Friday, May 31, 2013

Patrick Stewart Eats First-Ever Slice of Pizza

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/patrick-stewart-eats-first-ever-slice-of-pizza/

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LinkedIn offers extra step to guard user accounts

(AP) ? LinkedIn is joining the crowd of Internet services tying account security to mobile phones.

In a change announced Friday, the roughly 225 million users of LinkedIn Corp.'s online professional networking service can now choose to require a code to be sent to their phones whenever an attempt is made to log in to an account from a device for the first time.

The code sent to the phone is needed to complete the login process. The extra step is designed to lessen the chances of computer hackers breaking into user accounts.

Google Inc., Facebook Inc. Microsoft Corp. and Twitter are among other major companies to deploy this two-step verification process.

LinkedIn, based in Mountain View, Calif., had about 6 million user passwords stolen and posted on the Internet last year.

___

Online:

http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/05/31/protecting-your-linkedin-account-with-two-step-verification/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-31-LinkedIn-Security/id-e349c4519a8c410fbc92373f27871393

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Waving at ants

Graduates in a stadium and friends who are departing get the same hail and farewell.

By Ellen D. Feld / May 30, 2013

2013 Graduation at University of California at Berkeley.

Tony Avelar/AP

Enlarge

I am sitting in the bleachers, watching my son and hundreds of his classmates file into Franklin Field, the University of Pennsylvania's football stadium. The dark phalanx of antlike creatures marches in perfect order, breaking apart only when it reaches the continent of folding chairs that, given how efficiently and single-mindedly the ants are filling them, must have been sprayed with honey.

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Blinking back tears, like most everyone around me, I search for my son in the sea of arthropods.

Suddenly, there he is, his face upturned, scanning the bleachers. I jump to my feet and start waving. Arms flying back and forth above my head, I resemble a windmill. Or maybe an airport worker guiding a plane on the tarmac.

I see him smile, then laugh as he pulls his camera out of his pocket. He snaps a picture as he waves back, then he turns and goes to find his honey-coated seat.

What is it about graduations that makes them so moving? Why do we all tend to cry as we watch our sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews parade around in dark robes?

We cry partly because we are programmed to. "Pomp and Circumstance" is the musical equivalent of a fresh-cut onion. Whether you're hearing it for the first or the 50th time, tears flow the moment you catch a strain of it.

We also cry because, no matter how old our offspring are, and no matter how much they have accomplished, in our hearts they will always be our babies. It makes no difference if my son grows a beard or wears robes as distinguished as Albus Dumbledore's; in my eyes he is still the little boy I carry around the house to comfort at 3 a.m. when he's not feeling well, the little boy who knows the name of every engine ever to grace Thomas the Tank Engine's train yard. Seeing him down there among the visiting dignitaries seems almost as incongruous as watching a toddler in a television commercial trade stocks on his smart phone.

And, of course, we cry because something wonderful is ending, and we miss it already. Whatever is on its way to replace it will not be the same. It has been such a gift to have my son go to college close to home, to be able to see him often, to meet him once a week for a run on Kelly Drive, to never have to worry about whether he will be able to make the trip home for a holiday.

But this was a time-limited gift. My son will attend graduate school in California. We will talk and text and Skype like crazy, and visit as often as we (or he) can. There will undoubtedly be all sorts of new, as yet undiscovered, gifts. But it will not be the same. You cannot go for a run with a text message. You cannot hug a computer screen.

The other night my son showed me the photo he took from the football field: There I am, arms in the air, a windmill in a purple dress, ready to guide any plane that needs me.

As I looked at the photo I recognized the wave. Every summer we spend time on a small island in Maine. When visitors are leaving, going back to the mainland by ferry, that is the wave I use. As the ferry pulls out I shout goodbye. Then I stand on the dock, windmilling my arms like crazy as the ferry recedes toward the horizon, as it and its specks of passengers shrink into invisibility.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/E9ydPsUhCh8/Waving-at-ants

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Best-selling author, outspoken Rev. Greeley dies

FILE - This 1992 file photo shows Rev. Andrew Greeley, an outspoken Roman Catholic priest, prolific best-selling novelist and Chicago newspaper columnist whose career spanned five decades. His longtime publicist said that Greeley died Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at his home in Chicago. He was 85. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - This 1992 file photo shows Rev. Andrew Greeley, an outspoken Roman Catholic priest, prolific best-selling novelist and Chicago newspaper columnist whose career spanned five decades. His longtime publicist said that Greeley died Wednesday, May 29, 2013, at his home in Chicago. He was 85. (AP Photo/File)

(AP) ? The Rev. Andrew Greeley, an outspoken Roman Catholic priest, best-selling author and longtime Chicago newspaper columnist who even criticized the hierarchy of his own church over the child sex abuse scandal, has died. He was 85.

Greeley died Wednesday night at his Chicago home, according to his longtime publicist, June Rosner. In a statement released Thursday through Rosner, Greeley's niece, Elizabeth Durkin, praised her uncle as a loving individual who "tremendously enriched" people's lives.

"He served the church all those years with a prophetic voice and with unfailing dedication," she said.

Greeley was the author of more than 50 best-selling novels, many of them international mystery thrillers, and dozens of nonfiction works. His writing was translated into 12 languages and his career spanned five decades.

The Chicago-area native wrote a weekly column that appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers on the relationship between religion and politics. He was a contributor to the New York Times, National Catholic Reporter and other publications.

Greeley had suffered a traumatic brain injury in November 2008, after he snagged his jacket on the door of a taxicab and fell. He spent several months in rehabilitation and underwent intensive therapy, though he never regained full cognitive function.

Greeley, who became a priest in the spring of 1954, published his final book, "Chicago Catholics and the Struggles Within Their Church," in 2010. It was a topic he had explored for years, sometimes giving him a reputation for generating controversy in the church.

"Sometimes I think that we as priests and bishops have done everything we possibly could to drive away the laity during the last 20 years," Greeley wrote in his book "Catholic Contributions: Sociology and Policy," published in 1987.

Greeley also had said neither the church nor government was willing to do much about priests who sexually abuse children.

"The sexually maladjusted priest has been able to abuse the children of the laity and thus far be reasonably secure from punishment," Greeley told a lay Catholic group in 1992.

During a news conference in 1987, Greeley said that if he were heading a church fundraising campaign, he would admit to church members that "we've really goofed. People are resentful over what they take to be the insensitivity of church leaders ? particularly on matters relating to sex."

Greeley was a sociology professor at the University of Arizona and a researcher at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. He earned post-graduate degrees from the University of Chicago in the 1960s.

The priest became often quoted and interviewed in the media. In a biography published on his website, Greeley described himself as having "unflinchingly urged his beloved church to become more responsive to evolving concerns of Catholics everywhere."

The same biography noted he was a Chicago sports fan and cheered for the Bulls, Bears and the Cubs, "while praying for them to improve."

Former President Bill Clinton listed Greeley among those who had stayed the night at the White House. Clinton's deputy White House press secretary said Greeley's novel "Irish Lace" was one of the books the then-president had on a vacation reading list in July 1997.

In 1986, Greeley offered the Archdiocese of Chicago $1 million to create a foundation to help inner-city Catholic students. The archdiocese refused the money but wouldn't say why. Greeley instead set up his own Catholic Inner-City School Fund to distribute money to the 80 Catholic schools in the city with student enrollments that are more than 50 percent black or Hispanic.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-30-Obit-Greeley/id-3956bc798da74657831deccaa6faaa56

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France's first gay marriage is broadcast to nation

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) ? In a historic ceremony broadcast live on French television, the first gay couple to marry in France said "oui," then sealed the deal with a lengthy and very public kiss.

Hundreds of invited guests including a government minister gathered for the moving ceremony Wednesday inside city hall in southern French city of Montpellier. Hundreds more flocked to the square outside the building as Vincent Autin, 40, and his 30-year-old partner, Bruno Boileau, were wed.

The politically charged ceremony was held under tight police surveillance ? a stark reminder of the months of bruising opposition to the new gay marriage law that French lawmakers passed earlier this month.

Although the marriage itself went undisrupted, outside the city hall it was not trouble-free. A plainclothes policeman dragged back one protester on Wednesday who shouted threats and tried to approach the couple as they were being escorted into the building, before the ceremony. Police also used tear gas to push back a small group of demonstrators who gathered behind the city hall.

"Even if we have passed the hurdle of equality, there are still more battles to fight... But for now, it's a moment for festivity, for love," Autin said after exchanging vows. Some cried, others smiled as Frank Sinatra's hit "Love and Marriage" blasted out, marking them tying the knot.

The two men then walked hand-in-hand to the city hall balcony to wave to well-wishers alongside Montpellier Mayor Helene Mandroux, who officiated at the ceremony. Smiling proudly, Mandroux called the marriage a "historic moment" and "a stage in the modernization of our country."

The two men, who will adopt the names "Messieurs Bruno et Vincent Boileau-Autin," were holding a separate, private ceremony later Wednesday for close friends and family.

"Many people have been waiting for this law on marriage and adoption. Now, it's done. Many people are going to be doing as we did, and celebrating their unions... We are very pleased and honored," said Boileau.

It is not clear yet when the first gay adoption will take place.

News of the marriage will not be welcomed in every corner of France. Just last Sunday, tens of thousands of people protested fiercely in Paris against the new gay marriage law, demonstrations that ended with riot police shooting tear gas.

A plan to legalize same-sex marriage and allow gay couples to adopt was a liberal cornerstone of Socialist Francois Hollande's election manifesto last year. It initially looked like a shoo-in for the French president ? since the measures were supported by a majority of the country ? and an easy way to break with his conservative predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

But the issue became a touchstone as Hollande's popularity sunk to unprecedented lows, largely over France's ailing economy. The law became a political hot potato that exposed bitter divisions between urban France, where homosexuality is widely accepted, and the Catholic heartland where conservative attitudes hold sway.

"What happened in our country to create so many divisions?" Mandroux said Wednesday, reflecting on the wrenching debate.

Demonstrations against the gay marriage law have often spilled into violence.

In Sunday's protest in the French capital, several hundred protesters clashed with police, throwing bottles and chasing journalists. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said police arrested some 100 far-right protesters.

Paris police estimated that 150,000 people took part in the demonstration but march organizers claimed on their Twitter account that more than a million people did.

At the same time Sunday, on the shores of the Mediterranean, the prestigious 66th Cannes Film Festival gave the Palme d'Or, its top honor, to "Blue is the Warmest Color: The Life of Adele," a graphic French film about a tender, sensual lesbian romance.

France is the 14th country so far ? and the biggest in political and economic weight ? to recognize gay marriage.

___

Thomas Adamson reported from Paris. Follow him at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/frances-first-gay-marriage-broadcast-nation-180534349.html

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Here's Your Chance to Become One of the First Asteroid Prospectors

Here's Your Chance to Become One of the First Asteroid Prospectors

It was just over a year ago, back in April 2012, that we first learned the intentions of a company known as Planetary Resources: Asteroid mining. As in going into space, finding an asteroid that's not-too-far from Earth, and mining it for precious minerals and/or water which could be used as space-fuel for other missions. In a word: Ambitious.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/gM6CBkwjDy4/heres-your-chance-to-become-one-of-the-first-asteroid-510285942

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

R/Finance 2013 Review | (R news & tutorials) - R-bloggers

, and I finally feel sufficiently recovered enough to share my thoughts. The conference is a two-day whirlwind of applied quantitative finance, fantastic networking, and general geekery.

The comments below are based on my personal experience. ?If I don't comment on a seminar or presentation, it doesn't mean I didn't like it or it wasn't good; it may have been over my head or I may have been distracted with my duties as a committee member. ?All the currently available conference slides are available on the website.

Friday morning seminar:
I went to (and live-tweeted) Jeff Ryan's seminar because I wanted to learn more about how he uses mmap+indexing with options data. ?There I realized that POSIXlt components use a zero-based index because they mirror the underlying tm struct, and that?mmap+indexing files can be shared across cores and you can read them from other languages (e.g. Python).

Friday talks:
The first presentation was by keynote?Ryan Sheftel, who talked about how he uses R on his bond trading desk. ?David Ardia showed how expected returns can be estimated via the covariance matrix. ?Ronald Hochreiter gave an overview of modeling optimization via his modopt package. ?Tammer Kamel gave a live demo of the Quandl package?and said, "Quandl hopes to do to Bloomberg what Wikipedia did to Britannica."

I had the pleasure of introducing both Doug Martin, who talked about robust covariance estimation, and Giles Heywood, who discussed several ways of estimating and forecasting covariance, and proposed an "open source equity risk and backtest system" as a means of matching talent with capital.

Ruey Tsay was the next keynote, and spoke about using principal volatility components?to simplify multivariate volatility modeling. ?Alexios Ghalanos?spoke about modeling multivariate time-varying skewness and kurtosis. ?Unfortunately, I missed both Kris Boudt's and David Matteson's presentations, but I did get to see Winston Chang's live demo of Shiny.

Friday food/networking:
The two-hour conference reception at UIC was a great time to have a drink, talk with speakers, and say hello to people I had never met in person. ?Next was the (optional) dinner at The Terrace at Trump. ?Unfortunately, it was cold and windy, so we only spent 15-20 minutes on the terrace before moving inside. ?The food was fantastic, but but the conversations were even better.

Saturday talks:

I missed the first block of lightning talks. ?Samantha Azzarello?discussed her work with Blu Putnam, which used a dynamic linear model to evaluate the Fed's performance vis-a-vis the Taylor Rule. ?Jiahan Li used constrained least squares on 4 economic fundamentals to forecast foreign exchange rates. ?Thomas Harte talked about regulatory requirements of foreign exchange pricing (and wins the award for most slides, 270); basically documentation is important, Sweave to the rescue!Sanjiv Das gave a keynote on 4 applications: 1) network analysis on SEC and FDIC filings to determine banks that pose systematic risk, 2) determining which home mortgage modification is optimal, 3) portfolio optimization with mental accounting, 4) venture capital communities.Attilio Meucci gave his keynote on visualizing advanced risk management and portfolio optimization. ?Immediately following, Brian Peterson gave a lightning on implementing Meucci's work in R (Attilio works in Matlab), which was part of a Google Summer of Code project last year.Thomas Hanson?presented his work with Don Chance (and others) on computational issues in estimating the volatility smile. ?Jeffrey Ryan?showed how to manipulate options data in R with the?greeks package.

The conference wrapped up by giving away three books, generously donated by Springer, to three random people who submitted feedback surveys. ?I performed the random drawing live on stage, using my patent-pending TUMC method (I tossed the papers up in the air).

The committee also presented the awards for best papers. ?The winners were:?

  • Regime switches in volatility and correlation of ?nancial institutions, Boudt et. al.
  • A Bayesian interpretation of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate and the Taylor Rule, Putnam & Azzarello
  • Nonparametric Estimation of Stationarity and Change Points in Finance, Matteson et. al.
  • Estimating High Dimensional Covariance Matrix Using a Factor Model, Sun (best student paper)

Saturday food/networking:

The whirlwind came to a close at Jaks Tap. ?I was finally able to ask speed-obsessed Matthew Dowle about potential implementations of a multi-type xts object (a Google Summer of Code project this year). ? ?I also spoke to a few people about how to add options strategy backtesting to quantstrat.

Last, but not least: none of this would be possible without the support of fantastic sponsors: International Center for Futures and Derivatives at UIC, Revolution Analytics, MS-Computational Finance at University of Washington, Google, lemnica, OpenGamma, OneMarketData, and?RStudio.

Source: http://www.r-bloggers.com/rfinance-2013-review/

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Book critics to give award for best debut work

NEW YORK (AP) ? A new literary prize has been established in honor of one of the country's most passionate book critics.

The National Book Critics Circle announced Wednesday that starting in 2014 the John Leonard Award will be given for the year's best debut book. Leonard, who died in 2008, was known for championing authors early in their careers. Among those he supported: Nobel laureate Toni Morrision and "Woman Warrior" writer Maxine Hong Kingston. Leonard wrote for The New York Times, The Nation and other publications.

The book critics circle, which already gives out prizes for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and criticism, was founded in 1974. It has around 500 members. Leonard himself was given a lifetime achievement award by the critics circle in 2006.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/book-critics-award-best-debut-100851623.html

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EU countries now free to arm Syrian rebels (CNN)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/308798019?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Moms top earners in 4 in 10 households

WASHINGTON (AP) ? America's working mothers are now the primary breadwinners in a record 40 percent of households with children ? a milestone in the changing face of modern families, up from just 11 percent in 1960.

The findings by the Pew Research Center, released Wednesday, highlight the growing influence of "breadwinner moms" who keep their families afloat financially. While most are headed by single mothers, a growing number are families with married mothers who bring in more income than their husbands.

Demographers say the change is all but irreversible and is likely to bring added attention to child-care policies as well as government safety nets for vulnerable families. Still, the general public is not at all sure that having more working mothers is a good thing.

While roughly 79 percent of Americans reject the notion that women should return to their traditional roles, only 21 percent of those polled said the trend of more mothers of young children working outside the home is a good thing for society, according to the Pew survey.

Roughly 3 in 4 adults said the increasing number of women working for pay has made it harder for parents to raise children.

"This change is just another milestone in the dramatic transformation we have seen in family structure and family dynamics over the past 50 years or so," said Kim Parker, associate director with the Pew Social & Demographic Trends Project. "Women's roles have changed, marriage rates have declined ? the family looks a lot different than it used to. The rise of breadwinner moms highlights the fact that, not only are more mothers balancing work and family these days, but the economic contributions mothers are making to their households have grown immensely."

The trend is being driven mostly by long-term demographic changes, including higher rates of education and labor force participation dating back to the 1960s women's movement. Today, more women than men hold bachelor's degrees, and they make up nearly half ? 47 percent ? of the American workforce.

But recent changes in the economy, too, have played a part. Big job losses in manufacturing and construction, fields that used to provide high pay to a mostly male workforce, have lifted the relative earnings of married women, even among those in mid-level positions such as teachers, nurses or administrators. The jump in working women has been especially prominent among those who are mothers ? from 37 percent in 1968 to 65 percent in 2011 ? reflecting in part increases for those who went looking for jobs to lift sagging family income after the recent recession.

At the same time, marriage rates have fallen to record lows. Forty percent of births now occur out of wedlock, leading to a rise in single-mother households. Many of these mothers are low-income with low education, and more likely to be black or Hispanic.

In all, 13.7 million U.S. households with children under age 18 now include mothers who are the main breadwinners. Of those, 5.1 million, or 37 percent, are married, while 8.6 million, or 63 percent, are single. The income gap between the families is large ? $80,000 in median family income for married couples vs. $23,000 for single mothers.

Both groups of breadwinner moms ? married and unmarried ? have grown sharply.

Among all U.S. households with children, the share of married breadwinner moms has jumped from 4 percent in 1960 to 15 percent in 2011. For single mothers, the share has increased from 7 percent to 25 percent.

Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, said that to his surprise public attitudes toward working mothers have changed very little over the years. He predicts the growing numbers will lead to a growing constituency among women in favor of family-friendly work policies such as paid family leave, as well as safety net policies such as food stamps or child care support for single mothers.

"Many of our workplaces and schools still follow a male-breadwinner model, assuming that the wives are at home to take care of child care needs," he said. "Until we realize that the breadwinner-homemaker marriage will never again be the norm, we won't provide working parents with the support they need."

Other findings:

?There is a gender gap on attitudes. About 45 percent of women say children are better off if their mother is at home, and 38 percent say children are just as well off if the mother works. Among men, 57 percent say children are better off if their mother is at home, while 29 percent say they are just as well off if she works.

?The share of married couples in which the wife is more educated than the husband is rising, from 7 percent in 1960 to 23 percent in 2011. Still, the vast majority of couples include spouses with similar educational backgrounds, at 61 percent.

?The number of working wives who make more than their husbands has been increasing more rapidly in recent years. Among recently married couples, including those without children, the share of "breadwinner wives" is roughly 30 percent, compared with 24 percent of all married couples.

The Pew study is based on an analysis of census data as of 2011, the latest available, as well as interviews with 1,003 adults by cellphone or landline from April 25 to 28. The Pew poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mothers-now-top-earners-4-10-us-households-040224109.html

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Striking green-eyed butterfly discovered in the United States

May 28, 2013 ? A new butterfly species from Texas, given the common name Vicroy's Ministreak, was discovered because of its striking olive green eye color, and was given a formal scientific name (Ministrymon janevicroy). This beautiful new butterfly may be the last truly distinctive butterfly species to be discovered in the United States.

Although individuals of Vicroy's Ministreak were deposited in the Smithsonian entomology collections a century ago, this species was unrecognized because it was confused with the common, similar-looking Gray Ministreak. Interestingly what distinguishes the two species is the distinctive olive-green eyes of the new species in contrast to the dark brown/black eyes of the Gray Ministreak.

As their common names suggest both species are diminutive, about the size of a thumbnail, and may occur at the same time and place. Besides eye color, each has different wing patterns and different internal structures. They have different, but overlapping, geographic distributions and habitat requirements.

Jeffrey Glassberg, President of the North American Butterfly Association, discovered Vicroy's Ministreak, and he named the species after his wife (Jane Vicroy Scott). Bob Robbins, the butterfly curator at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, together with Glassberg, are the authors of the paper officially describing Vicroy's Ministreak, published in the open access scientific journal ZooKeys.

Regardless of whether Vicroy's Ministreak turns out to be the last truly distinctive butterfly to be discovered in the United States, the era of new butterfly species, which began with Linnaeus more than 250 years ago, is ending in the United States. In tropical America, however, there are still hundreds upon hundreds of butterfly species awaiting discovery.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/6MEKZfK2sVM/130528122510.htm

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Monday, May 27, 2013

China's migrant worker pay growth nearly halved in 2012

BEIJING (Reuters) - The annual increase in pay for China's 163 million migrant workers almost halved in 2012, an official survey showed on Monday, signaling a looser labor market as economic growth slows.

The average monthly wage of migrant workers grew 11.8 percent in 2012 from the previous year to 2,290 yuan ($370). That marked a sharp slowdown from the annual 21.2 percent surge in 2011, according to the latest survey by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The survey of China's rural labor force showed the number of migrants working outside their home towns grew 3 percent in 2012 from the previous year to 163.4 million. The pace eased from 3.4 percent in 2011.

The survey reinforced signs that China's export-oriented coastal provinces face growing competition from their inland counterparts as more migrants seek and find jobs closer to home.

The number of migrants working in their home provinces rose 3.6 percent in 2012 from the previous year, outpacing the 2.3 percent rise in the number of people working outside their home provinces.

The number of migrant workers in the Pearl River delta region facing Hong Kong - a major hub for exports - accounted for 19.8 percent of the total, down by 0.3 percentage points from the previous year.

The number of migrant workers in the Yangtze River delta area around Shanghai accounted for 22.6 percent of the national total last year, down 0.5 percentage points from 2011.

Provincial officials in the interior have rolled out the red carpet for foreign companies trying to escape higher costs in the more developed coastal areas.

Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest contract electronics maker, has moved its main operations to such inland provinces as Henan and Shanxi.

China's overall rural workforce rose 3.9 percent in 2012 from the previous year to 262.6 million, the survey showed. The rate of expansion was 4.4 percent in 2011.

The bureau said the survey was conducted on a nationwide basis covering 200,000 migrant workers who had taken non-farm jobs for more than six months.

A seemingly endless stream of rural workers migrating to cities in search of better jobs and lives has underpinned China's economic rise in the past three decades.

But the pool of cheap labor is steadily drying up as the population ages, pushing up wages, which bodes well for the country's economic transformation.

The survey showed that the proportion of rural workers aged under 40 fell to 59.3 percent in 2012 from 70 percent in 2008.

Chinese leaders are planning to gradually free up China's rigid residence registration, or hukou, system to allow migrant workers to enjoy basic welfare services outside their official place of residence.

The reform will help speed up urbanization, seen as a vital driver to underpin economic growth, which slowed to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent in 2012.

Only 14.3 percent of migrant workers had pensions in 2012 and 16.9 percent had medical insurance, according to the survey. ($1 = 6.1316 yuan)

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-migrant-worker-pay-growth-nearly-halved-2012-060812991.html

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Christie wants to talk with Rutgers about latest scandal twist

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to speak with Rutgers officials about a report that the athletic director hired to clean up the school's scandal-scarred program quit as Tennessee's women's volleyball coach 16 years ago after her players complained she ruled through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak says the governor is aware of the report about Julie Hermann in the Star-Ledger of Newark, but wants to get more details before commenting.

''He's not going to make any judgments at this time,'' Drewniak said in an email to The Associated Press on Sunday.

The Star-Ledger reported that Tennessee players wrote the mentality cruelty they suffered when Hermann was coach was unbearable, adding she called them ''whores, alcoholics and learning disabled.''

Hermann was hired on May15 to replace the ousted Tim Pernetti, who was let go after basketball coach Mike Rice was fired for abusive behavior.

The 49-year-old Hermann is scheduled to take over at Rutgers on June 17. She is set to become the first woman to run the Scarlet Knights' athletic program and one of three female ADs at the 124 schools playing at college football's top tier.

However, it's uncertain whether the report will force Rutgers to re-consider the appointment. It also could give impetus to those who want new university president Robert Barchi to step down after yet another black eye for the state's largest university.

The university had not issued a comment by 4 p.m. Sunday.

Hermann was not immediately available for comment, but told the Star-Ledger that she did not recall the Tennessee letter. The newspaper said when it was read to her by phone, she replied, ''Wow.''

Rutgers board members Candace Straight and Joseph J. Roberts Jr. did not return telephone calls by the AP seeking comment.

''The questionable decision-making at this program so heavily funded by taxpayers continues to astound me,'' Assembly speaker Sheila Oliver said in an email to the AP.

Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich, who was Hermann's boss for almost the last 16 years, was surprised by the report.

''For me to say this is a shock, it totally is because of the tremendous job she did for me,'' Jurich said Sunday in a telephone interview. ''When she was with me at Northern Arizona, her players adored and loved her. I never heard anything about this at all from the Tennessee players and a lot of them have come through Louisville a number of times. Everybody is always singing her praises.''

The Star-Ledger report said that wasn't the case late in her coaching career at Tennessee.

In the letter submitted by all 15 team members in 1996, the volleyball players said Hermann called them ''whores, alcoholics and learning disabled'' and they wrote: ''It has been unanimously decided that this is an irreconcilable issue.'' The players told The Star-Ledger that Hermann absorbed the words and said: ''I choose not to coach you guys.''

After a series of interviews with many of the former Tennessee players about Hermann, The Star-Ledger said:

''Their accounts depict a coach who thought nothing of demeaning them, who would ridicule and laugh at them over their weight and their performances, sometimes forcing players to do 100 sideline push-ups during games, who punished them after losses by making them wear their workout clothes inside out in public or not allowing them to shower or eat, and who pitted them against one another, cutting down particular players with the whole team watching, and through gossip.

''Several women said playing for Hermann had driven them into depression and counseling, and that her conduct had sullied the experience of playing Division I volleyball.''

The Star-Ledger asked Hermann about the players' lingering grievances.

''I never heard any of this, never name-calling them or anything like that whatsoever,'' she told the newspaper. ''None of this is familiar to me.''

Hermann had promised a restart the Rutgers' athletic program following the ouster of its men's basketball coach and the resignation of other officials.

''No one on the coaching staff doesn't believe that we need to be an open book, that we will no longer have any practice, anywhere at any time, that anybody couldn't walk into and be pleased about what's going on in that environment. It is a new day. It is already fixed,'' Hermann said at her introductory news conference.

At that news conference, Hermann was questioned about a 1997 jury verdict that awarded $150,000 to a former Tennessee assistant coach who said Hermann fired her because she became pregnant.

Rutgers' problems started in December when Rice was suspended three games and fined $75,000 by the school after a video of his conduct at practices was given to Pernetti by Eric Murdock, a former assistant coach. The video showed numerous clips of Rice firing basketballs at players, hitting them in the back, legs, feet and shoulders. It also showed him grabbing players by their jerseys and yanking them around the court. Rice can also be heard yelling obscenities and using anti-gay slurs.

The controversy went public in April when ESPN aired the videos and Barchi admitted he didn't view the video in the fall. Rice was fired and Pernetti, assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and interim senior vice president and university counsel John Wolf resigned.

Even when Rutgers has made a move that was well received, there was a glitch.

After hiring former Scarlet Knights star Eddie Jordan to take over the basketball program, the university made the mistake of calling him a graduate when he had never finished work for his degree.

Now the Hermann problem has popped up when many thought the worst was over, and that the athletic department could start focusing on its move to the Big Ten in 2014.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christie-wants-talk-rutgers-hermann-182320794--spt.html

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Suspected killer of British soldier was held in Kenya

By Peter Griffiths and Drazen Jorgic

LONDON/NAIROBI (Reuters) - One of two men arrested over the murder of a British soldier in a London street was detained in Kenya in 2010 on suspicion of seeking to train with an al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, Kenyan police said on Sunday.

Confirmation that Michael Adebolajo was held in Kenya and deported to London will intensify calls for Britain's spy agencies to explain what they knew about the suspect and whether they could have done more to prevent Lee Rigby's killing on Wednesday.

The British parliament's security committee will next week investigate the security services' actions in the run-up to a killing that has put pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to take a harder line on radicals.

The Nairobi government initially said Adebolajo had never visited Kenya. But on Sunday, Boniface Mwaniki, head of Kenya's anti-terrorism police, said Adebolajo was arrested in November 2010 and deported to Britain.

"He was arrested with a group of five others trying to travel to Somalia to join militant group al Shabaab," he told Reuters.

The Islamist force, which is linked to al Qaeda, wants to impose a strict version of Islamic law across Somalia.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman in London confirmed the arrest and said consular officials had provided assistance.

Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under guard in hospital after being shot and arrested after the murder of the 25-year-old Afghan war veteran. They have not been charged.

Spy agencies have come under scrutiny after uncorroborated allegations by a friend of Adebolajo on Friday that intelligence officers tried to recruit him six months ago.

Asked whether the security services had contacted the men, Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May told the BBC: "Their job is about gathering intelligence. They do that from a variety of sources and they will do that in a variety of ways. And yes, they will approach individuals from time to time."

A source close to the investigation told Reuters this week that both suspects were known to the MI5 domestic security service. However, neither was thought to pose a serious threat.

'POISONOUS NARRATIVE'

The government also said it is forming a group to combat radical Muslim preachers and others whose words could encourage violence.

Prime Minister David Cameron's office said the group aimed to fight radicalism in schools and mosques, tighten checks on inflammatory internet material, and disrupt the "poisonous narrative" of hardline clerics.

Rigby's killing fuelled public anger about radical Islam. It has also raised questions over whether more could have done more to prevent the attack and put pressure on Cameron to tackle suspected militants more forcefully.

Witnesses said the soldier's killers shouted Islamist slogans during the attack. Bystanders filmed one of the suspects saying it was in revenge for Britain's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Successive British governments have wrestled with how to prevent people from becoming radicalised without alienating the wider population with draconian measures.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair tried to tighten rules against hate preachers after the London bombings in 2005 that killed 52 commuters. The measures stirred a long debate over how to balance free speech and civil rights with a strong counter-terrorism strategy.

Britain's two-party coalition government is divided over a planned new law that would allow police and spy agencies to monitor people's use of the internet and mobile phones.

The Muslim Council of Britain, a religious umbrella group, said new government measures risked "making our society less free, divided and suspicious of each other".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suspected-killer-british-soldier-held-kenya-145757905.html

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10 Recipes for a Delicious Meatless Memorial Day BBQ | Care2 ...

There is definitely more to a vegetarian BBQ than veggie burgers! Not that veggie burgers are a bad thing, but honestly, there is so much more.

Here are a few of my favorite ideas and recipes for summer picnics and BBQs that may be good for your Meatless Memorial Day foodie event (even if it is just dinner at home with the family!).

It?s Salad Time!

There are about a million ways to make yummy, delicious, local, seasonal, organic, healthy, festive salads, but here are a couple of my favorite recipes:

  1. 1.?Curried Tempeh Salad
  2. 2. & 3.?2 Vegan Salad Meals (Exotic Thai Salad & Healthy Salad w/ Cashew Yogurt)
  3. 4.?Healthy Crunchy Salad Slaw Thing
  4. 5.?GD Meg?s Yummy Curry Vinaigrette

Grilled Veggies, Yum!

There are more ways to grill vegetables than stupid metaphors I could come up with . . . But, if you find your favorite seasonal, local, organic vegetables and grill them up, you can make this DELICIOUS and easy (6.)?grilled veggie tostada w/ quick mole like I did for my?Cinco de Mayo brunch.

or

7. Make Green Diva Meg?s Lazy Sunday Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches

Ingredients
1 eggplant ? sliced into 1/2? thick slices
1/2 cup GD Meg?s Balsamic Marinade*
Roasted peppers ? sliced into strips
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
4 of your favorite rolls

*Marinade
almost 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 Tbls olive oil
2 cloves garlic ? crushed
sweetener of your choice (I use 2 Tbls honey usually)

Instructions
Slice up the eggplant and soak it in the marinade for a few minutes. Then grill it. While grilling, slice up the roasted peppers. Then cut rolls in half and grill to toast slightly. After rolls are toasted, baste them with the remaining marinade and then pile on the goodies. We usually have other options like sun dried tomatoes or fresh basil or other goodies that may be hanging around that day to pile on too.

Meatless Grilling Tips ? the Foodie Journal did a great post on tips for meatless grilling, which is worth perusing before grill time, and they offer a delicious looking recipe for?(8.) Dijon Grilled Asparagus and Onions.

I?m not even allowed to show up at certain summer events unless I bring my special berry crumble. It is so easy and ridiculously delicious. Here?s the

recipe:

9. Green Diva Meg?s Easy Berry Crumble

Ingredients
2 sticks butter ? softened
2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 cups (approximately) of various berries ? washed and cut as needed. (depending on what is in season and available locally, my favorites are blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and sometimes I throw in a pear or two)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking pan. Mix butter, oats, sugar, and flour together. I usually get in there with my hands. Line the bottom of the pan generously with about half of the mixture. Pour the fruit on top of the crumble lining and spread evenly, leaving enough room to put the rest of the crumble on top. Bake for about 45 minutes, until top is golden brown and fruit is bubbling.

10. Flowers Quench the Thirst . . .

But, for those who may have lavender in the gardens already, here is a REALLY special and excessively yummy recipe for lavender lemonade. I did it a few years ago, and now I grow extra lavender just to make more of this throughout the summer!

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-recipes-for-a-delicious-meatless-memorial-day-bbq.html

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

A century on, Stravinsky's 'Rite' still summons the caveman

By Michael Roddy

LONDON (Reuters) - A hundred years ago this week, the premiere of Russian emigre composer Igor Stravinsky's pounding, pagan, pulsating "The Rite of Spring" caused a near riot in Paris and changed the face of modern music. It still makes conductors' hair stand on end.

"I have to admit that when we come to the moment just before the last dance, and the bass clarinet goes down, my blood pressure is up, I have this sort of adrenaline surge," Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen told Reuters recently in London.

"It's an old caveman reaction - now you have to be prepared to leap even higher than ever before because the saber-toothed tiger is just behind you - and I love it," he said of facing the piece's finale, with its tricky, irregular and shifting rhythms.

On Wednesday night a sold-out audience at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, where on May 29, 1913, Marcel Proust, Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy attended perhaps the most notorious premiere in the history of music - Giacomo Puccini called it "sheer cacophony" - will get a chance to relive that thrilling night.

The 100th anniversary of the short work by the then little-known, bespectacled and clerkish composer, who somehow distilled man's primitive nature in a raucous and earthy half hour of music that concludes with a virgin's dance to the death, will get a double dose of the Rite.

Valery Gergiev will lead the Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra in a 1987 reconstruction of Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky's 1913 original choreography by ballet historians Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer. That will be followed by a new version by Berlin-based choreographer Sasha Waltz.

Stravinsky's music "conceals some ancient force, it's as if it's filled with the power of the Earth", Waltz said in conjunction with the premiere of her ballet earlier this month by the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg, in comments on the website of the Russkiy Mir cultural and educational foundation.

Stravinsky's changing time signatures and use of dissonance in the Rite set the tone of music for the rest of the century.

Wednesday's event will be a tout-Paris affair, with critics, luminaries of the cultural world and French officialdom in attendance, but the Rite is not a piece that needs dusting off or a stamp of approval. Its appeal is visceral and immediate.

"The miracle of that piece is the eternal youth of it. It's so fresh, it still kicks ass," said Salonen, who has recorded the Rite at least three times and will play it at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in early June. "How many 100-year-old pieces do that?"

Or, as Alan Gilbert, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, told Reuters in an interview recently in Dresden, after getting rave reviews for his Rite earlier this year: "It's a very dirty piece in every way and should be shocking."

"SUCCES DE SCANDALE"

To this day, there is lively debate about what happened a century ago in the theatre, a short walk from the Eiffel Tower. Did a Parisian claque, incensed at the choreography of impresario Serge Diaghilev's Russian lead dancer and lover Nijinsky, arrive bloody-minded and armed with vegetables? Did Stravinsky's pounding, pagan music inflame passions?

Stravinsky himself described Nijinsky's faux-primitive, peasant-garbed corps de ballet as looking like "a group of knock-kneed and long-braided Lolitas jumping up and down", but he also said Nijinsky's choreography was all the piece needed.

Following the uproar, the ballet was performed only half a dozen times, but the music was played to noisy audiences in Paris, more respectful ones in London and Russia, and by the 1920s was a hit in the United States and, later, the world.

"It was 'horrible music', terrifying; you might frighten your children with it, but very few people had heard it, so I think that helped its reputation to expand before the music arrived," Stephen Walsh, author of a two-volume biography of Stravinsky, said in a telephone interview.

In 1940, the Rite made its screen debut in Walt Disney's animated paean to classical music "Fantasia", with warring dinosaurs taking the place of the Lolitas. Perhaps in deference to Disney's famous prurience, the sacrificial dance was excised by the ever-accommodating Leopold Stokowski, the British conductor of Polish-Irish heritage, who led the Philadelphia Orchestra for the soundtrack.

This year the big music labels have done something they rarely do these days, putting a spotlight on the Rite like no other piece in living memory by releasing box sets reprising the best versions in their back catalogues - 10 CDs in one box for Sony, and a whopping 20 for Universal.

"We need to remind people how shocking and awesome this was, so let's do something a bit crazy," said Graham Southern, catalogue manager for Universal in London.

"It's edgy, it's exciting and, to me, listening to the piece, it's an experience," said Robert Russ, Southern's counterpart at Sony. He cherishes his set's remastering of a 1940 recording conducted by Stravinsky, in which the orchestra stumbles through the sacrificial dance, emphasizing how hard it was at the time.

"It's kind of charming because we are living in an era of perfection and everybody expects crystal-clear sound and perfect timings ... but that's also the reason why even if you have a nice house, people are sitting in front of a fireplace ... This is the experience of some of these historic recordings."

(Editing by Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/century-stravinskys-rite-still-summons-caveman-104255922.html

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Receiving A Gold Plated iPad At Hotel Check-In Is Normal, Right?

You know the drill. You pull up to a Super 8 Motel with the vacancy light on, you argue with the attendent about getting a room away from the ice machine, you whip out your AAA card for extra savings and then you take the 24-karat gold-plated iPad the attendant hands you and head off to your room to stockpile some free soap. Boom.

Read more...

    


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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Bayern, Dortmund await all-German Wembley final

Bayern Munich Arjen Robben of the Netherlands in action during a training session at Wembley Stadium in London, Friday May 24, 2013. Borussia Dortmund will face fellow German soccer team Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Bayern Munich Arjen Robben of the Netherlands in action during a training session at Wembley Stadium in London, Friday May 24, 2013. Borussia Dortmund will face fellow German soccer team Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery of France in action during their training session at Wembley Stadium in London, Friday May 24, 2013. Dortmund will face fellow German soccer team Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Bayern Munich's Claudio Pizarro, right, and Bastian Schweinsteiger in action during a training session at Wembley Stadium in London, Friday May 24, 2013. Dortmund will face fellow German soccer team Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

(AP) ? Bayern Munich is approaching its third Champions League final in four years with the calm of a team fully in control after a season of dominance.

Winger Thomas Mueller summed up the mood Friday. He says the showdown Saturday against Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium is just "a normal Champion League game." Though the stakes are clear, Mueller says, "We won't let it drive us crazy."

Bayern is returning to the final after last year's loss on penalty kicks to Chelsea in Munich. Bayern captain Philipp Lahm says all might be aligned this time.

He says the "players are the right age now, the right character. There's nothing against us winning tomorrow."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-24-SOC-Champions-League-Final/id-1ad76ddd245441259af682d3040e67e8

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GRID 2 Mono Edition: buy a ?125,000 racing game, get a supercar for free

GRID 2 Mono Edition attaches a 125,000 sports car to a 40 game

While we like our collector's edition games, there's no question that even the better bundles are full of knick-knacks we'll use just once or twice. No one will say the same for Codemaster's GRID 2: Mono Edition, though. The UK-only bundle includes the GRID 2 racing game, a PS3 to play it on... and a very real BAC Mono supercar. Whoever buys the £125,000 ($188,700) kit will get to both pick up the 280HP single-seater as well as customize it at the BAC factory, including the racing suit for those inevitable track days. With just one instance available for GRID 2's May 31st release, the Mono Edition bundle is more of a promotional stunt than a business strategy -- but it might be the only special edition where the extras are more exciting than the game itself.

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Via: Pocket-lint

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Journalist and author Haynes Johnson dies at 81

This undated photo shows journalist Haynes Johnson. Johnson, a pioneering Washington journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the civil rights movements and migrated from newspapers to television, books and teaching, died Friday, May 24, 2013. He was 81. (AP Photo/The Washington Post) WASHINGTON TIMES OUT; NEW YORK TIMES OUT;THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER AND USA TODAY OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

This undated photo shows journalist Haynes Johnson. Johnson, a pioneering Washington journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the civil rights movements and migrated from newspapers to television, books and teaching, died Friday, May 24, 2013. He was 81. (AP Photo/The Washington Post) WASHINGTON TIMES OUT; NEW YORK TIMES OUT;THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER AND USA TODAY OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

(AP) ? Haynes Johnson, a pioneering Washington journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the civil rights movement and migrated from newspapers to television, books and teaching, died Friday. He was 81.

The Washington Post reported he died at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. In a statement to the Post newsroom, Managing Editor Kevin Merida said Johnson died of a heart attack.

Johnson was awarded a Pulitzer in 1966 for national reporting on the civil rights struggle in Selma, Ala., while with The Evening Star in Washington. He spent about 12 years at the Star before joining its chief rival, The Washington Post, in 1969. Johnson was a columnist for the Post from 1977 to 1994.

Dan Balz, the Post's senior political reporter, said Johnson was already a legend before they worked together at the newspaper.

"I don't say this lightly. He was a great journalist," Balz said Friday. "He had everything a good reporter should have, which was a love of going to find the story, a commitment to thorough reporting and then kind of an understanding of history and the importance of giving every story kind of the broadest possible sweep and context."

Former Post executive editor Leonard Downie told the newspaper, "Haynes was a pioneer in looking at the mood of the country to understand a political race. Haynes was going around the country talking to people, doing portraits and finding out what was on people's minds. He was a kind of profiler of the country."

The author, co-author or editor of 18 books, Johnson also appeared regularly on the PBS programs "Washington Week in Review" and "The NewsHour." He was a member of the "NewsHour" historians panel from 1994 to 2004.

"I knew I wanted to write about America, our times, both in journalism and I also wanted to do books," he told C-SPAN in 1991. "I wanted to try to see if I could combine what I do as a newspaper person as well as step back a little bit and write about American life, and I was lucky enough to be able to do that."

Johnson had taught at the University of Maryland since 1998.

"Hundreds of our students learned how to cover public affairs from one of the best journalists America has ever known," Merrill College of Journalism Dean Lucy Dalglish said in a written statement released by the university. "It was equally obvious to anyone who looked through the window that Haynes was in his element in the classroom. His entire face lit up when he was in the middle of a classroom discussion."

Johnson had attended graduation ceremonies on Monday for the journalism college.

Kathryn Oberly, Johnson's wife, told the school's Capital News Service that Johnson entered the hospital earlier this week for heart tests and died Friday morning of a heart attack.

Johnson also had teaching stints at George Washington University, Princeton University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania.

He was born in New York City on July 9, 1931. His mother, Emmie, was a pianist and his father, Malcolm Johnson, a newspaperman. The elder Johnson won a Pulitzer Prize for the New York Sun in 1949 for his reporting on the city's dockyards, and his series suggested the story told in the Oscar-winning film "On the Waterfront."

Johnson studied journalism and history at the University of Missouri, graduating in 1952. After serving three years in the Army during the Korean War, he earned a master's degree in American history from the University of Wisconsin in 1956.

Johnson resisted working in New York journalism to avoid being compared to his father. He worked for nearly a year at the Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal before joining the Star as a reporter.

He received a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the struggles of blacks in Selma, Ala., where hundreds of marchers bound for the state capital of Montgomery were brutally beaten in March 1965 by state and local law officers. Martin Luther King, Jr., came to the city, and after a federal judge found that the demonstrators had a right to march, they completed their journey later that month.

"Haynes had roots in the South," Balz said. "He was raised in New York, but he had Southern roots. He had a special appreciation for the civil rights struggle and what African Americans were going through."

Returning to Selma after the crisis had ended, Johnson wrote of finding "no discernible change in the racial climate of the city." He wrote that blacks had made no major advances in the areas of employment, housing and education, according to an excerpt from a collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles, "National Reporting, 1941-1986."

But he wrote later, "Above all is a historical fact: As a result of what the Selma Negroes and their white friends did last spring, the Deep South will never be the same. The demonstrations and the march lifted the spirits of Negroes everywhere."

It wasn't long before Ben Bradlee, the newly appointed executive editor of The Washington Post, came calling. As Bradlee was seeking to elevate the newspaper, he recruited both Johnson and The New York Times' David S. Broder to strengthen the paper's political reporting.

"He reached out, held out his hand, and I grabbed it, and that was it," Johnson recalled in Jeff Himmelman's 2012 biography of Bradlee. "There was no contract, nothing. It was just, 'Come, we want you,' and I've never forgotten that."

Johnson's books include "The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election," (2009) with Balz; "The Best of Times: America in the Clinton Years" (2001); and "The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point" (1996) with Broder, who died two years ago.

Johnson and Broder helped redefine Washington reporting, getting outside the Beltway to talk with voters about candidates and issues, rather than letting politicians dictate coverage. Both wove that reporting into broader articles that examined the mood of the country and the workings of government.

"Hayes was a giant," journalism professor and author Carl Sessions Stepp commented on the University of Maryland's website. "He had the mind of a scholar and the soul of a regular citizen, and nobody has ever better combined insider digging and outside-the-Beltway pulse-taking."

Gene Roberts, who helped lead The Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times and co-authored a book on media coverage of the civil rights movement, said he was amazed with Johnson's work ethic.

"I think he was one of the most important reporters in the country during his journalistic career and later as he got more into books," Roberts said. "I was amazed. Most writers take a breather between books, but when he finished one book he always started immediately on another book."

Johnson and Roberts taught together at the University of Maryland. Roberts said Johnson was an inspirational teacher and a serious historian. He had also worked to have his father's "Waterfront" articles printed in book form, which they were in 2005.

According to Capital News Service, Johnson had begun work on a 19th book, looking at the speed with which breaking news was covered in the social media era.

Johnson married Julia Ann Erwin in 1954; they had three daughters and two sons and later divorced. In 2002, Johnson married Kathryn Oberly, an associate judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

___

Zongker contributed from Washington.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Barry Schweid reported on foreign policy, the Supreme Court and national politics for The Associated Press in Washington for more than 50 years.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-24-US-Obit-Haynes-Johnson/id-4c8c19c2589e42bf96deb8325b306a2f

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