Google Play cleans out nasty apps, updates its look

Suzanne Choney , NBC News ? ? ? 1 hr.

Google Play, the app store for Android phones and tablets, is not only rolling out a cleaner look, it's cleaning house, so far removing a reported 60,000 apps that were of questionable quality.

"The largest category of apps they cracked down was the MP3s and ringtones, which were heavily abused by slightly dodgy apps," Chester Wisniewski, Sophos senior security advisor, told NBC News Tuesday.

The apps "weren't technically illegal" as to violate Google Play rules, but were "heavily intrusive marketing vehicles that barely delivered on their promise," he said.

Google Play has 675,000 apps, and unlike "Uncle Apple," Wisniewski said, Google does "not prescreen apps using humans, there's an automated system" for apps to be allowed into the store.

The purging of the apps, he said, was done in February. "The fact that Google got rid of tens of thousands of apps that were duping people, upsetting users, is great. What we don't know is how have they changed their processes to make sure those apps don't come back in a week."

Problems with questionable ? and sometimes dangerous ? apps were becoming such an issue that in February 2012, Google introduced "Bouncer," a scanning service designed to identify malicious apps in Google Play.

NBC News has contacted Google for comment about the recent purge, and will update this post when we hear back.

When Bouncer was introduced, a Google Android engineering exec noted on the company's blog:

While it?s not possible to prevent bad people from building malware, the most important measurement is whether those bad applications are being installed from Android Market - and we know the rate is declining significantly.

Wisniewski said to be safe, Android users and buyers should make sure they have the latest version of Android that they can get on their devices. Phones and tablets with Android 4.0 and higher "have a whole ton of safety and security improvements on them," he said.

"There's still a whole bunch of cheaper ones out there running older OS's that are more vulnerable ? Android 2.2, or 2.1 ? really, really old versions of Android that are more vulnerable."

In the meantime, Google Play group product manager Michael Siliski shared news of the app store redesign, writing on a blog that the new look "focuses on bigger images that jump off the page. Similarly themed content is grouped together so you can hone in on a magazine to read or an app to try."

Google has also "simplified purchasing so you can breeze through checkout," he wrote.

The new look starts rolling out immediately for Android phones and tablets that use Android 2.2. and higher, and will be available around the world "in the next few weeks."

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, TODAYTech and InGame on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a85c562/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cgoogle0Eplay0Ecleans0Eout0Enasty0Eapps0Eupdates0Eits0Elook0E1C9279171/story01.htm

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Jennifer Lawrence Sex Tape Tops Fans' Celebrity Wish List, Survey Finds

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As Aereo Fights A Clone, Fox Threatens To Go To Cable If Courts Continue To Rule In Aereo's Favor

This is a story about multiple lawsuits, a clone, and yet another tale of David vs. Goliath, except this time David and Goliath are kind of the same person. After winning in the courts against a cohort of major broadcast networks just last week, two major problems have befallen the streaming TV startup Aereo. The first is a clone called AereoKiller LLC, which claims to operate under similar technology on the West Coast. The second problem is that News Corp has threatened to turn Fox into a cable channel, putting it out of the reach of Aereo's technology, in the wake of the recent Second Circuit court decision.

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

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Neutrons help explain ozone poisoning and links to thousands of premature deaths each year

Apr. 9, 2013 ? A research team from Birkbeck, University of London, Royal Holloway University and Uppsala University in Sweden, have helped explain how ozone causes severe respiratory problems and thousands of cases of premature death each year by attacking the fatty lining of our lungs.

In a study published in Langmuir, the team used neutrons from the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble and the UK's ISIS Neutron Source to observe how even a relatively low dose of ozone attacks lipid molecules that line the lung's surface. The presence of the lipid molecules is crucial for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, as they prevent the wet surfaces of the lung from collapsing.

Ozone is mostly produced in the upper atmosphere as the sun's UV light splits oxygen molecules, but it can also form at ground level from burning fossil fuels. It is known to harm our respiratory systems and is linked to asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks, and other cardiopulmonary problems. A recent study published by the Bloomberg School's Department of Environmental Health Sciences found that stricter ozone emission regulations in the US could prevent over a thousand premature deaths and over a million complaints of respiratory problems each year [1].

However, it remains unclear how exactly ozone causes this damage. One theory is it attacks the lung's surface layers which consist of a layer of water sitting below a mixture of fatty molecules called lipids and proteins that are together known as lung surfactant. The surfactant aids the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide during breathing. It does this by reducing surface tension, i.e. the attraction that molecules feel for each other, in the liquid surface layer above, causing these fluids to spread out and provide a greater surface area for gas exchange.

Critically, a lack of adequate surfactant, a deficiency often found naturally in babies born prematurely, can produce similar respiratory health complaints to those mentioned above, even resulting in death in some cases.

This link was further established in 2011 by the same team from Birkbeck who demonstrated that ozone reacted very strongly with the lipid layer, damaging it. However, what exactly is going on and how these reactions might impede the surfactant from doing its job was still unclear.

To investigate further Dr Katherine Thompson from Birkbeck and her team ran neutron reflection studies at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble and ISIS Neutron Source in Oxfordshire on an artificial lipid monolayer, created to mimic the lung surface. The lipid layer was exposed to a dilute gaseous mixture of ozone, and changes in its structure or surface tension were studied in real time. The concentration of ozone was around 100 parts per billion (0.1 ppm), equivalent to what you might get in a polluted city in the summer.

The use of neutrons meant that Dr Thompson could label different parts of the sample using deuteration, a process whereby a heavier isotope of hydrogen, deuterium, is introduced and contrasted with undeuterated samples to pick out the location of hydrogen atoms. This allowed them to monitor different parts of the molecule separately as they reacted with the ozone.

Using this technique Dr Thompson's team showed that one of the lipid's upwards-facing tails, known as the C9 portion, breaks off during the ozone degradation and is lost from the surface completely. The portion still attached to the lipid head then re-orientates itself and penetrates into the air?water interface. The loss of the C9 portion causes an initial decrease in surface tension which temporarily increases surface area for gas exchange and efficient respiration. However this effect is short-lived as the penetration of the rest of the molecule into the water results in a slow but pronounced rise in surface tension, producing an overall net increase.

Note:

1. Health Benefits from Large-Scale Ozone Reduction in the United States -- Berman et all, Oct 2012

2. Royal Holloway is one of the UK's leading universities. We have a distinguished history of world-changing research and innovative teaching, with an international outlook. Our close-knit community enables students to benefit from a personalised experience, with staff collaborating across facilities to enhance health, science, culture and security on a global scale. Set in 135 acres of parkland in Surrey, our campus is recognised as one of the most beautiful in the world, and the pioneering spirit of our founders continues to inspire teaching and research today.

3. Birkbeck, University of London, is a world-class research and teaching institution, a vibrant centre of academic excellence and London's only specialist provider of evening higher education.Our flexible approach attracts many non-traditional students and we offer them the opportunity to fit university studies around busy lives. Birkbeck encourages applications from students without traditional qualifications and it has a wide range of programmes to suit every entry level.18,000 students study at Birkbeck every year. They join a community that is as diverse and cosmopolitan as London's population.

4. About ILL and ISIS -- the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble and ISIS at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK are international research centres which have led the world in neutron scattering science and technology. They operate intense neutron sources, feeding beams of neutrons to a suites of 30 to 40 high-performance instruments that are constantly upgraded. Each year 1,200 researchers from over 40 countries visit each of ISIS and ILL to conduct research into condensed matter physics, (green) chemistry, biology, nuclear physics, and materials science. The UK, along with France and Germany is an associate and major funder of the IL; ISIS is owned and operated by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.

5. STFC -- The Science and Technology Facilities Council is keeping the UK at the forefront of international science and tackling some of the most significant challenges facing society such as meeting our future energy needs, monitoring and understanding climate change, and global security. The Council has a broad science portfolio and works with the academic and industrial communities to share its expertise in materials science, space and ground-based astronomy technologies, laser science, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar.

The next step for Katherine and her colleagues is to look at adapting the model, to represent the condition of people with various forms of chronic respiratory problem and attempt to understand why ozone seems to affect them worse than others.

Dr Katherine Thompson, Birkbeck, University of London said: "We are not completely sure what causes the second stage of tension increase. The damaged lipid might be slowly dissolving in the water and leaving the interface entirely, or a slow reaction might be occurring that is damaging another part of the lipid not directly attacked by ozone. What we can say is that the slow increase in surface tension that occurs as a result of the ozone exposure would certainly damage the ability of our lungs to process oxygen and carbon dioxide, and could account for the respiratory problems associated with ozone poisoning."

Dr Martin King from Royal Holloway University said: "This important study shows how a key air pollutant has a detrimental effect on the human lung and could impair breathing. It is essential that a complex mixture of air pollutants -- for example Ozone and nitrogen oxides -- and the effect of inhaled particulate matter on the lung, is looked at next."

Dr Richard Campbell from the Institut Laue-Langevin said: "Neutrons are an ideal tool for studying biological materials, particularly their reactions and interactions on surfaces and across interfaces. They are highly sensitive to lighter atoms such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that make up these organic molecules and isotopic labelling can be used to determine the structure and composition of interfacial layers. As one of the world's brightest neutron sources, the ILL has a long history of modelling important micro-scale processes that take place inside our bodies and providing ground-breaking insights that inform the next generation of treatments."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Royal Holloway, University of London, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/P39my8Nuvq4/130409211934.htm

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Broadcasters worry about 'Zero TV' homes

This undated image provided by James Weitze shows a truck driver taking a self portrait on the road. Weitze satisfies his video fix with an iPhone. He sleeps most of the time in his truck, and has no apartment. To be sure, he's an extreme case and probably wouldn't fit into Nielsen's definition of a household in the first place. But he's watching Netflix enough to keep up on shows like ?Weeds,? ?30 Rock,? ?Arrested Development,? ?Breaking Bad,? ?It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? and ?Sons of Anarchy.? (AP Photo/James Weitze)

This undated image provided by James Weitze shows a truck driver taking a self portrait on the road. Weitze satisfies his video fix with an iPhone. He sleeps most of the time in his truck, and has no apartment. To be sure, he's an extreme case and probably wouldn't fit into Nielsen's definition of a household in the first place. But he's watching Netflix enough to keep up on shows like ?Weeds,? ?30 Rock,? ?Arrested Development,? ?Breaking Bad,? ?It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? and ?Sons of Anarchy.? (AP Photo/James Weitze)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Some people have had it with TV. They've had enough of the 100-plus channel universe. They don't like timing their lives around network show schedules. They're tired of $100-plus monthly bills.

A growing number of them have stopped paying for cable and satellite TV service, and don't even use an antenna to get free signals over the air. These people are watching shows and movies on the Internet, sometimes via cellphone connections. Last month, the Nielsen Co. started labeling people in this group "Zero TV" households, because they fall outside the traditional definition of a TV home. There are 5 million of these residences in the U.S., up from 2 million in 2007.

Winning back the Zero TV crowd will be one of the many issues broadcasters discuss at their national meeting, called the NAB Show, taking place this week in Las Vegas.

While show creators and networks make money from this group's viewing habits through deals with online video providers and from advertising on their own websites and apps, broadcasters only get paid when they relay such programming in traditional ways. Unless broadcasters can adapt to modern platforms, their revenue from Zero TV viewers will be zero.

"Getting broadcast programing on all the gizmos and gadgets ? like tablets, the backseats of cars, and laptops ? is hugely important," says Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters.

Although Wharton says more than 130 TV stations in the U.S. are broadcasting live TV signals to mobile devices, few people have the tools to receive them. Most cellphones require an add-on device known as a dongle, but these gadgets are just starting to be sold.

Among this elusive group of consumers is Jeremy Carsen Young, a graphic designer, who is done with traditional TV. Young has a working antenna sitting unplugged on his back porch in Roanoke, Va., and he refuses to put it on the roof.

"I don't think we'd use it enough to justify having a big eyesore on the house," the 30-year-old says.

Online video subscriptions from Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. ? which cost less than $15 a month combined ? have given him and his partner plenty to watch. They take in back episodes of AMC's "The Walking Dead" and The CW's "Supernatural," and they don't need more, he says.

He doesn't mind waiting as long as a year for the current season's episodes to appear on streaming services, even if his friends accidently blurt out spoilers in the meantime. With regular television, he might have missed the latest developments, anyway.

"By the time it gets to me to watch, I've kind of forgotten about that," he says.

For the first time, TV ratings giant Nielsen took a close look at this category of viewer in its quarterly video report released in March. It plans to measure their viewing of new TV shows starting this fall, with an eye toward incorporating the results in the formula used to calculate ad rates.

"Our commitment is to being able to measure the content wherever it is," says Dounia Turrill, Nielsen's senior vice president of insights.

The Zero TV segment is increasingly important, because the number of people signing up for traditional TV service has slowed to a standstill in the U.S.

Last year, the cable, satellite and telecoms providers added just 46,000 video customers collectively, according to research firm SNL Kagan. That is tiny when compared to the 974,000 new households created last year. While it's still 100.4 million homes, or 84.7 percent of all households, it's down from the peak of 87.3 percent in early 2010.

Nielsen's study suggests that this new group may have left traditional TV for good. While three-quarters actually have a physical TV set, only 18 percent are interested in hooking it up through a traditional pay TV subscription.

Zero TVers tend to be younger, single and without children. Nielsen's senior vice president of insights, Dounia Turrill, says part of the new monitoring regime is meant to help determine whether they'll change their behavior over time. "As these homes change life stage, what will happen to them?"

Cynthia Phelps, a 43-year-old maker of mental health apps in San Antonio, Texas, says there's nothing that will bring her back to traditional TV. She's watched TV in the past, of course, but for most of the last 10 years she's done without it.

She finds a lot of programs online to watch on her laptop for free ? like the TED talks educational series ? and every few months she gets together with friends to watch older TV shows on DVD, usually "something totally geeky," like NBC's "Chuck."

The 24-hour news channels make her anxious or depressed, and buzz about the latest hot TV shows like "Mad Men" doesn't make her feel like she's missing out. She didn't know who the Kardashian family was until she looked them up a few years ago.

"I feel absolutely no social pressure to keep up with the Joneses in that respect," she says.

For Phelps, it's less about saving money than choice. She says she'd rather spend her time productively and not get "sucked into" shows she'll regret later.

"I don't want someone else dictating the media I get every day," she says. "I want to be in charge of it. When I have a TV, I'm less in control of that."

The TV industry has a host of buzz words to describe these non-traditionalist viewers. There are "cord-cutters," who stop paying for TV completely, and make do with online video and sometimes an antenna. There are "cord-shavers," who reduce the number of channels they subscribe to, or the number of rooms pay TV is in, to save money.

Then there are the "cord-nevers," young people who move out on their own and never set up a landline phone connection or a TV subscription. They usually make do with a broadband Internet connection, a computer, a cellphone and possibly a TV set that is not hooked up the traditional way.

That's the label given to the group by Richard Schneider, the president and founder of the online retailer Antennas Direct. The site is doing great business selling antennas capable of accepting free digital signals since the nation's transition to digital over-the-air broadcasts in 2009, and is on pace to sell nearly 600,000 units this year, up from a few dozen when it started in 2003.

While the "cord-nevers" are a target market for him, the category is also troubling. More people are raised with the power of the Internet in their pocket, and don't know or care that you can pull TV signals from the air for free.

"They're more aware of Netflix than they're aware over-the-air is even available," Schneider says.

That brings us to truck driver James Weitze. The 31-year-old satisfies his video fix with an iPhone. He often sleeps in his truck, and has no apartment. To be sure, he's an extreme case who doesn't fit into Nielsen's definition of a household in the first place. But he's watching Netflix enough to keep up with shows like "Weeds," ''30 Rock," ''Arrested Development," ''Breaking Bad," ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Sons of Anarchy."

He's not opposed to TV per se, and misses some ESPN sports programs like the "X Games."

But he's so divorced from the traditional TV ecosystem it could be hard to go back. It's become easier for him to navigate his smartphone than to figure out how to use a TV set-top box and the button-laden remote control.

"I'm pretty tech savvy, but the TV industry with the cable and the television and the boxes, you don't know how to use their equipment," he says. "I try to go over to my grandma's place and teach her how to do it. I can't even figure it out myself."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-07-Zero%20TV/id-da2c6d0410824dd78c34cd0b43d32716

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Obama's domestic agenda on the line this week

FILE - In this April 5, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama's second term is on the line, with gun control and immigration in the spotlight on Capitol Hill this week and the White House releasing his long-delayed budget proposal. His victories or defeats will help define his legacy and determine how much political capital he has for the rest of his term. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this April 5, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama's second term is on the line, with gun control and immigration in the spotlight on Capitol Hill this week and the White House releasing his long-delayed budget proposal. His victories or defeats will help define his legacy and determine how much political capital he has for the rest of his term. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Copies of President Barack Obama's proposed federal budget plan for fiscal year 2014 are prepared for delivery at the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington, Monday, April 8, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama hugs Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, accompanied by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., left, after Obama arrived at Bradley Air Force Base, Conn., Monday, April 8, 2013. Obama is traveling to the Hartford, Conn., to speak at the University of Hartford, near the state capitol where last week the governor signed into law some of the nation's strictest gun control laws with the Sandy Hook families standing behind him. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama, followed by, from second from left, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., walks down the steps of Air Force One at Bradley Air Force Base, Conn., Monday, April 8, 2013. Obama traveled to the Hartford, Conn., to speak at the University of Hartford, near the state capitol where last week the governor signed into law some of the nation's strictest gun control laws with the Sandy Hook families standing behind him. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's second-term agenda will be robustly tested this week, with gun control and immigration in the spotlight on Capitol Hill and the White House releasing his long-delayed budget blueprint. In a taste of what lies ahead, Democratic gun legislation arrived on the Senate floor Monday ? facing an aggressive Republican effort to block it.

In an era of deep partisanship and divided government, Obama knows he won't get everything he wants on the three big issues as he seeks to capitalize on the national support that brought him re-election. But the scope of his victories or defeats on these issues will at least in part define his legacy and determine how much political capital he retains for his final four years in office.

"This is his best chance to set up the next 3? years where he's the pace car," said Sara Taylor Fagen, who served as political director for President George W. Bush.

But much of what happens during this pivotal period is out of the president's direct control. Members of Congress will largely determine whether his proposals to deal with gun ownership, revamp broken immigration laws and reduce the federal budget deficit gain traction.

Lawmakers, back in Washington after a two-week recess, are expected to take significant steps on some of the issues this week. A bipartisan group of senators could unveil highly anticipated immigration legislation by the end of the week. And Democrats brought a gun-control bill to the Senate floor Monday afternoon amid a threat from conservative Republicans to use delaying tactics to prevent formal debate from even beginning.

Obama himself flew to Connecticut for a new gun-control speech, and he was bringing relatives of Newtown shooting victims back to Washington on Air Force One to lobby members of Congress.

In the midst of all that, Obama will release his 2014 budget, which already is drawing opposition from both parties ahead of its Wednesday publication. Republicans oppose Obama's calls for new tax hikes, and many of the president's fellow Democrats balk at his proposals for smaller annual increases in Social Security and other federal benefit programs.

The White House tried to play down the significance of the week's overlapping events to the president's broader objectives, with Obama spokesman Jay Carney saying the administration is always trying to move forward on "the business of the American people."

Said Carney: "Every one of these weeks is full of the possibility for progress on a range of fronts."

But Obama's advisers know the window for broad legislative victories is narrower for a second-term president. Political posturing is already underway for the 2014 midterm elections, which will consume Congress next year. And once those votes for a new Congress are cast, Washington's attention turns to the race to succeed Obama.

Patrick Griffin, who served as White House legislative director under President Bill Clinton, said Obama's legislative efforts this year are likely to be the "sum and substance" of his second-term agenda.

"I think it would be very tough to put another item on the agenda on his own terms," said Griffin, adding that unexpected events could force other issues to the fore.

On both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the outcome of the debate over gun measures is perhaps the most uncertain. The White House and Congress had little appetite for tackling the emotional issue during Obama's first term, but December's horrific elementary school massacre in Connecticut thrust gun control to the forefront of the president's second-term agenda.

If a bill does reach Obama's desk this year, it will be far weaker than what he first proposed. An assault weapons ban appears all but dead, and a prohibition on ammunition magazines carrying over 10 rounds, also supported by the president, seems unlikely to survive.

The White House is largely pinning its hopes on a significant expansion of background checks for gun buyers, but the prospects for such a measure are far from certain, despite widespread public support. The best chance at a deal appears to rest on eleventh-hour talks between Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Obama focused his efforts Monday on building public support for the legislation and tapping into the emotions of the Newtown shooting during an evening event in Hartford.

The White House is far more confident about the prospects for a sweeping immigration deal that could provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of people who now are in the country, tighten border security and crack down on businesses that employ people illegally. But the president is treading carefully on the sensitive issues, wary of disrupting a bipartisan Senate working group that has been laboriously crafting a bill.

The group of four Republicans and four Democrats could unveil that legislation as early as this week, a pivotal development that would open months of debate. While the growing political power of Hispanics may have softened the ground for passage, significant hurdles remain.

Looming over Obama's entire domestic agenda is the economy, including the deficit deal that has long eluded him. The budget Obama will release Wednesday proposes spending cuts and revenue increases that would project $1.8 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years.

That would replace $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that are poised to take effect over the next 10 years if Congress and the president don't come up with an alternative.

Seeking to soften bipartisan opposition to his budget proposals, Obama will dine Wednesday night with a dozen Republican senators, part of the broader charm offensive he launched in recent weeks.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-08-Obama's%20Agenda/id-0fbc1fb041024d3f89c285ccab3aa8e3

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Historical Society Honors Three Long-time Supporters - Around GC ...

Maureen Clancy, Kris Harder and Mayor John Watras to be recognized at the May 2 spring capital campaign benefit.

The Garden City Historical Society will proudly acknowledge three well-known Garden City residents and long-time supporters at its Spring Capital Campaign Benefit, Thursday, May 2, at The Garden City Hotel.

The special honors go to Maureen Clancy, Kris Harder and Mayor John Watras.

A Garden City resident since 1960, Maureen Clancy serves on the boards of Winthrop-University Hospital and New York Community Bank. She also serves as a member of three nonprofit boards: The Garden City Historical Society (where she also served as president), RotaCare and the Garden City Chamber of Commerce Foundation. A parishioner of St. Joseph?s Church, she had been active on the Parish Council and as chair of various Appeals.

Maureen was the first woman elected to a trustee seat on the Village Board of Trustees, and served as deputy mayor. She?s currently an appointed member of the Village Board of Ethics. Nominated by Village Administrator Bob Schoelle, Maureen became the first woman member of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club in 1987, and was the first woman to serve as its president in 1993.

A licensed insurance broker since 1959, Maureen and her late husband, Cummin, founded Clancy & Clancy Brokerage Ltd, located on Seventh Street. She serves as Chief Financial Officer and manages the insurance agency with her daughter, Maura.

As a business owner, she became a member and then a director of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, and served as president from 1995-1997.

Maureen is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Garden City Jaycees Bob Hogan Citizenship Award (1982), Garden City Citizen of the Year (1989) and the Distinguished Alumna Award (Rosemont College, 1998). Maureen was a recipient of the Town of Hempstead Pathfinder Award for a Woman in Business (1998) and a New York State Woman of Distinction, twice: honored by State Sen. Kemp Hannon in 1999 and State Assemblyman Thomas McKevitt in 2009. For her long-time association with the Girl Scouts, she was honored with the Juliette Low Award of Distinction (2002).

While she attended Rosemont College, she met Cummin, who had come to the United States from Galway, Ireland, after being ?discovered? in the 1948 London Olympics. Married for 58 years, the couple has five children and seven grandchildren.

An astute businesswoman and dedicated community volunteer, Maureen is honored to have been a trailblazer for women by her accomplishments, but considers her greatest honor and blessing to be her wonderful husband and family.

An Indiana native, Kris Harder graduated from Purdue University where she met her husband, Frank, who grew up in Hempstead. They married in 1950 and moved to Levittown. Now 50-year residents of Garden City, Kris and Frank are well known for their business, Harder Tree Service, family owned and operated since 1922.

The first business of her own that Kris initiated was The Garden Bench, which was located on Seventh Street and sold outdoor benches and garden-related products. She founded and owned The Pear Tree, originally located on Nassau Boulevard, Garden City South. The shop sold needlepoint wool and offered classes and then branched out to selling antiques, one of Kris?s passions. The Pear Tree eventually relocated to the west end of Seventh Street, before settling in at the currently location just steps from Franklin Avenue.

Kris became a member of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce and was influential in advancing the notion of a community Homecoming Parade. She co-founded TWIGS, Winthrop-University Hospital?s Auxiliary and its signature Golden Goose Boutique. In addition, she was recognized by the American Cancer Society as Volunteer of the Year (1989).

Kris recalls that even before she joined the Garden City Historical Society, Harder Tree Service helped in the monumental move of the Historical Society?s building in 1988 to its current location on Eleventh Street from the property of the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

As a member of the board of trustee, Kris chaired the Society?s Spring Garden Tours and Christmas Candlelight Walking Tours, initiated its commemorative brick campaign and spearheaded the start of its annual June Flea Market. With her artistic touch, she decorates the Historical Society Museum with beautiful floral arrangements for holidays, special occasions, lectures, art exhibits and annual meetings.

In 2005, Kris founded the Society?s successful consignment shop, the A. T. Stewart Exchange. Proceeds from the shop supplement the Society?s annual membership drive to support operations and maintenance of the Museum, an 1872 structure and an original building erected during the time of Garden City founder, Alexander Stewart.

Kris and Frank have five children, three of which live in Garden City, and 12 grandchildren. A visionary and unwavering volunteer, Kris can still be seen assisting at the Exchange, contributing at board meetings and sprucing up the Museum for all occasions.

Village Mayor John Watras has volunteered his services as a village trustee for the past 10 years. He has served in numerous capacities, including trustee liaison to the Garden City Historical Society, the Garden City Public Library, Board of Cultural and Recreational Affairs, Zoning Board of Appeals, senior citizens and the Environmental Advisory Board, and has held the board position of finance chairman. He is the only trustee to have served as fire commissioner and police commissioner simultaneously. From April 2011 until his installation as mayor on April 1, 2013, he served as deputy mayor.

Along with his fellow western section trustee, Gerry Lundquist, John proposed and helped establish the volunteer Citizens Budget Review Advisory?Committee. He spearheaded the roller rink project at Community Park and supports the expansion of space for senior citizens. He initiated the creation of the community garden, located behind St. Paul?s School.

John joined the Western Property Owners Association (WPOA) in 1995 and has remained a dues paying member for these past 18 years. Prior to his election to the village board of trustees, he served in various directors? positions and as president.

A graduate of Hofstra University with a business administration degree, John has been involved in the securities industry since 1986, and is a past director of The New York Stock Exchange. He is currently a partner and managing director for a brokerage firm.

During his career, his responsibilities have included institutional sales and money management for corporations and he held compliance and principal responsibilities on the trading desk for Blackford Securities Corp.

Garden City residents since 1994, John and his wife, Beth, have two grown children. He serves as chairman of the Development Committee for Little Village School and is a member of the board of directors of the Tanners Pond Environmental Center (the Garden City Bird Sanctuary).

John believes in preserving tradition while embracing new ideas. He has been a dedicated supporter of the Garden City Historical Society and faithful attendee at its events, and continues to serve his community.

The Society is taking reservations for the May 2 cocktail reception (6-9 p.m.). Please join us in acknowledging our honorees?visionaries and tireless community members. Admission is $75 per person; reservations can be made by April 26 to Society president Albert Intreglia (750-3214, business hours) or to Society secretary Gloria Jones (248-0042 or 917-446-6131).

The Benefit Committee is sponsoring a 50/50 Raffle; the winner will be drawn on the night of the event (winner need not be present). Raffle tickets are $10 or three for $25, and can be purchased at the event, in advance at the A.T. Stewart Exchange, or by contacting Mary Jane Caldwell at 248-5917.

A Chinese Auction will include such prizes as a vintage, designer ermine woman?s white fur coat; a rendering of a winner?s home sketched and painted by local resident and artist?Suzie Alvey; a Trader Joe?s gourmet gift basket, complete with fixings for the winner?s next spring soiree; a gift basket from Covert Avenue?s Salone di Capelli; a special basket of goodies from Pellegrini?s Prime Meats and much more.

For further event information, visit us online at gardencityhistoricalsociety.org.

Submitted by the Garden City Historical Society

Source: http://gardencity.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/historical-society-honors-three-longtime-supporters

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Japan increasingly nervous about North Korea nukes

FILE - In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, a North Korean vehicle carrying a missile passes by during a mass military parade in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. North Korea has moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said Thursday, April 4, 2013 but he added that there are no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a full-scale conflict. The report came hours after North Korea's military warned that it has been authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. It was the North's latest war cry against America in recent weeks, with the added suggestion that it had improved its nuclear technology. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, a North Korean vehicle carrying a missile passes by during a mass military parade in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. North Korea has moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said Thursday, April 4, 2013 but he added that there are no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a full-scale conflict. The report came hours after North Korea's military warned that it has been authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. It was the North's latest war cry against America in recent weeks, with the added suggestion that it had improved its nuclear technology. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2012 file photo released by Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's Unha-3 rocket lifts off from the Sohae launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. Though it remains a highly unlikely scenario, Japanese officials have long feared that if North Korea ever decides to play its nuclear card it has not only the means but several potential motives for launching an attack on Tokyo or major U.S. military installations on Japan's main island. And while a conventional missile attack is far more likely, Tokyo is taking North Korea's nuclear rhetoric seriously. (AP Photo/KCNA, File)

Japan's chief Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga speaks about North Korea during a regular press conference at the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo Monday, April 8, 2013. On Monday, amid reports North Korea is preparing a missile launch or another nuclear test, Japanese officials said they have stepped up measures to ensure the nation's safety. "We are doing all we can to protect the safety of our nation," said Suga, though he and defense ministry officials refused to confirm the reports about the naval alert, saying they do not want to "show their cards" to North Korea. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

TOKYO (AP) ? It's easy to write off North Korea's threats to strike the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile as bluster: it has never demonstrated the capability to deploy a missile that could reach the Pacific island of Guam, let alone the mainland U.S.

But what about Japan?

Though it remains a highly unlikely scenario, Japanese officials have long feared that if North Korea ever decides to play its nuclear card it has not only the means but several potential motives for launching an attack on Tokyo or major U.S. military installations on Japan's main island. And while a conventional missile attack is far more likely, Tokyo is taking North Korea's nuclear rhetoric seriously.

On Monday, amid reports North Korea is preparing a missile launch or another nuclear test, Japanese officials said they have stepped up measures to ensure the nation's safety. Japanese media reported over the weekend that the defense minister has put destroyers with missile interception systems on alert to shoot down any missile or missile debris that appears to be headed for Japanese territory.

"We are doing all we can to protect the safety of our nation," said chief Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga, though he and Ministry of Defense officials refused to confirm the reports about the naval alert, saying they do not want to "show their cards" to North Korea.

North Korea, meanwhile, issued a new threat against Japan.

"We once again warn Japan against blindly toeing the U.S. policy," said an editorial Monday in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of its ruling party. "It will have to pay a dear price for its imprudent behavior."

Following North Korea's third nuclear test in February, Japanese experts have increasingly voiced concerns that North Korea may already be able to hit ? or at least target ? U.S. bases and major population centers with nuclear warheads loaded onto its medium-range Rodong missiles.

"The threat level has jumped" following the nuclear test, said Narushige Michishita, a former Ministry of Defense official and director of the Security and International Studies Program at Tokyo's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

Unlike North Korea's still-under-construction intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, program, its arsenal of about 300 deployed Rodong missiles has been flight tested and is thought to have a range of about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles).

That is good enough to reach Tokyo and key U.S. military bases ? including Yokota Air Base, which is the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Air Force; Yokosuka Naval Base, where the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its battle group are home-based; and Misawa Air Base, a key launching point for U.S. F-16 fighters.

Michishita, in an analysis published late last year, said a Rodong missile launched from North Korea would reach Japan within five to 10 minutes and, if aimed at the center of Tokyo, would have a 50-percent probability of falling somewhere within the perimeter of Tokyo's main subway system.

He said Japan would be a particularly tempting target because it is close enough to feasibly reach with a conventionally or nuclear-armed missile, and the persistent animosity and distrust dating back to Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula in 1910 provides an ideological motive.

Also, a threat against Japan could be used to drive a wedge between Tokyo and Washington. North Korea could, for example, fire one or more Rodong missiles toward Tokyo but have them fall short to frighten Japan's leaders into making concessions, stay out of a conflict on the peninsula or oppose moves by the U.S. forces in Japan to assist the South Koreans, lest Tokyo suffer a real attack.

"Given North Korea's past adventurism, this scenario is within the range of its rational choices," Michishita wrote.

Officials stress that simply having the ability to launch an attack does not mean it would be a success. They also say North Korea is not known to have actually deployed any nuclear-tipped missiles.

Tokyo and Washington have invested billions of dollars in what is probably the world's most sophisticated ballistic missile defense shield since North Korea sent a long-range Taepodong missile over Japan's main island in 1998. Japan now has its own land- and sea-based interceptors and began launching spy satellites after the "Taepodong shock" to keep its own tabs on military activities inside North Korea.

For the time being, most experts believe, North Korea cannot attack the United States with a nuclear warhead because it can't yet fashion one light enough to mount atop a long-range ICBM. But Japanese analysts are not alone in believing North Korea has cleared the "miniaturization" problem for its medium-range weapons.

In April 2005, Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that North Korea had the capability to arm a missile with a nuclear device. In 2011, the same intelligence agency said North Korea "may now have" plutonium-based nuclear warheads that it can deliver by ballistic missiles, aircraft or "unconventional means."

The Pentagon has since backtracked, saying it isn't clear how small a nuclear warhead the North can produce.

But David Albright, a physicist at the Institute for Science and International Security think tank, said in an email he believes the North can arm Rodong missiles with nuclear warheads weighing as much as several hundred kilograms (pounds) and packing a yield in the low kilotons.

That is far smaller than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki but big enough to cause significant casualties in an urban area.

Japan also is a better target than traditional enemy South Korea because striking so close to home with a nuclear weapon would blanket a good part of its own population with the fallout.

Regardless of whom North Korea strikes ? with a nuclear or conventional weapon ? it can be assured of one thing: a devastating counterattack by the United States.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-08-Japan-NKorea's%20Nuke%20Threat/id-a4f6064153ce4cfbb8df7a4b458052b7

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Final chapter to 60-year-old blood group mystery

Apr. 7, 2013 ? Researchers have solved a 60-year-old mystery by identifying a gene that can cause rejection, kidney failure and even death in some blood transfusion patients. In this study, published in Nature Genetics online 07 April, they identified the gene that underlies the Vel blood group and will lead to the development of more reliable blood tests and reduce the risk for transfusion patients who lack this blood group.

Researchers have uncovered the gene at the root of a human blood group that has remained a mystery for the past 60 years. They showed that a genetic deletion on this gene is responsible for the lack of this blood group in some people.

With the discovery of the gene behind the Vel blood group, medical scientists can now develop a more reliable DNA test to identify people who lack this group. This will reduce the risk of severe, and sometimes life threatening, destruction of the Vel-positive donor red blood cells in patients with antibodies against Vel.

The genetic basis of nearly all 34 blood group systems has been resolved over the past century, but identification of the underlying gene of the Vel blood group has withstood persistent attempts since it was first identified 60 years ago. It is estimated that one in 5000 people are Vel-negative, and routine blood transfusions for patients with antibodies against Vel can lead to kidney failure and even death.

The discovery by the team would not have been possible without the colleagues from the blood transfusion services of Denmark, England and the Netherlands who undertook the Herculean effort of identifying the 65 individuals that lacked the Vel blood group by testing the red blood cells from nearly 350,000 donors with antibodies against Vel.

They then sequenced the coding fraction of the genomes of five donors who lack the Vel group to identify the underlying gene.

The team showed that the gene SMIM1 malfunctions in Vel-negative people. SMIM1 is found on chromosome 1 and specifies a small protein, five times smaller than the average human protein. This provides a direct explanation why a discovery by other routes has proven so challenging.

"It has been a remarkable feat to go from gene discovery to function in less than two months," continues Professor Ouwehand.

Current testing for Vel-negative people can be inaccurate but identifying this new role for the gene will make it easier to identify people who lack Vel. The Sanquin Blood Supply research laboratories in Amsterdam and the NHS Blood and Transplant Centre in Cambridge are currently working together to develop a new and affordable DNA test to efficiently identify people who lack the Vel group.

"We already knew of 75 genomic regions that are associated with the haemoglobin levels and other red blood cell traits, but we quickly realised that the SMIM1 gene identified in our study is the same as one of these associated regions," said Dr Pim van der Harst from Groningen University in the Netherlands who led the GWAS analysis for red cell traits in nearly 100,000 individuals. "We had already assumed that a gene in this region of chromosome 1 played a role in the life of red blood cells, but we now have conclusive evidence that it is SMIM1.

"We have shown that this gene controls a protein in the membrane of red blood cells. Switching off the SMIM1 gene in zebrafish showed a remarkable reduction in the number of red cells formed and caused anemia in the fish."

The team observed that the common variant identified by the red blood cell study has a strong effect on how well the SMIM1 gene functions. This not only explains why the level of the Vel blood group varies so extensively in the population, but is also makes it extremely plausible that the Smim1 protein influences haemoglobin levels of red blood cells.

A low haemoglobin level confers a risk of anemia, which is one of the most frequent reasons for an individual to visit their doctor. The team are pursuing further research to deduce how Smim1 protein regulates red blood cell formation.

"As the molecular machinery underlying red blood cell formation has been researched for decades in fish, mice and man, our discovery that a gene which was considered hypothetical until recently actually controls a red blood cell membrane protein with an important role in the regulation of haemoglobin levels is astonishing," says Professor Ellen van der Schoot from the Sanquin research laboratories in Amsterdam. "A better understanding of how the SMIM1 gene is regulated is important and this effort will greatly benefit from the Blueprint project which will be releasing its results on the biology of blood cells and their precursors this year"

"We have worked for nearly a decade to identify the donors across England that lack the Vel blood group so that we can provide matched and safe blood to patients with antibodies against Vel" says Mr Malcolm Needs from NHS Blood and Transplant in Tooting, London. "The discovery of the SMIM1 gene was achieved so quickly and it is truly amazing to see how medical genomics is changing the care landscape for NHS patients."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Ana Cvejic, Lonneke Haer-Wigman, Jonathan C Stephens, Myrto Kostadima, Peter A Smethurst, Mattia Frontini, Emile van den Akker, Paul Bertone, Ewa Bielczyk-Maczy?ska, Samantha Farrow, Rudolf S N Fehrmann, Alan Gray, Masja de Haas, Vincent G Haver, Gregory Jordan, Juha Karjalainen, Hindrik H D Kerstens, Graham Kiddle, Heather Lloyd-Jones, Malcolm Needs, Joyce Poole, Aicha Ait Soussan, Augusto Rendon, Klaus Rieneck, Jennifer G Sambrook, Hein Schepers, Herman H W Sillj?, Botond Sipos, Dorine Swinkels, Asif U Tamuri, Niek Verweij, Nicholas A Watkins, Harm-Jan Westra, Derek Stemple, Lude Franke, Nicole Soranzo, Hendrik G Stunnenberg, Nick Goldman, Pim van der Harst, C Ellen van der Schoot, Willem H Ouwehand, Cornelis A Albers. SMIM1 underlies the Vel blood group and influences red blood cell traits. Nature Genetics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ng.2603

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/mEf2XNqwUJc/130407133318.htm

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Chaplain to get Medal of Honor 62 years after death | Marine Corps ...

Father Emil Kapaun holds out a broken pipe. The plain-spoken, pipe-smoking chaplain is posthumously receiving the Medal of Honor for his ?extraordinary heroism? while serving as an Army chaplain during the Korean War. He died in captivity in 1951. (Catholic Diocese of Wichita via AP)

By Sharon Cohen, The Associated Press

Father Emil Kapaun celebrates Mass using the hood of his Jeep as an altar, as his assistant, Patrick J. Schuler, kneels in prayer in Korea on Oct. 7, 1950, less than a month before Kapaun was taken prisoner. (Col. Raymond A. Skeehan via The Wichita Eagle / AP)

Source: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20130407/NEWS/304070004

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US, South Korea Delay Meeting, Missile Test During Korean Tensions (Voice Of America)

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Beastie Boy Mike D Serves Up Meals From Food Truck To Hurricane Sandy Victims (PHOTO, VIDEO)

The Beastie Boys' Mike D is fighting for more than the right to party -- he's been helping serve Hurricane Sandy victims warm meals from a food truck.

The musician, whose full name is Michael Diamond, spoke to GOOD Magazine on Tuesday about the project. Since the storm, more than 19,000 free meals have been served.

Seeing the damage to Rockaway Beach, he launched the Rockaway Plate Lunch truck with restauranteur and friend Robert McKinley.

The cooking expertise come from Sam Talbot of 'Top Chef' fame, who is working with teams at New York's Spotted Pig and Fat Radish restaurants, to serve up rice, beans, chicken and vegetables.

In the Vimeo video above, Mike D explains that a food truck allowed easy navigation through the changing post-Sandy landscape. The team feeds anywhere from 200 to 500 people daily.

"The willingness to get involved has been amazing," McKinley says in the video. "There's been no egos and everyone is working really hard."

Story continues after photo

Five months after the storm, Mike D wants to transition the project to a full-time restaurant staffed by residents.

"There?s still the need for warm food out there, but our real goal for this summer is to help revitalize the local economy," he told GOOD magazine.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/beastie-boy-food-truck_n_3024894.html

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Insurance Journal Hosts 'March Madness of Insurance Mascots ...

04/03/2013 (press release: JTinney) // San Diego, CA, USA // Julie Tinney, VP Sales & Marketing

The social media team at Insurance Journal has organized a playful competition to determine a champion of insurance mascots.

The tournament, which is hosted at www.facebook.com/insurancejournal, features a March Madness-style bracket in which Facebook users vote for their favorite mascot or spokesperson to determine a winner in each game.

?It?s been well received,? says Social Media Manager Ly Nguyen, noting that Facebook engagement has tripled during the campaign. ?People are really connecting with this tournament.?

A typical game receives an average of 75 votes and 10 shares, reaching approximately 4,000 Facebook users. However, the matchup between Allstate?s Mayhem and Farmers? Professor Burke went viral, reaching more than 250,000 users on its way to 1,750 votes and 350 shares in just a few days. ?Mayhem shared it on his wall and it just took off,? Nguyen explains.

Nguyen sees this social media campaign as a chance for Insurance Journal to expand its audience, as well as a great opportunity for smaller insurance companies to gain national exposure.

Daily matchups will continue throughout the week, with the final game scheduled for Monday, April 8th.

About Insurance Journal

Founded in 1923, Insurance Journal magazine is the nation?s leading source for news and information on property/casualty insurance, with a national BPA-audited circulation of more than 42,000. It?s online counterpart, www.insurancejournal.com, is the highest trafficked property/casualty insurance news website in the world.

Insurance Journal is a subsidiary of Wells Media Group, Inc., a business-to-business media company focused on the property/casualty insurance industry.

Social Media Tags:insurance; insurancejournal; media; social media; allstate

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Source: http://www.wirednewsengine.com/2013/04/06/insurance-journal-hosts-march-madness-of-insurance-mascots-tournament_2013040625607.html

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Jerusalem mayor shelves plan to name street after Yeshayahu Leibowitz

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat put the brakes on a motion to name a street in the city after controversial philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz on Thursday, following dissent by council members from right wing and religious parties.

The proposal to honor the outspoken intellectual, first raised a decade ago, had successfully passed two municipal naming committees and was supposed to receive final approval in the Thursday city council meeting, but then Likud councilman Elisha Peleg began reading out quotes by Leibowitz attacking Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, raising the ire of the religious council members, and leading Barkat to remove the vote from the agenda.

Leibowitz, who managed to spark endless controversy during his years in the media spotlight ? regularly issuing provocative statements on the topics of ethics, religion, and politics ? carried on his legacy from the grave. Peleg said that the deceased Hebrew University professor and Israel Prize selectee ?must take responsibility for his irresponsible statements ? The man does not deserve to be memorialized in Jerusalem.?

While left-wing council members defended the decision to name a street after Leibowitz, one saying it was more of an honor for the city than the man, and another suggesting that if Leibowitz doesn?t deserve a street named after him than neither do the prophets Jeremiah and Isiah, who also suffered criticism and anger for their words, Barkat decided to postpone the vote until more council members were present and chances of the motion passing were increased.

Barkat?s office said the mayor was sure the motion would pass later this month.?If passed, the city will name one of the streets in the Givat Ram neighborhood, which is home to Israel?s Supreme Court, the Knesset, government ministries, the Israel Museum, and Hebrew University, after Leibowitz.

Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-mayor-shelves-plan-to-name-street-after-yeshayahu-leibowitz/

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Vikram Chatwal Arrested For Cocaine, Heroin, Xanax, Horse Tranq Possession

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Contemporary Wing: MUMBO SAUCE is open April 5th ? 21st | ART ...

MUMBO SAUCE is open April 5th ? 21st
906 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

Continuing in its tradition of coordinating gallery exhibitions with D.C.?s world-class museum shows, Contemporary Wing presents, ?MUMBO SAUCE,? in conjunction with the Corcoran Gallery of Art?s Pump Me Up ? D.C. Subculture of the 1980s, currently on display at the museum.? MUMBO SAUCE is a survey of artists with deep roots in Washington, D.C., and explores how such factors as Go-Go, graffiti, punk, hardcore, graphic design and fine art have shaped and influenced the work of these artists. MUMBO SAUCE is curated jointly by Roger Gastman, curator of the Corcoran?s ?Pump Me Up? show, and Lauren Gentile, founder of Contemporary Wing.

Mumbo Sauce is a red, sweet, and tangy sauce, akin to barbeque or plum sauce. Indigenous to Washington, D.C., the condiment is found in carry outs throughout D.C. and the surrounding metro area. Mumbo Sauce is endemic to Washington D.C.?s African American culture, and it is the flavor of home for many D.C. natives.

Just as Mumbo Sauce conveys a rich texture and flavor that is distinctively D.C. in the cultural arena of food, the art works in the MUMBO SAUCE exhibit reflect the living, breathing soul of the city.? MUMBO SAUCE explores how living and working in the District has shaped the artistic evolution of the featured artists.? Participating artists include BORF, Richard Colman, Cynthia Connolly, Tim Conlon, COOL ?DISCO? DAN, Clark Fox, Globe Poster Archive, Mark Jenkins, Rosina Teri Memolo, Mingering Mike and Robin Rose.

Opening Reception and Party, Friday April 5th
7 ? 10pm Music by DJ Stereo Faith
Limited space so please RSVP to?info@contemporarywing.com

Show Runs Through April 21st
Hours: Tuesday ? Sunday 11-6pm

Previews of the work will continue to be distributed, please contact?info@contemporarywing.com?for more information.

BORF?was a graffiti campaign celebrating youth liberation that was seen in and around D.C. during 2004 and 2005, by John Tsombikos while he studied at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. The four letter word, BORF, was ubiquitous in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, and ranged from simple tagging to complete sentences, and from two-color stencils to the massive pieces visible from the Metro?s Red Line and on overhead exit signs.

Richard Colman?hails from Bethesda, MD and currently lives and works in Chicago, IL. His work explores the intricacies of everyday life ? power struggles, personal interactions and the relationship between human beings and the surrounding environment.? Painted as monuments to nothing in particular, and hosting a violent cast of characters, Colman?s work illustrates the conflict experienced by human beings living in a society of relentlessly centered on progress, with little time and appreciation for small things. Colman has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Cynthia Connolly?is a photographer, graphic designer, and artist. She graduated from Corcoran College of Art and Design and worked for Dischord Records and d.c. space. In 1988 she published Banned in DC: Photos and Anecdotes From the DC Punk Underground (79?85) through her small press Sun Dog Propaganda. ?Her photographic work, postcards and books were exhibited in Beautiful Losers which toured in the United States and Europe from 2004?2009 and was reviewed in Art in America in January 2005.

Tim Conlon?is a graffiti artist living and working in Washington. He grew up just south of D.C., and is best known for large-scale murals, graffiti art, sculpture and works on canvas. He was one of two aerosol artists featured in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery?s 2008 exhibition, RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture. In 2011, he was featured and had a small curatorial role in the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art?s, Art in The Streets exhibit. Conlon has also shown at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and during Art Basel in Miami Beach. He is represented by Contemporary Wing.

COOL ?DISCO? DAN?is the most famous and storied graffiti writer in Washington, DC history. ?He is the subject of the 2013 documentary ?The Legend of Cool ?Disco? Dan,? a star of the Pump Me Up exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and was prominently featured in the 2011 book The History of American Graffiti. ?He has been drawing with markers since his youth.

Clark Fox?(aka Michael V. Clark) is a Native American artist who worked with Washington Color School painters Gene Davis and Thomas Downing in the 60?s. He became an advocate of street art in the mid ?70?s and collaborated in DC with iconic artists such as Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Daniel Johnston, Big Al Carter, and more. His works belong to more than 35 museum collections including the Corcoran?Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia?Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others. His signature portraits of George Washington now appear in a book published by the Smithsonian Press called Handmade Holiday Cards from 20th Century Artists.

Globe Poster Archive, located in Baltimore, M.D., was one of the nation?s largest showcard companies and has been telling the story of R&B and all forms of American music and entertainment through bright and iconic posters since 1929. Globe began by printing posters for vaudeville acts, movie theaters, burlesque houses and carnivals, and later became known for its work with R&B and soul performers-including James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner and Solomon Burke-and later hip-hop acts. Big, bold, fat type, Day-Glo colors and distinctive lettering were hallmarks of the Globe style. When Globe closed in 2010, 75 percent of its archive was acquired by MICA.

Mark Jenkins?is most widely known for the street installations he creates using packing tape. He works with Sandra Fernandez and together they create characters ranging from clear cast objects such as ducks, dogs and babies to hyper-realistic anthropomorphic beings based casts of his and her body that are installed in ways to interact with the surrounding space. He currently lives in Washington, DC.

Rosina Teri Memolo?is a fine artist and commercial photographer who lives and works in the SE quadrant of Washington, D.C. She will present selections from her two series, ?Corner Stores and Carry Outs? and ?Just Shoot Me,? which document the disappearing landmarks, and changing diaspora of the city. ?Her images are intuitive, sometimes even happy accidents.? Her work is included in the Pump Me Up Corcoran exhibition.

Mingering Mike?is a fictitious funk and soul recording artist created in the late 1960s as the subject of works of album art by a young Mike Stevens. Mingering Mike released more than 50 album covers in 10 years. All of the work took place in Mike?s imagination, and in the vast collection of fake cardboard records and acapella home recordings that he made for himself as a teenager in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian American Art Museum recently acquired The Mingering Mike Collection (c. 1968 ? 1976) which included handmade LPs and record covers, handmade 45s and covers, real 45s with handmade labels, various pieces of ephemera, reel-to-reel mix tapes and original recordings on 8-track cassettes. He is represented by Hemphill Fine Arts.

Robin Rose?is a master of encaustic painting. Rose presents concepts ranging from the latest technological advancements, to archeological discoveries, to systems analysis. Rose?s work has been exhibited in New York, California, and Washington DC and is included in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture?Garden, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and The Phillips Collection, among other private and public collections. He is represented by Hemphill Fine Arts.

About Roger Gastman??Roger Gastman?began writing graffiti as a teenager in Bethesda, Maryland.? Since then, he has founded and published the pop culture magazines?While You Were Sleeping?and?Swindle, with Shepard Fairey, and authored a dozen graffiti art books including?The History of American Graffiti?(with Caleb Neelon;? Harper Collins,? 2011).? In 2011 he curated, with Jeffrey Deitch and? Aaron Rose, the exhibition?Art in the Streets?at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Gastman?s film production credits include Banksy?s??Exit? through? the Gift Shop, and the graffiti documentary??Wall Writers, and he is currently directing a documentary for Sanrio/Hello Kitty on the history of the brand and its fans.

Source: http://www.art202.com/2013/04/05/contemporary-wing-mumbo-sauce-is-open-april-5th-21st/

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