he stays on the line," Rost said of Ream. "It's automatic, if you play week-for-week, then you have the rhythm. We've played in this formation for the fourth or fifth time, and you can see it."
The complexion of the match then changed three minutes later when Gunnar was shown the red card for his slide tackle that took out Dallas captain Daniel Hernandez.
"I would say I can understand the referee after seeing the replay," said Backe of the call. "I think it is a 50-50. In England it would be a yellow, definitely, but I can understand why he gave him the red card."
Dallas continued to press for the equalizer, but Rost denied Jackson Goncalves' 20-yard shot in the 85th minute and then Maicon Santos's blast from 25 yards out curled just wide of the right goalpost.
The teams wound up playing 10-on-10 for the 6 minutes of stoppage time when Dallas defender Zach Loyd was injured and carried off on a stretcher, after Dallas had already used up all of its substitutions.
Henry, who finished third in the MLS with 14 regular season goals, sealed the win following a breakaway just before the final whistle.
After chasing down a New York clear, he dribbled into the penalty area, where Hartman stopped the initial shot, but the rebound rolled towards the right post and Henry got to it first, tapping it over the line.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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No saint, but no racist
Cesc Fabregas says he is no saint but he did not direct any racist abuse toward Frederic Kanoute.
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Video: Super committee split on taxes, entitlements
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Friday, October 28, 2011
Texas to execute man convicted of killing his wife, policeman (Reuters)
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) ? Texas is scheduled to execute by lethal injection on Thursday a man who shot dead his wife on the day she tried to leave him, and killed a policeman who came to the home to check out a domestic disturbance call.
Texas officials said Frank Garcia, 39, gunned down Jessica Garcia in 2001 after she tried to leave her abusive husband. He killed police officer Hector Garza, 49, when he arrived at the home to check out a disturbance.
The Garcia's 5-year-old daughter witnessed both murders, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Frank Garcia shot Garza first, three times, and then shot his wife six times. He also shot and wounded his wife's uncle, according to the Department.
Shots he fired outside the house damaged a nearby elementary school, according to the Texas Attorney General's office. Garcia gave a formal statement in which he admitted intentionally killing his wife and Garza, the attorney general's office said. Evidence presented in the trial showed that Jessica Garcia had once sought help from a battered women's shelter, according to the attorney general's office.
Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed, who prosecuted the case, said she plans to attend the execution in Huntsville, Texas. She called the murders "a huge tragedy."
"If there was ever a poster child for the death penalty, this is the case," Reed said. "Hector Garza, a fine officer; Jessica Garcia, a woman who is trying to leave an abusive situation, and this huge tragedy happens to all of them."
The San Antonio Police Department said in a statement on behalf of Garza's family that the officer was a devoted husband and father who was committed to protecting his community.
"Though the execution does not bring complete closure to Hector's family, as we all miss him dearly, it comforts us to know that Frank Garcia will never destroy another family," the statement said.
Garcia's execution would be the 12th this year in Texas, which has executed more than four times as many people as any other state since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. There have been 38 executions this year in the United States, according to the Center.
Texas last month abolished the long-held tradition of allowing condemned inmates to order what they want for their last meal. Instead, inmates are to receive what other prisoners are served.
(Writing by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Greg McCune)
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
Turkey struggles to shelter thousands after quake (Reuters)
ERCIS Turkey (Reuters) ? Turkey struggled to provide shelter on Wednesday to tens of thousands left homeless by an earthquake that killed nearly 500, and rescue teams began taking painful decisions to call off searches for those buried alive.
A 27-year-old woman was pulled out alive from a collapsed building in Ercis, the town hit hardest.
At another crumpled building in the town, rescue workers who had worked non-stop for more than 48 hours switched off their generators and lights, convinced no one was left alive.
Seconds later, they received word that someone trapped below had made contact on a mobile phone.
"There are three people trapped under there. When we lifted a concrete slab, the phone must have been able to get reception," said one rescue worker, as the lights were turned back on and his team returned to their job.
But hopes of finding more survivors were fading as time passed and temperatures fell to freezing, and attention was shifting to the Herculean task of providing shelter to the victims.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll from the quake that struck mountainous Van province near the Iranian border stood at 461, with 1,352 people injured.
Sunday's 7.2 magnitude quake, Turkey's strongest in a decade, has spurred the government to request foreign aid, including from Israel despite tensions between the two.
The aid is to house families, amid growing complaints of a lack of tents and other supplies.
The governor of Van province said 3,000 buildings had collapsed or were made useless after the quake hit the region bordering Iran. He said damage was worst in outlying villages.
He estimated that 600,000 people had been "affected" by the quake, but said that did not mean all needed temporary accommodation. The exact number of homeless remained unclear.
Some desperate survivors fought among themselves for tents distributed by relief workers.
The Turkish Red Crescent said 17 trucks carrying food, blankets, carpets and warm clothes were looted, according to state-run Anatolian news agency.
"Some residents with no damage in their homes are unable to go back because of the aftershocks. That is why everyone wants tents. We estimate the total number of people affected is 600,000. To provide tents to this amount of people in one or two days is something no country would be able to do," Van provincial Governor Munir Karaloglu said.
"After the search and rescue efforts our biggest problem is housing. Our biggest need is tents for those citizens whose houses have completely collapsed," he told a news conference.
RESCUED
In Ercis, Gozde Bahar, an English teacher, was pulled out alive from the rubble. As she was being transported to hospital her heart briefly stopped. She was in critical condition.
"Of course I still have hope," Bahar's fiance, Hasan Gurcan, 29, said, looking dazed as he relayed the news on his mobile.
The rescue on Tuesday of a baby girl called Azra, born prematurely 14 days earlier, also lifted spirits.
"We have hope. There are always miracles. Normally, we do not expect anyone to survive after 72 hours but people have survived longer than that before," said a rescue official standing by the collapsed building where Azra was found.
But a senior rescue official told Reuters: "We have reached the bottom of the wreckage and searches are now over in the center of Van."
Having started out by saying Turkey could handle the disaster alone, Erdogan's government put out requests on Tuesday to 30 countries, including Israel, for emergency materials including prefabricated housing, tents and containers.
Israel, whose ties with Turkey hit rock bottom after Israeli commandos killed nine Turks on board a Gaza-bound flotilla last year, immediately said it was launching an airlift of supplies, starting with a shipment of prefabricated homes on Wednesday.
On a main street in Van rescue workers pulled out the dead body of a woman in her 20s from the flattened remains of a seven-storey apartment block.
"Our bride, our angel has gone," said a woman at the scene as the corpse was brought out, sealed in a body bag and taken away in an ambulance.
"We don't think there are any more bodies inside this wreckage," an official from the Ankara civil defense union said.
A woman named Emine said her family was sleeping in a car rather than in their home, its walls cracked by the earthquake.
"It's impossible to live in tents in Van. Look how cold it is and it is only October and now snow is on its way. We have a two-year-old child. What are we going to do with him?" she said.
At a makeshift field hospital in a sports hall outside Ercis, wounded and sick patients lay groaning on mattresses.
Orhan Acar, 30, was looking for his missing brother, Coskun, 25, who was in the center of Ercis when the quake struck.
"I have been looking for him the whole time since the quake but my hope is diminishing as time goes by," he said.
The disaster is one more curse for Kurds, the dominant ethnic group in the impoverished southeast, where more than 40,000 people have been killed in a three-decade-long separatist insurgency.
(Additional reporting by Mert Ozkan and Umit Bektas; writing by Ibon Villelabeitia, Daren Butler and Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by Andrew Roche)
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U.S. and North Korea conclude Geneva talks (Reuters)
GENEVA (Reuters) ? U.S. and North Korean officials completed a two-day round of talks after a delay of several hours on Tuesday with the goal of getting wider nuclear disarmament negotiations back on track and improving their strained relationship.
There was no immediate comment from either side on the results but the delegations scheduled separate press events later in the afternoon.
The talks -- which had been scheduled to start at 0800 GMT -- were pushed back at the request of North Korea, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva said in a brief statement that declined to elaborate.
Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, arrived at 1030 GMT at the diplomatic mission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for a working lunch and an afternoon session, both sides said.
The talks finished shortly before 1300 GMT and Bosworth was scheduled to make a statement later on Tuesday.
Bosworth, speaking to reporters in Geneva late on Monday after a first day of meetings and joint dinner, gave an upbeat assessment saying that the talks were "moving in the right direction," but that differences needed to be narrowed further.
"I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but as I said we have made some progress, but we have issues still to resolve and we will work hard to do that," he said, giving no details.
The United States and North Korea held bilateral talks in New York in late July, the first since six-party talks over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program collapsed in 2009.
Bosworth was accompanied by Glyn Davies, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency who has been named his successor, in the Geneva talks with North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan.
North Korean officials in Geneva declined to say why the two-hour morning session had been abruptly canceled.
"After lunch the talks will proceed," a North Korean official told Reuters.
URANIUM ENRICHMENT KEY QUESTION
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang that a moribund 2005 deal should be the basis for new talks about Pyongyang's nuclear activity, Chinese state media said on Tuesday, leaving unanswered a key question on uranium enrichment, a possible pathway to atom bombs.
The United States and South Korea insist that the North immediately halt its uranium enrichment work, which it unveiled last year, as a precursor to restarting regional talks that offer economic aid in return for denuclearization by Pyongyang.
In his meeting with Li, Kim repeated that North Korea was willing to revive six-party talks -- also involving Russia and Japan -- that it abandoned after the United Nations imposed new sanctions for a long-range North Korean missile test. The following month, Pyongyang conducted a second nuclear test.
"Kim said the DPRK hopes the six-party talks should be restarted as soon as possible," said the Xinhua news agency report on Tuesday of the meeting between Kim and Li in North Korea on Monday night.
The North's uranium enrichment program, which opens a second route to developing an atom bomb along with its plutonium program, is not specifically referred to in the 2005 pact.
The North says that it is enriching uranium only for power generation and argues that the 2005 agreement respects its right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Jeremy Laurence in Seoul; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Motorola, on Twitter, says RAZR, Bionic and Xoom will get Ice Cream Sandwich within 6 weeks of code drop (Update: Or not)
Update: And proving our point that Twitter isn't exactly the best way to go about something like this, Motorola has deleted any Tweet that references doing anything with a 6-week window. Carry on.
Original: Let's explain (again) what's about to happen here: Motorola, on Twitter, responded to someone with the following:
We'll be releasing devices for ICS 6 weeks after Google releases the final version of it.
The Twitter account later clarified, saying the Droid RAZR, Bionic and Xoom "Will get ICS within 6 weeks of Google's public push," and they'll confirm other devices later on. We'll believe it when we see it. Dunno how many times we've had to say this, folks, but there's a reason carriers and manufacturers don't give precise windows for updates -- and even vague time lines are often missed. (Never mind the fact that "official" information on Twitter and Facebook isn't always as official as you might think.) It was the same way with Froyo updates. It was the same with (and still is, unfortunately) with Gingerbread updates.
The point is this: We have no doubt that Motorola, HTC, LG, Samsung and every other manufacturer is hard at work at figuring out which devices can -- and should -- be upgraded. But if you start a six-week countdown from the instant the Ice Cream Sandwich code drops in AOSP, you're setting yourself up for a big bag of hurt, should things take a little longer than planned. That's not to say we're not hoping for speedy updates across the board. It's just that history has taught us different.
Source: @Motorola; thanks to everyone who sent this in
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Tokyoflash Kisai Seven tells time with Tron design, makes fan dreams come true
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Battling for gay rights, in Allah's name
LOS ANGELES?? Like other aspiring religious reformers before her, Ani Zonneveld takes positions that make her unpopular with America's Islamic leaders.
Not only does she lead prayers ? a task normally reserved for men ? but she is an outspoken advocate for gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims. Later this year, she plans to officiate at the Islamic wedding of a lesbian couple, which is perfectly acceptable by her reading of the Quran.
?The community we are building is very different from most of the mosques you would walk into,? said Zonneveld, a 49-year-old Malaysian-born singer-songwriter. ?We are very inclusive of all Muslims, gay Muslims, mixed-faith couples. ? We also don?t segregate (the genders) when we pray, and we allow women to lead prayer. Our values are very egalitarian and we really live those values out.?
Muslims for Progressive Values, which Zonneveld co-founded in 2007 with Pamela Taylor, a feminist American Muslim, is based on 10 principles. They include a commitment to equality of genders and for LGBTQ (or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) people, repudiation of militarism and violence and the need for ?critical engagement with Islamic scripture.?
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- Updated 44 minutes ago 10/24/2011 9:41:36 AM +00:00 Battling for gay rights, in Allah's name
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Some of the group?s aims dovetail with those of other emerging Muslim groups that challenge the orthodoxy they say is preached in the majority of U.S. mosques. But the nonprofit?s embrace of the LGBTQ population is unique, even among these reform-minded groups.
The American Muslim population, estimated at between 3 million and 6 million, is diverse, including immigrant populations from all over the world as well as U.S.-born faithful and converts. Nearly half said they attend mosque at least once a week, according to a 2011 Pew survey, while many worship privately or infrequently. According to the survey, 37 percent believe there is only one way to interpret the religion. Some wear traditional garb, like head coverings, and grow beards, but more do not.
Parsing the Quran
Even so, unlike the Protestant world, where debate over Biblical interpretation has led to varying positions on homosexuality, few mosques and Muslim organizations question the orthodoxy that homosexuality is banned.
This position on homosexuality typically cites the Quran?s references to ?the people of Lut? ? the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were said to have been destroyed by Allah, presumably because of their 'perverted' sexual practices. In at least six majority Islamic countries, homosexuality is considered a capital crime.
The most influential Muslim religious organization in the United States has taken a position similar to that of the Vatican.
"Homosexuality is a moral disorder. It is a moral disease, a sin and corruption,? Muzammil Siddiqi, former president of the Islamic Society of North America, has written. ?No person is born homosexual, just like no one is born a thief, a liar or murderer. People acquire these evil habits due to a lack of proper guidance and education.?
Siddiqi did not return calls requesting an interview.
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That does not mean that homosexuals are shunned, said Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, an umbrella organization for mosques and Muslim organizations with approximately 500,000 members.
?Islam doesn?t cast out anyone," said Syed. "No one will condemn them. LGBTQ people can do whatever they feel is right in their own way and we respect that. But if one seeks sanction from the faith, they will be disappointed.?
When the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in 2008, the council issued a release expressing ?deep dismay? at the decision. ?We believe that the (ruling) is a violation of God?s law as clearly given in the Quran and the Bible,? it said.
But such statements do not mean the mosques are full of homophobes, said Arsalan Iftikhar, a human rights lawyer and author of the book ?Islamic Pacifism, Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era.?
?Generally speaking, although most Muslims would concede that homosexuality is not allowed within mainstream Islamic teachings, I also believe that most Americans of all religions would also say that LGBTQ Americans should not be discriminated against in any manner because of broader civil rights implications,? Iftikhar said via email.
Same chapter, different interpretation
There are Islamic scholars who say that the passages in the Quran about the people of Lut can be interpreted in different ways. Among them is the nation's only gay imam, Daayiee Abdullah, who has studied the Quran in Arabic and in Chinese and English translations.
"Traditional interpretation is that the Lut story talks about homosexuality ? that (comes) from people who are reading it from a heterosexual normative," said Abdullah, who has worked for more than a decade to help other gay Muslims deal with the apparent conflict between their sexual preference and their religion.
Abdullah's interpretation of Lut is that Allah destroyed the people not because they were engaging in consensual homosexual sex, but engaging in something closer to gang rape, just one facet of what he says was a particularly cruel society.
He also said that attitudes among the general population of American Muslims toward gays have softened in the last decade, but most still do not fully accept the lifestyle.
"It used to be that people thought being gay and Muslim was an oxymoron," he said. "Now, they will concede that there are people who are gay and Muslim, but (that) they should not do the sex thing. They should get married. But that puts innocent women into a position where they are in a loveless relationship. It forces people not to have a sexual part of their life. And God gave sex to people for enjoyment."
'How can you just let it slide'
Zonneveld said her activism grew out of frustration with other American Muslims for being either too willing to accept the word of conservative imams or unwilling to speak out.
?If there is a homophobic sermon at Friday prayer ? nobody would stand up and say, ?I?m sorry that?s an appalling sermon,?? said Zonneveld. ?But I can?t sit with a community where it is acceptable to be homophobic ?. How can you just let it slide??
Muslims for Progressive Values is intended to provide a space to worship and a voice to Muslims who don?t necessarily agree with American Muslim leaders often seen as speaking for the entire flock.
Zonneveld, a lifelong Muslim, spent part of her childhood in Germany and Egypt, then attended college in Illinois. She became a professional singer and songwriter and now works with well-known artists, including include blues singer Keb?Mo and Melissa Manchester. Her husband is from Holland and their 13-year-old daughter goes to a public school.
For many years, Zonneveld kept her religion under wraps, partly out of concern that it could harm her career in the entertainment industry.
But events surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks sparked her to ?come out? as a Muslim.
In the days after the attacks by Muslim extremists, President George W. Bush appeared with Muslim religious and community leaders. She thought it was a commendable gesture ? an effort to signal that the United States should not condemn all Muslims for the actions of a few extremists. But she was appalled to think that the Muslims called upon to represent her and her fellow Muslims did not seem mainstream.
?The vast majority of American Muslims believe in an Islam that is so different from the people (who have been) representing us,? said Zonneveld. ?It would be like if you had an ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbi representing all American Jews; they would be up in arms. ? It would be complete misrepresentation of the American Jewish community.?
?Jihad is long overdue?
For the first time in her career, Zonneveld incorporated her faith into her profession, producing an album called ?Ummah Wake Up!? and again collided with conservative strictures embraced by some Muslims.
In the title song, she calls on the ?Ummah? ? roughly ?community? in Arabic ? to take up a jihad, which to her means an ?internal struggle to be more godly, more merciful, more forgiving, more like God is.?
?Ummah, Ummah Wake-up. Jihad is long overdue!? she sang accompanied by a rock beat and Middle Eastern-flavor instrumentation created on a synthesizer.
But she said that a number of Muslim retailers and organizations told her that what she had done was forbidden, saying only percussion may accompany the voice, and then only a man?s voice.
?I was in shock that this would happen in America,? said Zonneveld.
She eventually found a group of like-minded Muslims and helped launch a challenge to the ?mainstream? Muslim orthodoxy in 2004 under the Progressive Muslim Union umbrella. The effort flamed out in 2006 because of infighting over whether Republicans could be included and whether members should even have contact with more conservative Muslim groups.
Distributing an alternative message
Zonneveld and Taylor started their own group in 2007, this time focused around 10 guiding principles that they use to define their brand of progressivism, including the equality of genders and sexual orientations.
Members also were called on to engage in critical discourse over Islamic scriptures and issues of people in the faith.
That includes, in Zonneveld?s view, admitting that some interpretations of Islamic writings inspire some people to violence ? typically disaffected young men who are surfing the Internet.
?There is radicalization ? to deny it is silly,? Zonneveld said.
On Monday, Muslims for Progressive Values, which she says now has chapters in five cities and several thousand followers, is holding a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., for a project called ?Literary Zikr? to publicize its interpretation of Islam. The group also is using the Internet to counterbalance strict interpretations of Islam and efforts by others to demonize the religion.?
?Suppose a guy Googles, ?What is Judaism??? said Zonneveld, noting that the search would return many websites that vilify Jews or advocate violence against them. ?Our site would say that ? they are among the (broader definition of) believers."
?This is exactly the type of work that needs to be done,? to combat radicalization in the community, said Zudhi Jasser, who founded Phoenix-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
His group also opposes what he says is the "Islamist" approach taken by many Muslim leaders who presume to speak for mainstream Muslims.
Jasser urges Muslim leaders in the United States to remove politics from the mosques and allow greater discourse on the meaning and interpretation of the Quran. He and Zonneveld agree on that, though they diverge on many other points.
Jasser has been savaged by many Muslims for speaking out about radicalization and, in particular, for testifying at Congressional hearings in March on ?the threat of radicalization in the American Muslim Community." He agreed with the assertion that imams and many Muslim organizations dismiss or deny potential radicalization, and by doing so could even encourage it. Many Muslims have characterized him as a shill for the right wing, because the hearings, held by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., were seen as a platform for politicians capitalizing on anti-Islam sentiment.
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Zonneveld also faces disapproval from Muslims ? not only by those who hold to traditional views ? but also those who argue that singling out Muslim radicalization from other types of extremist violence fuels bigotry.
Her stance also has drawn attention from those with a very different agenda, she said.
She said that after she aired her concerns about radicalism in an event at UCLA in early October, she was approached by a woman from a right-wing political organization who appeared to be recruiting her.
?Just because I?m critical of the Muslim community does not mean I?m interested in being anti-Islam,? she said. ?We are critical. We call a rat a rat. ? I think you can be honest without kowtowing and using the language of Islamophobes.?
Click here to follow Kari Huus on Facebook.
? 2011 msnbc.com Reprints
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44993807/ns/us_news-life/
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Monday, October 24, 2011
Last Call to Help Fight the Forces of Science Ignorance
Well, since I hate the relentless (though entirely necessary) nagging of NPR fund drives so much I have refrained from mentioning the Science Bloggers for Students Fund Drive and the microscope sub-drive I?m running (and if you missed it the first time, go check out the cool videos here) since I first announced it. But the time has come to mention it once more: LAST CALL. And as a stimulus to your generosity, the staff at Donorschoose.org will be matching your donations from now until the drive ends at midnight Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, the 22nd ? TOMORROW. So if you were waffling, plonk that cash down now! Any amount helps! $1, $5, whatever. I know a lot of us are hurting in this economy, but science has shown that volunteering and giving to charity are not only worthy ends, but help increase your happiness too. It?s win-win!
So far, we?re up to $110 so far here at Amoebas for a Better Science Tomorrow. Thank you SO MUCH if you?ve already given! But if you ever play cards with me, you?ll learn very quickly how competitive I am. Right now we?re in the middle of the pack on the Sci Am leader board. Let?s see if we can make it to #2. (#1 seems out of reach [shakes fist congenially in general direction of Jason Goldman]). Similarly, as a blog network, we?re trailing the Independent Science Bloggers and the Ocean and Geobloggers. I can?t resist the urge to try and chase them down at the finish line. Join me, and help out some deserving kids stiffed by short-sighted budget cuts ? and perhaps even inspire someone who will go on to change the world for the better ? in the process. : )
Click here to go to my donors page, read about some other readers who?ve given, select the microscope project that appeals to you the most, and give. You?ll be glad you did. Promise.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=eaae91b31ed77843ae852b0fdfb18d2e
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Sunday, October 23, 2011
Pink Ambulance raises awareness about breast cancer
This is so cool, I gotta write about it. EMSA (Emergency Medical Services Authority), the largest ambulance service in Oklahoma, has a pink ambulance. By way of a temporary vehicle wrap, they've gone pink to raise awareness about breast cancer in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Aside from the fact that in a previous life I worked as their PIO and absolutely think paramedics and EMTs walk on water, EMSA has taken my mother to the Heart Hospital in Oklahoma City more times than I can count. They have saved her life a few times, and they saved my dad's life twice. Before it's over, I'm sure they'll have saved most of us at least once.
I shared the organization's post of the pink ambulance on Facebook and my brother (saved by paramedics 25 years ago last week after a horrific motorcycle crash) commented that? where he lives in Los Angeles he's never seen a pink ambulance. He did say he thought they had a pink one in West Hollyweird, though. Hahaha!!
The pink ambulance first appeared in Tulsa as part of the Turn Tulsa Pink movement. This is really cool! Tulsa was the first city in the international ?Cares Enough to Wear Pink? movement to have all three types of public service vehicles ? police, fire and ambulance ? go pink. I'm a big fan of Tulsa, and love it when they get to lay claim to something before the rest of the world.
?Click here to read the? EMSA news release.?The Care Enough to Wear Pink is a campaign of the International Firefighters Association.
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Saturday, October 22, 2011
Is Sonnen falling back in the contender line? Camp Silva is now a fan of Bisping
The jockeying continues between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva's camp. Will Sonnen's WWE-style call-out be rewarded or will Silva's manager Ed Soares successfully lobby UFC management that the brash American shouldn't be next?
Last week, Soares told HDNet's "Inside MMA" that Sonnen needs to go to the back of the line of middleweight contenders before he gets another title shot. Who's in that line?
Soares said he's never thought much of Michael Bisping in the past, but now the Brit should be in the mix for a title shot.
[...] People talk about Chael and Brian Stann, and sometimes people are focused on the TUF show. But I think Bisping could be a good opportunity. GSP could be a good opportunity," Soares told Sherdog.com.
That doesn't mean Soares is against Silva facing Sonnen.
"There's a lot of great opportunities, and I do think the Chael fight could potentially sell. It could be a big seller. I think it could be a huge pay-per-view. So I see all angles of it, but I'm just expressing what Anderson has talked to me about. That's how he feels."
Sonnen says all of this is irrelevant. He believes Silva is ducking him, but pointed out to Jim Rome that it's not the champ or his manager who make the fights.
"Whether he wants to do it or not, we're gonna do it. Dana will make him ... Anderson doesn't pick the fights and his manager, that keeps getting air time, darn sure doesn't have anything to do with it," Sonnen said (9:45 mark). "Dana White will decide, and if Dana says yes, then we're fighting and if Dana says no, then we're not. That's end of it.? I don't argue with Dana. I don't need Anderson's opinion, I'll slap him in the face the next time I see him."
Does Bisping deserve a shot? He's certainly going to get some steam building as Season 14 of "The Ultimate Fighter" unfolds. The problem is timing.
Can the UFC wait until early December to schedule the next Silva fight? Bisping and fellow coach Jason Miller meet at the TUF 14 Finale on Dec. 3 in Las Vegas.
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Google spills the beans on Gmail revamp a bit early (video)
Continue reading Google spills the beans on Gmail revamp a bit early (video)
Google spills the beans on Gmail revamp a bit early (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |All My Blog | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/20/google-spills-the-beans-on-gmail-revamp-a-bit-early-video/
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Friday, October 21, 2011
Intel outlook defies worries of PC decline (Reuters)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Intel Corp forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street's expectations, defying concerns that the growing popularity of tablets and a shaky economy are eating into demand for personal computers.
Intel shares moved sharply higher after the company beat earnings expectations and said developing countries like China are fueling demand and helping make up for slower growth in the United States and Europe.
"Guidance is well above consensus estimates, but below seasonality," said Patrick Wang, an analyst at Evercore Partners. "They are giving us a realistic look at the fourth quarter and it seems like they are guiding conservatively."
Intel's processors are used in 80 percent of the world's PCs but the company has failed to gain traction in increasingly popular mobile gadgets like Apple Inc's iPad and Google Inc's Android smartphones, which have eaten into demand for laptops.
A financial crisis in Europe and high U.S. unemployment have also weighed on consumer demand for PCs.
But corporate information technology spending has held up in recent quarters despite the lackluster economy, helping sales of Intel's high-margin server chips. Tech companies such as Facebook are also investing heavily to build out the massive data centers.
"Emerging markets are good, enterprise is strong, the mature market consumer is a little bit weaker," Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith told Reuters. "I'd say Europe was a little bit weaker than the U.S."
Data center sales for the world's leading chipmaker rose 15 percent in the quarter. By comparison, sales of Intel's Atom mobile chips plummeted 32 percent.
Intel said revenue in the current quarter would be $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Analysts' average forecast was $14.23 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shares of Intel have risen about 11 percent this year, outperforming the Nasdaq composite index, which has been flat. Analysts recommending the company say it has been punished too much for its lag in mobile computing and point to the stock's 3.6 percent dividend yield.
Intel said it spent $4 billion to buy back shares during the third quarter and authorized another $10 billion for more buybacks.
The Santa Clara, California company is rushing to develop more energy efficient chips for tablets and phones although it is not expected to become competitive in mobile any time soon.
It is also promoting Ultrabooks, a new super-thin category of laptops using Intel processors -- similar to Apple's MacBook Air.
Early Ultrabook models, meant to combine the best features of tablets and laptops, may seem expensive to consumers, analysts say. But as new features are added to them Intel expects the Ultrabooks to account for 40 percent of the consumer PC market by the end of next year.
Intel's GAAP net income in the third quarter was $3.5 billion, up 17 percent. Earnings per share were 65 cents. Analysts on average had expected 61 cents.
Intel said non-GAAP revenue in the third quarter was $14.3 billion, up 29 percent and higher than the $13.87 billion expected on average by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shares of Intel jumped 4.66 percent in extended trade after closing up 0.52 percent at $23.40.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Richard Chang)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111018/bs_nm/us_intel
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
The ultimate qPCR based lncRNA profiling platform
ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2011) ? lncRNAs represent an emerging important class of regulatory transcribed elements. The study of lncRNAs is timely and relevant, because of their implication in important cellular processes, through new modes of action. The lncRNA genes are generally low abundant, which is exactly why there is a genuine need for a platform with ultimate sensitivity superseding microarray based platforms.
Biogazelle has developed a revolutionary platform for accurate and sensitive expression profiling of 1718 human long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The platform consists of state-of-the-art validated qPCR assays for 1666 long intergenic ncRNAs (lincRNAs) and 52 lncRNAs.
Experiments are set-up in 5184-well SmartChips (Wafergen). A low-volume liquid handler enables fast and high-precision pipetting and low volume qPCR reactions to ensure fast turn-around times at affordable costs. The 1718 SYBR Green I RT-qPCR assays are strictly validated according to the MIQE guidelines, and meet Biogazelle's strict quality control criteria in terms of optimal PCR efficiency, specificity, sensitivity and linear dynamic range of quantification.
Data analysis is performed using our qbasePLUS software, which is built upon a state-of-the-art quantification model. Thorough post-PCR quality control ensures reliable results. The calculation parameters and quality control settings are tailored toward the need of the lincRNA project. Both raw data and processed results (e.g. global mean normalized relative quantities) are delivered in an easy to understand format.
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