This year marks National Geographic Traveler's 25th annual photo contest, which invites amateurs to submit their best snaps for review by the mag's venerable photo editors. Last night, the winners were revealed in all their high-res glory.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/here-are-national-geographic-travelers-best-photos-of-1002461925
An internal memo at Seattle City Hall is causing quite a stir. It suggests government workers no longer use the terms "citizen," or "brown bag."?
According to the Office for Civil Rights, the terms are potentially offensive and other words should be used.
"Luckily, we've got options," Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo. "For 'citizens,' how about 'residents?'" Bronstein wrote.
The Office of Civil Rights says Seattle serves all residents, whether they're United States citizens or not.
And while city leaders publicize "brown bag" lunch meetings as a way to designate a bring-your-own lunch time event, the term has a sorted [sic] history.?
"It used to be a way people could judge skin color," Bronstein said in a phone interview.
But the City of Seattle isn't alone. State lawmakers have voted to remove gender specific words in official records.
Freshman are now "first-years," journeymen are "journey-level," and penmanship is simply "handwriting."
To offend or not to offend, turns out to be a very sensitive question.
So what is a person supposed to say instead of brown bag? According to the memo, people should try "lunch-and-learn" or "sack lunch."
Definitions of *brown bag* ...
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brown%20bag
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/brown-bag
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brown+bag
KOKO-TV has a history as an affiliate of NBC/ABC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOMO-TV
Read more here:
?http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/02/seattle-officials-call-for-ban-on-potentially-offensive-language/#ixzz2aox3LzSp
Ignorant and clueless Mr. Bronstein, in his own words.....?
"For a lot of particularly African-American community members, the phrase brown bag does bring up associations with the past when a brown bag was actually used, I understand, to determine if people's skin color was light enough to allow admission to an event or to come into a party that was being held in a private home," Bronstein said.
?
a christmas story twas the night before christmas santa Capital STEEZ George Bush After Christmas Sales 2012 Charles Durning
This Feb. 11, 1964 image provided by the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos, N.M., shows a photograph of the Beatles taken by photographer Mike Mitchell during a news conference before the band's first live U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. Mitchell?s portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong photography exhibition at the gallery. This marks the first time the images have been shown since their unveiling in 2011 at a Christie?s auction in New York City. (AP Photo/David Anthony Fine Art, Mike Mitchell)
This Feb. 11, 1964 image provided by the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos, N.M., shows a photograph of the Beatles taken by photographer Mike Mitchell during a news conference before the band's first live U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. Mitchell?s portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong photography exhibition at the gallery. This marks the first time the images have been shown since their unveiling in 2011 at a Christie?s auction in New York City. (AP Photo/David Anthony Fine Art, Mike Mitchell)
This Feb. 11, 1964 image provided by the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos, N.M., shows a photograph of John Lennon taken by photographer Mike Mitchell during the Beatles first live U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. Mitchell?s portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong photography exhibition at the gallery. This marks the first time the images have been shown since their unveiling in 2011 at a Christie?s auction in New York City. (AP Photo/David Anthony Fine Art, Mike Mitchell)
This Feb. 11, 1964 image provided by the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos, N.M., shows a photograph of George Harrison taken by photographer Mike Mitchell during the Beatles first live U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. Mitchell?s portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong photography exhibition at the gallery. This marks the first time the images have been shown since their unveiling in 2011 at a Christie?s auction in New York City. (AP Photo/David Anthony Fine Art, Mike Mitchell)
This Feb. 11, 1964 image provided by the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos, N.M., shows a photograph of Ringo Starr taken by photographer Mike Mitchell during the Beatles first live U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. Mitchell?s portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong photography exhibition at the gallery. This marks the first time the images have been shown since their unveiling in 2011 at a Christie?s auction in New York City. (AP Photo/David Anthony Fine Art, Mike Mitchell)
This Feb. 11, 1964 image provided by the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos, N.M., shows a photograph of Ringo Starr taken by photographer Mike Mitchell at a news conference before the Beatles first live U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. Mitchell?s portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong photography exhibition at the gallery. This marks the first time the images have been shown since their unveiling in 2011 at a Christie?s auction in New York City. (AP Photo/David Anthony Fine Art, Mike Mitchell)
TAOS, N.M. (AP) ? Snow and frigid temperatures didn't stop thousands of screaming teenagers from crowding into the Washington Coliseum in the nation's capital for the Beatles first live concert on American soil.
And not having a flash didn't stop photographer Mike Mitchell, then just 18 years old, from using his unrestricted access to document that historic February night in 1964 using only the dim light in the arena.
Ghostly shadows and streams of light filled some negatives. With the help of modern technology and close to 1,000 hours in front of the computer screen, Mitchell was able to peel back decades of grunge and transform those old negatives into a rare, artful look at one of pop culture's defining moments.
Mitchell's portraits of the Beatles are the centerpiece of a monthlong exhibition at the David Anthony Fine Art gallery in Taos ? the first time the prints have been exhibited since being unveiled in 2011 at a Christie's auction in New York City. The gallery started hanging the first of the framed prints a week ago in preparation for Friday's opening.
"Just amazing," gallery owner David Mapes said as he looked around the room at the large black and white prints and wondered aloud what it must have been like to be in Mitchell's shoes that night.
Mapes pointed to a photograph of the four band members, their backs to the camera with a thin ribbon of light outlining their silhouettes. When he first saw it, he said he teared up. He knew he had to find a way to share it with others.
"It brought back memories of that time. I was a teenager and it was so much about love and everything was optimistic feeling," he said.
It didn't take long from the time the Beatles released their debut album in 1963 to go from a little British bar band to an international sensation. The Beatles' reach eventually stretched beyond music and haircuts to religion and politics.
"The Beatles came to represent some of the yearnings for peace and hope and equality and a larger social justice. In the United States and throughout the world, their personalities became as important as the music," said Norman Markowitz, a history professor at Rutgers University.
For Paul Vance, who teaches a class on the Beatles at Winona State University in Minnesota, the band was the reason he pursued music. He was 11 years old when the Beatles first came to the U.S.
The Beatles had good timing, he said, having arrived at a time when America was still heartbroken over the assassination of then-President John F. Kennedy and young people were looking for meaning in their lives.
"Much has been said and written about it," Vance said of the Beatles' influence. "It's a very significant point that the world after the Beatles was a radically different place than the world before the Beatles, and they did influence and change so many aspects of not just American life, but life everywhere."
Mitchell can't predict what role his photographs will play as historians and music fans continue to examine the evolution of American pop culture. Still, those moments captured by his camera that February night tell a grainy story of four young men who seemed to be having the time of their lives.
Mitchell remembers how hot it was inside the coliseum. The crowd was deafening but the resonating bass beats were unmistakable. He said the Beatles were "on fire" that night.
"They were really juiced. It was obvious at the time that they were really, really, really into it and I think the pictures really benefit from that," he said.
Mitchell said his goal was simple. He wanted to make great portraits of the Beatles while discovering a little more about who they really were.
With no flash, he was forced to wait for the perfect time to snap that shutter. His photographs immortalized the important details of the moment in a bath of light while the rest faded into darkness. It was the concert that marked the beginning of his fascination with light.
"I think that was the first time in my life that I had to really look more deeply at light and take my queues from what the light was doing," he said. "I learned to sort of feel from the light."
____
Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM
____
Online:
www.mikemitchell.us
www.davidanthonyfineart.com
Associated Pressaaron brooks dave matthews band solar flares 2012 whitney houston will toyota recall northern lights sign of the times
11 hours ago
Stocks soared to fresh closing highs on Thursday, one day before the government releases critical jobs figures that could help determine whether the economy is healthy enough for the Federal Reserve to begin to slow down its stimulus package.
The rally, in which the S&P 500 went through the 1,700-point level for the first time, was sparked by a plethora of upbeat economic data ahead of the widely-watched jobs report set for Friday morning.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect to see a gain of 184,000 jobs in July, after a 195,000 uptick in the previous month.?
(Read more:?July jobs report key to Fed action)
"The jobs numbers have been decent as of late, but the problem is the quality of employment," said Lance Roberts, chief economist at StreetTalk Advisors. "There's also clearly a divergence between the stock market and real economy and that's because of the artificial stimulus from the Fed.
"The problem is that they're not seeing that stimulus being translated into the economy so the worry we should have is that we're inflating valuations and the issue of potentially blowing an asset bubble is very real."
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve?declined to signal when it would start tapering its bond-buying program, which has buoyed the markets. However, it did raise concerns about rising mortgage rates and flagged the risks of inflation falling too far below its target. In addition, the central bank slightly downgraded its outlook for economic growth.
But several reports on Thursday boosted the views of many analysts that the economy is getting healthier. Weekly jobless claims?dropped to a 5-1/2 year low, according to the Labor Department. And the number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms?declined modestly in July, with employers announcing 37,701 cuts last month, down 4.2 percent from June, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In another positive sign, the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector accelerated in July to the?highest level since June 2011 as new orders surged, according to the Institute for Supply Management.?
The positive economic data have stimulated the stock markets recently. Major stock averages closed out their?best July since 2010 on Wednesday and so far this year, the Dow and S&P 500 have spiked more than 19 percent, while the Nasdaq has surged an impressive 21 percent.
On Thursday, the?Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked to close 128 points higher and set a fresh all-time high of 15,650.69, lifted by Bank of America and P&G. ExxonMobil was among the few Dow components in the red.
The?S&P 500 and the?Nasdaq both put on 1 percent, with the S&P 500 piercing the 1700 barrier to close at 1706.87. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, slid below 13.
All key S&P sectors closed in positive territory, led by financials and industrials.
"The rising asset prices will help instill confidence and that will breed more confidence," said Matthew Kaufler, portfolio manager of the Clover Value Fund at Federated.?
"However, we've had a great run in the market and at some point there will be a correction in the near point?still, my sense would be that there's enough momentum that we'll end the year up a few percentage points higher than where we currently are."
(Read more:Short the S&P atall-time highs? Absolutely!)
Asian stocks rallied after China's official PMI (purchasing manager's index) data showed the country's manufacturing sector continued to expand in July, defying forecasts of a contraction. But the picture was mixed, with a private gauge of factory activity by HSBC showing an 11-month low of 47.7 in July. Japan's Nikkei rallied to a one-month peak on the news, the Shanghai Composite hit a one-week high and South Korea's Kospi touched a seven-week high.
"Official PMI is more skewed to larger companies, and the HSBC figure reflects the smaller companies and that is where you get this divergence," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC.
(Read more: Will China PMI mark the end of negative data surprises?)
In Europe, the European Central Bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, and reiterated that rates would remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time.
"Labor market conditions remain weak. Looking ahead to the remainder of the year and 2014, euro area growth should benefit from a gradual recovery in global demand," said ECB president Mario Draghi in a press conference following the announcement. "Our monetary policy stance remains accommodative for as long as necessary. We have unanimously confirmed the forward guidance we gave last time."
Euro zone manufacturing activity grew for the first time in two years in July, with the purchasing manager's index (PMI) climbing to 50.3 in July. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.
And the Bank of England left its interest rates unchanged at 0.5 percent, as expected, under its new governor, Mark Carney.
(Read more:July jobs report key to Fed action)
? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved
Chris Davis Twinkies Agnieszka Radwanska Talia metta world peace grown ups Anna Benson
ALBANY, N.Y. -- SnapDragon and RubyFrost are the names of two new apples that will soon hit farm stands after more than a decade of development by Cornell University, an industry group announced Thursday.
The varieties, developed by Cornell breeder Susan Brown, are the first grown under an exclusive licensing agreement with New York Apple Growers.
Cornell has released 66 apple varieties since the late 1890s, including Cortland, Macoun, Empire and Jonagold. Historically, public universities released new varieties freely to growers and nurseries. A federal law passed in 1980 gave universities the ability to retain the intellectual property rights for their research with limited plant-based royalties.
Brown said SnapDragon gets its juicy crispness from its parent Honeycrisp and is expected to be a popular snacking apple, especially for children. The apple, which has a spicy-sweet flavor, ripens in late September and has a longer storage and shelf life than the Honeycrisp, a cross of Macoun and Honeygold developed by the University of Minnesota, Brown said.
RubyFrost ripens later in the fall, stores well and has high vitamin C content. Brown said it will be popular with fans of Empire and Granny Smith.
New York, the nation's No. 2 apple producer behind Washington, averages nearly 30 million bushels of apples annually.
The names of the new apples, formerly known simply as "New York 1" and "New York 2," were chosen after extensive consumer research and taste-testing. The growers' group surveyed 1,000 consumers online to help pick names.
Under the partnership with New York Apple Growers, Cornell gets royalties on trees purchased, acreage planted and fruit produced, with the income used to market the new varieties and support Cornell's breeding program.
The first trees were planted in 2011, with 400 acres now growing. The apple growers' group said a limited crop will be available at farm stands this fall, with grocery store sales expected to start in 2015.
The apples' names were revealed during Cornell's annual fruit grower field days in Geneva.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/01/3535494/ny-apple-growers-announce-names.html
London 2012 rhythmic gymnastics Meteor Shower August 2012 David Boudia David Rakoff Bourne Legacy London 2012 Soccer Olympics closing ceremony
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? The head of the U.S. National Security Agency defended the government's much-criticized surveillance program against hecklers among a crowd of computer systems analysts Wednesday, but also had a challenge for them: If you don't like it, lend your talent to build a better one.
"You're the greatest tech talent anywhere in the world. Help us," Army Gen. Keith Alexander said at the hacker conference for the buttoned-up corporate and government security analyst crowd, not the one later in the week for the more counter-culture types.
Alexander spent much of his 45-minute address explaining how government methods used to collect telephone and email data helped foil 54 terror plots since 1993. He was interrupted at times by hecklers, but also drew applause.
"Our nation takes stopping terrorism as one of the most important things," he said, standing in short sleeves with a slide on the screen behind him showing a timeline and the number of foiled plots.
"Freedom!" one man shouted from the middle of the standing-room crowd.
"Exactly. And with that, when you think about it, how do we do that? Because we stand for freedom," Alexander said.
"Bulls--t," the heckler said.
"Not that," Alexander replied before continuing his keynote speech to the annual Black Hat conference at Caesars Palace. Organizers said the conference drew 7,000 people.
Alexander didn't refer in his address specifically to leaks by former NSA systems analyst contractor Edward Snowden of classified documents that brought attention on the government's surveillance efforts.
He remained unapologetic, denying another heckler's claim that he lied to Congress about methods the NSA uses to "connect the dots" and "go after the bad actors who may want to do us harm."
"People say, 'I hear what you say, but I don't trust that,'" Alexander said.
"How do we defend this country? That is the question," he said. "The nation needs to know we're going to do the right thing."
The four-star general, who has headed the NSA for eight years, said it wasn't true the agency listens to specific phone calls and reads emails. He said "no one at NSA" has ever gone outside the legal boundaries of the Patriot Act and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act programs allowing the collection of "metadata."
Alexander emphasized oversight of his programs by Congress, courts and the administration, and posted a slide of the type of broad one-line "metadata" that he said the agency collects from communications abroad: Date, duration, phone number calling, phone number receiving, and a note about the authorizing entity.
"There are no names in the database," he said. "No addresses. No credit card numbers. The database is like a lockbox."
Alexander said the data led to the disruption of 13 terror plots in the U.S., 25 in Europe, five in Africa and 11 in Asia. He spoke of a thwarted plot to bomb the New York City subway system in September 2009, but didn't specify others.
"We get all these allegations of, 'What they could be doing,'" Alexander said. "But when you check, like the (congressional) intelligence committees, they find that hasn't happened. Zero times."
Ted Doty, a computer product security manager and blogger from Atlanta, said he wasn't convinced.
"The smart people know that what's interesting is the connection trees," Doty said, referring to the links between one caller and the next. "That's what the NSA wants."
Doty said he suspected the government submits emails and text communications to transcription software and searches it using algorithms to find key words and phrases.
Mike MacKinnon, an information technology manager for a Los Angeles law firm, said he thought Alexander handled heckling well. He noted that Alexander even drew laughter when a voice shouted that he should read the Constitution.
Alexander said he had, and the heckler should, too.
"I expected a bit more yelling," MacKinnon said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-chief-talks-hackers-conference-vegas-175951147.html
green book some like it hot whale shark whale shark duke university platypus platypus
