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Thursday 23 May 2013
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater
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Public release date: 21-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology
Researchers at University of Cincinnati have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources lakes and rivers at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon. They report their results today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
Vikram Kapoor, environmental engineering doctoral student, and David Wendell, assistant professor of environmental engineering, report on their development and testing of the new filter made of two bacterial proteins that was able to absorb 64 percent of antibiotics in surface waters vs. about 40 percent absorbed by the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon. One of the more exciting aspects of this filter is the ability to reuse the antibiotics that are captured.
"The presence of antibiotics in surface waters is harmful in that it breeds resistant bacteria and kills helpful microorganisms, which can degrade aquatic environments and food chains. In other words, infectious agents like viruses and illness-causing bacteria become more numerous while the health of streams and lakes degrades," says Kapoor.
The newly developed nano filters, each much smaller in diameter than a human hair, could potentially have a big impact on both human health and on the health of the aquatic environment (since the presence of antibiotics in surface waters can also affect the endocrine systems of fish, birds and other wildlife).
The filter employs one of the very elements that enable drug-resistant bacteria to be so harmful, a protein pump called AcrB.
"These pumps are an amazing product of evolution. They are essentially selective garbage disposals for the bacteria. Our innovation was turning the disposal system around. So, instead of pumping out, we pump the compounds into the proteovesicles," says Kapoor
The operation of the new filtering technology is powered by direct sunlight vs. the energy-intensive needs for the operation of the standard activated carbon filter.
The filtering technology also allows for antibiotic recycling.
"After these new nano filters have absorbed antibiotics from surface waters, the filters could be extracted from the water and processed to release the drugs, allowing them to be reused. On the other hand, carbon filters are regenerated by heating to several hundred degrees, which burns off the antibiotics," says Kapoor.
The new protein filters are highly selective. Currently used activated carbon filters serve as "catch alls," filtering a wide variety of contaminants. That means that they become clogged more quickly with natural organic matter found in rivers and lakes.
"So far, our innovation promises to be an environmentally friendly means for extracting antibiotics from the surface waters that we all rely on. It also has potential to provide for cost-effective antibiotic recovery and reuse," says Kapoor.
The researchers have tested the solar-powered nano filter against activated carbon, the present treatment technology standard outside the lab, in water collected from the Little Miami River. Using only sunlight as the power source, they were able to selectively remove the antibiotics ampicillin and vancomycin, commonly used human and veterinary antibiotics, and the nucleic acid stain, ethidium bromide, which is a potent carcinogen to humans and aquatic animals.
###
This research was presented as part of the 2013 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held May 18-21, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. A full press kit for the meeting, including tipsheets and additional press releases, can be found online at http://bit.ly/asm2013pk.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 21-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology
Researchers at University of Cincinnati have developed and tested a solar-powered nano filter that is able to remove harmful carcinogens and antibiotics from water sources lakes and rivers at a significantly higher rate than the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon. They report their results today at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
Vikram Kapoor, environmental engineering doctoral student, and David Wendell, assistant professor of environmental engineering, report on their development and testing of the new filter made of two bacterial proteins that was able to absorb 64 percent of antibiotics in surface waters vs. about 40 percent absorbed by the currently used filtering technology made of activated carbon. One of the more exciting aspects of this filter is the ability to reuse the antibiotics that are captured.
"The presence of antibiotics in surface waters is harmful in that it breeds resistant bacteria and kills helpful microorganisms, which can degrade aquatic environments and food chains. In other words, infectious agents like viruses and illness-causing bacteria become more numerous while the health of streams and lakes degrades," says Kapoor.
The newly developed nano filters, each much smaller in diameter than a human hair, could potentially have a big impact on both human health and on the health of the aquatic environment (since the presence of antibiotics in surface waters can also affect the endocrine systems of fish, birds and other wildlife).
The filter employs one of the very elements that enable drug-resistant bacteria to be so harmful, a protein pump called AcrB.
"These pumps are an amazing product of evolution. They are essentially selective garbage disposals for the bacteria. Our innovation was turning the disposal system around. So, instead of pumping out, we pump the compounds into the proteovesicles," says Kapoor
The operation of the new filtering technology is powered by direct sunlight vs. the energy-intensive needs for the operation of the standard activated carbon filter.
The filtering technology also allows for antibiotic recycling.
"After these new nano filters have absorbed antibiotics from surface waters, the filters could be extracted from the water and processed to release the drugs, allowing them to be reused. On the other hand, carbon filters are regenerated by heating to several hundred degrees, which burns off the antibiotics," says Kapoor.
The new protein filters are highly selective. Currently used activated carbon filters serve as "catch alls," filtering a wide variety of contaminants. That means that they become clogged more quickly with natural organic matter found in rivers and lakes.
"So far, our innovation promises to be an environmentally friendly means for extracting antibiotics from the surface waters that we all rely on. It also has potential to provide for cost-effective antibiotic recovery and reuse," says Kapoor.
The researchers have tested the solar-powered nano filter against activated carbon, the present treatment technology standard outside the lab, in water collected from the Little Miami River. Using only sunlight as the power source, they were able to selectively remove the antibiotics ampicillin and vancomycin, commonly used human and veterinary antibiotics, and the nucleic acid stain, ethidium bromide, which is a potent carcinogen to humans and aquatic animals.
###
This research was presented as part of the 2013 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held May 18-21, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. A full press kit for the meeting, including tipsheets and additional press releases, can be found online at http://bit.ly/asm2013pk.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/asfm-bsp051613.php
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Close Up With Xbox One: Every Photo You Could Ever Want
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Tuesday 21 May 2013
Timing of cancer radiation therapy may minimize hair loss
May 20, 2013 ? Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock -- a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair -- researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized if these treatments are given late in the day.
The study, which appears in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), found that mice lost 85 percent of their hair if they received radiation therapy in the morning, compared to a 17 percent loss when treatment occurred in the evening.
The researchers, from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI), worked out the precise timing of the hair circadian clock, and also uncovered the biology behind the clockwork -- the molecules that tells hair when to grow and when to repair damage. They then tested the clock using radiotherapy.
"These findings are particularly exciting because they present a significant step towards developing new radiation therapy protocols that include minimizing negative side effects on normal tissues, such as hair or bone marrow, while maintaining the desired effects on cancer cells," says Maksim Plikus, assistant professor of developmental and cell biology at UCI and the study's first author. "We will now apply our findings to design novel circadian rhythm-based approaches to cancer therapy."
The scientists can't say their findings will directly translate to human cancer therapy because they haven't yet studied that possibility. But they say it is becoming increasingly clear that body organs and tissues have their own circadian clocks that, when understood, could be used to time drug therapy for maximum benefit.
"There are clocks everywhere in the body -- clocks that have their own unique rhythm that, we found, have little to do with the central clock in our brains," says the study's co-lead investigator, Satchidananda Panda, an associate professor in Salk's Regulatory Biology Laboratory and an expert on circadian rhythm.
"This suggests that delivering a drug to an organ while it is largely inactive is not a good idea. You could do more damage to the organ than when it is awake, repairing and restoring itself," says Panda. "If you know when an organ is mending itself, you might be able to deliver more potent doses of a drug or therapy. That might offer a better outcome while minimizing side effects."
Panda uses genetic, genomics and biochemical approaches to identify genes under circadian regulation in different organs and to understand the mechanism of such regulation. Plikus at UCI and Cheng-Ming Chuong, professor of pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study's co-lead investigator, are experts on hair regeneration.
These researchers and their colleagues teamed together to find and then take apart the mouse hair circadian clock. It was a long and difficult study, Chuong says.
"Hair is a very complicated organ, featuring different types of cells going through different stages in the life cycle in a very tiny space," Chuong says. "We found that hair in mice grows fast in the morning and slows down at night, engaging a very powerful clock."
Every time hair cells divide, they pick up DNA damage that needs to be repaired. The scientists discovered that mice hair cells repair that damage primarily in the evening. This process is akin to using a kitchen dishwasher, Panda says.
"Most of us run the dishwasher after we have accumulated a lot of dirty dishes -- we don't run it every time a dish is dirty. The same is true for cells. They clean up -- repair their DNA -- at one time each day," Panda says.
Radiotherapy damages DNA in cells that divide rapidly, which is why it is used against growing cancer cells. That means that DNA damage to hair cells from radiotherapy delivered in the morning is not repaired until the evening, leading to hair loss. Damage from radiotherapy at night, however, is minimized because hair cells, already in the process of repairing DNA, can quickly heal.
"While we don't yet know if human hair follows that same clock we found in mice hair, it is true that facial hair in men grows during the day, resulting in the proverbial 5 o'clock shadow. There is no 5 a.m. shadow if you shave at night," Panda says.
The researchers found that cancer cells do not have circadian clocks, because they are dividing all the time.
"That means cancer therapy does not have to be timed to be more effective," Panda adds. "The timing has to do with minimizing collateral damage from normal cells affected by these treatments."
Scientists know for certain that other organs, such as the liver, use a circadian clock, and they suspect that all human tissue is similarly regulated, although the clocks may be timed differently.
"There are many clinical implications for this cacophony of internal clocks, beyond the timing of drug therapy," Panda says. "For example, some researchers suspect that obesity and diabetes occurs when an organ or organs -- perhaps the liver or stomach or pancreas -- should be sleeping, but is awoken by food that needs to be processed.
"These local clocks do a lot more things than the central clock in the brain, which primarily regulates sleeping," he says. "This field of research is exciting and may, someday, contribute to human health."
Other contributing authors are Christopher Vollmers and Amandine Chaix from Salk, Damon de la Cruz from USC, and Raul Ramos from UCI.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (AR 42177, AR47364, DK091618, P30 CA014195), The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Dana Foundation, the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/BUO49hE0GvY/130520163607.htm
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Monday 20 May 2013
Chinese premier visits India to boost ties
NEW DELHI (AP) ? Just weeks after a tense border standoff, China's new premier visited India on Sunday on his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to speed up efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties.
Premier Li Keqiang met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the two leaders emphasized that efforts should be made to resolve the border dispute between the two countries which led to a bloody war in 1962, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.
The two leaders also underscored the need for maintaining peace and tranquility along the de facto border pending resolution of the boundary issue, Akbaruddin said.
In a written statement on his arrival in the Indian capital, Li said China regarded India as an important partner and friend and expressed the hope that his visit would inject new vigor into their cooperative partnership, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Li said both China and India were speeding up their development and making steady efforts to boost their economy and improve people's lives.
The statement said the major markets of India and China could complement each other and fulfill the need for common development with win-win results, PTI reported.
China says Li's choice of India for his first trip abroad since taking office in March shows the importance Beijing attaches to improving relations with New Delhi.
"We think very highly of this gesture because it is our view that high-level political exchanges between our two countries are an important aspect and vehicle for our expanded cooperation," said Akbaruddin.
Jasjit Singh, a defense analyst and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in New Delhi, said last month's border standoff was unlikely to overshadow Li's three-day visit, the first stop of a foreign tour that also includes Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.
Singh said Indian and Chinese leaders are likely to review border talks that have failed to produce a breakthrough despite 15 rounds of discussions over the past 10 years. The two sides also will probably discuss working together in Afghanistan after next year's U.S. pullout and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, he said.
But tensions run high between the two nations. China already sees itself as Asia's great power, while India hopes its increasing economic and military might ? though still far below its neighbor's ? will eventually put it in the same league.
While China has worked to shore up relationships with Nepal and Sri Lanka in India's traditional South Asian sphere of influence, India has been venturing into partnerships with Southeast Asian nations.
Other irritants remain in the bilateral relationship. China is a longtime ally and weapons supplier to Pakistan, India's bitter rival. Also, the presence in India of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile are a source of tension. China accuses the Dalai Lama of wanting to split Tibet off from the rest of China, but he says he seeks more autonomy for Tibetans, not independence.
Unresolved border issues between the two nations have flared as well.
In last month's incident, India said Chinese troops crossed the countries' de facto border on April 15 and pitched camp in the Depsang valley in the Ladakh region of eastern Kashmir. New Delhi responded with diplomatic protests and then moved its soldiers just 300 meters (yards) from the Chinese position.
The two sides negotiated a peaceful end to the standoff by withdrawing troops to their original positions in the Ladakh area.
Gautam Bambawale, a senior external affairs ministry official, said Saturday that India and China are negotiating a Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, but declined to give details. Indian media reports said the agreement proposes a freezing of troop levels in the disputed border region as the two countries make efforts to settle the issue.
Bambawale also said Indian and Chinese officials recently held talks in Beijing on the future of Afghanistan. China, India and Russia have discussed the matter trilaterally with the idea of giving full support to Afghanistan's government as it makes the transition following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2014.
Later Sunday, Li was to attend a dinner hosted by Singh.
Delegation-level talks between the two sides are scheduled for Monday. Li is to attend a business summit in Mumbai, India's financial capital, among other activities.
The border spat last month prompted the Indian opposition and media to pressure the government to take on China and call off Li's visit. The government, however, chose to go ahead with the trip, highlighting its policy of trying to widen areas of cooperation with China while attempting to resolve key differences.
China has become India's biggest trading partner, with two-way trade jumping from $5 billion in 2002 to nearly $75 billion in 2011, although that figure declined to $61.5 billion last year because of the global economic downturn. Trade remains heavily skewed in China's favor, another source of concern for India.
India and China have had chilly relations since they fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962.
India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas, while China claims around 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Dorjee Tseten, director of Students for a Free Tibet, said Sunday that New Delhi police had declined permission for Tibetans to hold a demonstration against Li's visit.
"Tibetan activists are currently on the run evading imminent police arrest," he said in a statement, complaining of a heavy police presence in a New Delhi area where a large number of Tibetans-in-exile live.
Police overpowered and detained a Tibetan man as he tried to burn the Chinese flag near China's embassy in the Indian capital.
Police, however, allowed about two dozen members of Shiv Sena, a Hindu right-wing political party, to demonstrate near India's Parliament, where they burned an effigy of the Chinese premier.
"Go back, go back," chanted the protesters, who also carried placards urging the Indian government to respond toughly to China's alleged border incursion. The powerful regional party held power in Mumbai from 1995 to 2000.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-premier-visits-india-boost-ties-101859231.html
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Commuters warned of traffic mess for up to 1 week
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? Traffic in southwest Connecticut could be a mess for as much as a week until service is restored to the commuter rail line affected by a derailment that injured scores of passengers, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned Sunday.
Malloy used dire language to describe traffic troubles for the work week ahead in an area that even in normal times is a pain for motorists. And the governor warned that the weather will not cooperate as rainy weather forecast will make driving a bit more treacherous.
Malloy even urged commuters to stay out of the state if possible.
"Tomorrow's commute will be extremely challenging," he said at a brief news conference in Hartford. "Residents should plan for a week's worth of disruptions."
If all 30,000 affected commuters took to the highways to get to work, "we would literally have a parking lot," the governor said. If a substantial number of affected consumers hit the roads, traffic will be "greatly slowed," he said.
The state will dispatch more state troopers and tow trucks to respond to car accidents that could come with crowded roads and slipper conditions, he said.
"If you are going to New York and you get to New York or you're transporting yourself to New York you may decide that perhaps you should stay there for the duration of this disturbance," Malloy said.
Crews will spend days rebuilding 2,000 feet of track, overhead wires and signals following the collision between two trains Friday evening that injured 72 people. Nine remained hospitalized, with one critically.
"This amounts to the wholesale reconstruction of a two-track electrified railroad," he said.
Several days of around-the-clock work will be required, including inspections and testing of the newly rebuilt system, Metro-North President Howard Permut said. The damaged rail cars were removed from the tracks on Sunday, the first step toward making the repairs.
Starting with the Monday morning rush-hour, a shuttle train will operate about every 20 minutes between New Haven and Bridgeport and two shuttle buses will run between Bridgeport and Stamford stations, state transportation officials said.
For morning and evening peak commutes, limited train service will operate between Grand Central Terminal and Westport.
State officials said travel times will be significantly longer than normal and trains will be crowded. Commuters are advised to use the Harlem line in New York.
Amtrak service between New York and New Haven was also suspended and there was no estimate on service restoration. Limited service was available between New Haven and Boston.
Jim Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, said he's asked officials in numerous towns to suspend parking rules to accommodate what could be tens of thousands of motorists driving to unaffected train stations. Twelve stations are affected by the shutdown.
But Cameron said he doubts many commuters will use three modes of transportation to get to work: driving their cars to catch a bus to get to a train station for the final leg.
He suggested that local and regional officials post highway signs directing motorists to available parking so motorists "don't get off the highway and drive in circles looking for where to dump their cars."
About 700 people were on board the trains Friday evening when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to New Haven derailed just outside Bridgeport. It was hit by a train heading west from New Haven.
Dan Solomon, a trauma surgeon who lives in Westport and was headed to work at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, was on the train that derailed. He said he treated several injured passengers, including a woman with severely broken ankles.
He said he was in a front car that was not as badly affected as cars in the rear of the train.
"I hardly lost my iced tea," Solomon said in an interview.
Solomon said walls were torn off both trains and he quickly checked injured passengers to separate the most badly injured from others.
"When the EMS arrived, I was covered in everyone's blood," he said.
Investigators are looking at a broken section of rail to see if it is connected to the derailment and collision. Officials said it wasn't clear if the rail was broken in the crash or earlier.
NTSB investigators arrived Saturday and are expected to be on site for seven to 10 days. They will look at the brakes and performance of the trains, the condition of the tracks, crew performance and train signal information, among other things.
The MTA operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines - the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven - run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.
The last significant train collision involving Metro-North occurred in 1988 when a train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train empty of passengers rear-ended another, railroad officials said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/commuters-warned-traffic-mess-1-week-223642842.html
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Damaged trains being removed from wreck site
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) ? Commuter trains damaged in a crash in Connecticut were being removed Sunday in the first step to making repairs and restoring service, the agency that runs Metro-North said.
Aaron Donovan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, gave Metro-North the OK to remove the trains. Hundreds of feet of track need to be repaired, he said.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us, to restore signals and overhead wires," Donovan said.
Later Sunday, the Connecticut Department of Transportation will announce jointly with Metro-North a plan for the rush-hour commute beginning Monday.
Investigators are looking at a broken section of rail to see if it is connected to the derailment and collision outside Bridgeport that left dozens injured. Seventy-two people were sent to the hospital Friday evening after an eastbound train from New York City derailed and was hit by a westbound train. Nine remain hospitalized.
Service has been suspended between South Norwalk and New Haven, which includes stops at 12 stations.
Donovan compared the loss of service to a "very significant storm."
Most recently, the Waterbury branch of Metro-North was down immediately after the massive Feb. 9-10 snowstorm that blanketed the Northeast.
Investigators said Saturday that the crash was not the result of foul play, but a fractured section of rail is being studied to determine if it is connected to the accident. National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener said the broken rail is of substantial interest to investigators and a portion of the track will be sent to a lab for analysis.
Weener said it's not clear if the accident caused the fracture or if the rail was broken before the crash. He said he won't speculate on the cause of the derailment and emphasized the investigation was in its early stages. Officials earlier described devastating damage and said it was fortunate no one was killed.
The crash damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the Northeast Corridor. The crash also caused Amtrak to suspend service between New York and Boston.
NTSB investigators arrived Saturday and are expected to be on site for seven to 10 days. They will look at the brakes and performance of the trains, the condition of the tracks, crew performance and train signal information, among other things.
The MTA operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines ? the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven ? run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.
The last significant train collision involving Metro-North occurred in 1988 when a train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train empty of passengers rear-ended another, railroad officials said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/damaged-trains-being-removed-wreck-152045141.html
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Sunday 19 May 2013
Tips For Knowing What To Use Your Credit Cards For - Stock ...
Many people are fearful about owning a credit card because they are aware of some of the devastating consequences of large debts. However, when used properly, they are a great financial tool. Bank cards are very helpful if you want to buy something and you would prefer not to utilize cash. This article will give you plenty of excellent advice about charge cards.
Credit Card
Speak with the credit card company right after you see a charge on your statement that you did not make. This way, they will be more likely to discover the culprit. This will help ensure you are not liable for any fraudulent charges against the card. The minute you notice a charge that could be fraud, an email or phone call to the credit card provider can commence the dispute process.
One mistake many people make is not contacting their credit card company when they encounter financial difficulties. If you think you may miss a payment, your credit card company will often work with you and set up an adjusted payment plan. This could prevent them from having to report late payments to major reporting agencies.
Have a clear understanding of all the terms involved with your credit card before signing on the dotted line. The fees, payment schedule, interest rate, or other specifics might be worse than you originally thought. Read all the fine print so that you totally understand the card?s terms.
When you first receive your credit cards, be sure to sign them right away. People who avoid this step leave themselves open to identity theft if the cards should be stolen. A lot of places need a signature so they can match it to your card, which makes it safer to buy things.
Retain a copy of the receipt when you utilize your credit card online. Keep this receipt until you receive your bill to ensure the company that you bought from is charging you the right amount. If that is not the case, get in touch with the company and dispute the charge right away. This method ensures that you are always charged the correct amount on all of your purchases.
Always memorize any pin numbers and passwords for your bank or bank cards and never write them down. It?s crucial to remember all of your passwords so you?re the only one who can access your accounts. If you have the pin number written down and near your credit card, that makes it super easy to steal.
All of us have been there. You received one of those annoying credit card offers in the mail. While there may be occasions on which you appreciate the solicit, odds are, most of the time, you won?t. Shred this mail before throwing it away. Why? Your delicate personal information is contained on these solicitations, and a thief can easily damage your credit by stealing your identity.
Too many people erroneously believe that it is a good idea not to have any credit cards at all. It is a good idea to have a credit card so you can start building a good credit history. Use this and pay it off every month. By having no credit, you will lower your credit score and prospective lenders will not be able to determine that you know how to manage debt.
Credit Card
Understand the current laws that apply to charge cards that have changed in the past few years. Credit card companies are prohibited from imposing retroactive rate increases, for instance. Also forbidden, is double-cycle billing. Educate yourself about credit card laws. Recently, the FCBA and CARD Act were established.
Make sure you keep good records of the amount you are spending monthly using your credit card. Notice how quickly impulse spending and small purchases add up. If you are not watching how much you charge to your credit card, you might not have the money to pay the bill when it comes.
Credit Card
Discuss your interest rate with your credit card company. You can often negotiate the rate down a percentage point or two if you contact the credit card issuer. With a good payment history to the company and good standing in your account, they will easily consider a rate change.
When you have lost your credit card, contact the institution who provided the card right away. You may find no way to avoid taking responsibility for the charges if a thief uses your credit card before you have it canceled by the company. Once it?s reported missing, no one can hold you liable for those charges.
Tell the credit card company if you?re planning to travel or make large purchases with your card. If you are traveling out of the country or buying something with a big price tag, it is a good idea to let your credit card company know ahead of time. This can keep your company from raising the identity theft alarm and shutting off your card.
Anyone who is scared to use their credit card should feel better after reading this article. Charge cards are really useful if used properly and there?s no reason that someone should be afraid of using them. Just keep in mind the advice in this article and you are going to be just fine.
A number of people would like to learn more about business news, but not everyone knows where they should look. Thankfully, you came to the right place to help you get started with the learning process. Begin using the information that you have learned about business news from this article.
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Source: http://www.stockfinancenews.com/2013/05/18/tips-for-knowing-what-to-use-your-credit-cards-for/
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Two men charged with killing Malcolm X grandson
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Two men arrested in the fatal beating of the grandson of U.S. civil rights activist Malcolm X were sent to prison on Saturday to await trial, a Mexico City court spokesman said.
David Hernandez and Manuel Perez, waiters at the Palace nightclub near Mexico City's popular Garibaldi Square, face charges of murder and robbery, the official said.
Malcolm Shabazz, who police have said was 29, died May 9 at the Palace after a dispute over a $1,200 bill. Hernandez and Perez were arrested on Monday.
Shabazz, who was convicted of manslaughter as a 12-year-old for setting a fire that killed his grandmother and went to prison as an adult for attempted robbery, was in Mexico City to visit Miguel Suarez, an immigration activist who was recently deported from the United States. Shabazz
On the night of May 8 Shabazz and Suarez visited the run-down area around Plaza Garibaldi, a popular tourist area where Mariachi music groups play on the streets amid seedy strip clubs, dive bars and bordellos.
Despite its proximity to the city's grand colonial center, the area is infamous for petty crime.
Malcolm X was a civil rights activist and leader of the black Muslim movement in the United States. He was shot to death before a speaking appearance in New York City in 1965.
(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Bill Trott)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-men-charged-killing-malcolm-x-grandson-005812484.html
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Saturday 18 May 2013
The five ways Google is ?assaulting? Apple
WASHINGTON -- The one thing no one has suspected Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of being is a closet essayist. The idea of this young Chechen/Dagestani/Khrgyz man who, with his brother is accused of the vicious Boston Marathon bombings, making notes on his ideas had not entered the bio.And yet, as I write, news sources are reporting new information about Dzhokhar. Lying helplessly in the landlocked boat he was hiding inside of, in the small Massachusetts town outside Boston where they had fled, he wrote several primitive but revealing thoughts on the hull of the bullet-pocked boat with a pen he found. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-ways-google-assaulting-apple-183503843.html
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Virgin America taps app-based car rental service - Silvercar | News ...
Virgin America, the award-winning California-based airline, announces today that it has partnered with Silvercar, the company revolutionizing the car rental experience with its fleet of WiFi-enabled, premium Audi A4s, to offer Virgin America?s Elevate members a seamless and connected travel experience from air to ground.? Beginning today, Elevate frequent flyer members can earn 2,500 Elevate points on their first and fourth Silvercar rentals ? plus four points for every $1 spent with Silvercar.? As the only airline headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Virgin America has built a loyal following of frequent flyers for its tech-forward amenities, including WiFi, power outlets and touch-screen personal entertainment at every seat ? on every flight.? Using Virgin America?s fleetwide WiFi, travelers can now reserve a Silvercar via the Silvercar app or at Silvercar.com, and upon arrival at the destination airport, simply scan a QR code located on the windshield of the Silvercar to unlock the vehicle ? and drive to their final destination.
?Our discerning travelers expect access to the latest conveniences to fit their busy lifestyles,? said Luanne Calvert , Vice President of Marketing Communications at Virgin America.? ?Our new partnership with Silvercar allows us to provide our guests with a more high-tech, high-style and connected travel experience whether they?re on the ground or 35,000 feet in the air.?
The new partnership with Silvercar will provide Virgin America?s guests with more options for ground travel during their business trip or leisure getaway.? Silvercar operates a rental fleet comprised of only the latest model premium Audis ? 2013 A4s (in silver, of course).? Through the use of Silvercar?s mobile app (iOS or Android), travelers can take control of their rental experience and bypass paper contracts and lines all together. All Silvercar rentals include free in-car WiFi, Sirius XM satellite radio and Bluetooth. Upon return of the Silvercar, travelers receive their receipt on their smartphone ? before even boarding their Virgin America return flight home.
?We have a great affinity for Virgin America as they offer a tech-friendly experience for travelers that goes above and beyond the norm,? said Luke Schneider , CEO of Silvercar.? ?Silvercar was created to make car rental and travel not only easier, but an enjoyable experience. Virgin America does the same for air travel.?
Known for outstanding service, beautifully designed cabins and unrivalled in-flight entertainment,. The airline?s new fleet offers custom-designed mood-lit cabins and amenities like fleetwide WiFi, power outlets and personal entertainment at every seat. The Red platform offers guests their own seatback touch-screen TV, with 25 films, live TV, a custom-curated You Tube channel, Google Maps, video games, seat-to-seat chat, music videos, a 4000 song library and an on-demand menu ? so flyers can order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight.
Virgin America and Silvercar share markets in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin.? Silvercar first launched on January 14, 2013, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with Austin as its second location following in March.
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Friday 17 May 2013
Don't let strangers in, even in Paris
When a man in work clothes showed up at her door, the Monitor's Europe bureau chief let him inside. But fortunately, he didn't get a chance to pull off a well-known Parisian scam.
People walk in the business district of La D?fense, Paris, Wednesday. The Monitor's Europe bureau chief learns not to let strangers through the front door, even in Paris.
Christophe Ena/AP
EnlargeI let a stranger into our apartment.
Skip to next paragraph Sara Miller LlanaEurope Bureau Chief
Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.
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I suppose that in moving from Mexico City to Paris, and feeling a sudden burst of elation for not having to worry so intently about drug and gang violence and, worst of all kidnapping, I went to the extreme.
A man knocked on the door of our temporary apartment saying he needed to check on something and asked if he could come in. He must have said what he was checking but my French, only now on its way back after lying dormant for over two decades, missed the details. He was dressed in work clothes, and I let him in.
He first said he was looking for the heater panel, then started asking all kinds of questions about who we were and how long we?d been in France. I thought this was a bit bizarre, but didn't think much of it.
Then he spotted the chimney. He opened the screen: ?Oh no, look at all of this soot.? (I had to look up the word for soot, suie, on my laptop.)
?You have a small child,? he went on. ?If she breathes this in, it could be the end. I am obligated to fix this.?
In my daze of jetlag, living out of suitcases, with a mountain of bureaucracy to tackle each day, I actually thought this man might be from the city government, and he was doing his municipal duty, for free, to make sure no Paris residents ? even foreigners, God bless France! ? breathe contaminated air.
I almost let him get to work ? until my more rational husband said, ?Let?s call the owner first.?
The owner's response was immediate: ?Get that guy out of the house now.?
I learned later that it?s a well-known scam in Paris that plumbers or electricians and other workers will come in, and tell you you need X, Y, and Z fixed. A colleague told me one man entered her house, broke a pipe, and then tried to get them to pay to fix it. I told the guardian downstairs about our visitor, and she said any communal or municipal work to be done will always be posted in the building.
Some of these scams are actually done by thieves, she said, who might rob you ? or worse. ?Don?t let anyone in your house. It could be very dangerous.?
I did learn back in elementary school not to talk to strangers, and most definitely not to let them through the front door.
But I had a momentary lapse of judgment, a good reminder that you have to be careful anywhere ? even in Paris!
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/t71YicIf93A/Don-t-let-strangers-in-even-in-Paris
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'Vampire Diaries' star understands fans passion
Ian Somerhalder, from "The Vampire Diaries," attends the CW Upfront on Thursday, May 16, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Ian Somerhalder, from "The Vampire Diaries," attends the CW Upfront on Thursday, May 16, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK (AP) ? "The Vampire Diaries" is known for its twists and turns, and one of its stars, Ian Somerhalder, says Thursday night's season finale won't be any different.
"Elena's gonna make a big decision," teased the 34-year-old actor at CW's presentation of its programming for next season. He couldn't elaborate on what decision or decisions would be made.
The series is set in a fictional Virginia town where vampires, werewolves and witches live among humans (though not exactly peacefully). At the heart of the series is a love triangle among vampire brothers Damon (Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley), who both love Elena (Nina Dobrev).
The show, which has been on the air since 2009, has a passionate fan following, and Somerhalder said Thursday that he feels that investment almost everywhere he goes.
"I was in Toronto yesterday and people were coming up to me, men, women, children, literally some of them in tears, bludgeoning me with what's gonna happen (on the show). ... People are very, very affected. I'm very curious to see what the reaction is (to the season finale)."
Somerhalder's character struck a particular chord with viewers. Introduced as an antagonistic vampire, he's softened some over the years, largely due to his love for Elena.
Initially, he wasn't sure about Damon losing some of his edge.
"Damon has to care about something sometimes, and I always wanted to stay the bad guy, and (series co-creator) Kevin Williamson had to pound it into my head that we didn't want Damon to be a one-trick pony. I disagreed, but over time I realized (the writers) were right and you need a layered, dynamic character," Somerhalder said.
"The Vampire Diaries" has a spinoff series, "The Originals," that will air on Tuesdays beginning this fall.
___
Online:
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries
http://www.isfoundation.com/
___
Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar
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Oldest Water Cache Ever Discovered May Hold 1.5 Billion-Year-Old Life
After kindly asking a group of Canadian miners for a sample of some water they'd struck, a team of scientists who had been investigating similar finds discovered that the fluid they were looking at may have been sealed up for 1.5 billion years.
And that's just the lower limit. The decaying radioactive atoms in the potential primordial soup told them that this cache of water (the oldest ever discovered) could actually have been waiting patiently in that rock for anywhere up to 2.5 billion years.
But this prehistoric time capsule isn't just toting stale water, it's also full of hydrogen which, as luck may have it, acts as food for certain microorganisms. Even better?the rock is able to supply a steady flow of hydrogen into its cozy little crevice, which may just have been enough to sustain at least some form of life for all this time.
So should it contain the descendants of ancient microbes?which it very well may?not only do we have a perfectly preserved specimen of ancient life, but we'll also be able to glean a better idea of how we evolved. Because the potential life held within has been so isolated, it would have most likely evolved in distinctly different ways from our own microbial ancient ancestors.
Which leads to a, perhaps, even more exciting prospect; this may actually aid us in our quest to find life on other planets. If a living thing can exist in a location as remote and desolate as sealed off stone, it certainly gives hope to the prospect of something similar occurring on other planets?say, Mars, perhaps. According to Carol Stoker, a research scientist with NASA:
If you go back to the very early history of Earth and Mars, sort of the first billion years after the surfaces cooled, Earth and Mars looked very similar. The logic is if that happened on Earth, why shouldn't it have happened on Mars?
Mars is desolate now, sure?but so is that sealed off rock. [NPR via Digg]
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Source: http://gizmodo.com/oldest-water-cache-ever-discovered-may-hold-1-5-billion-507539132
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Thursday 16 May 2013
Google+ Hangouts video chat won't connect over AT&T
If you have a smartphone connected to AT&T, you just got a bit more incentive to hop over to WiFi whenever possible. The new Google+ Hangouts app group video chat feature appears to be disabled whenever you attempt to connect via the cellular network. We tested the feature using a Verizon handset as well -- we were able to stream video just fine. It's not entirely clear whether AT&T has specifically blocked access to the service, but regardless of the reason, we're all too familiar with the carrier's desire to keep video chat off the airwaves. We can only hope that we'll be able to use Hangouts to its full potential soon, just as we can with Apple's FaceTime.
Filed under: Cameras, Wireless, Software, Google
Via: SlashGear
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/rHtjL2snqgM/
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Wednesday 15 May 2013
University of Texas gaming academy to be led by execs behind ...
Whatever value you see in game development schools, it's clear that few of them tout gaming industry veterans who can lead by example. The University of Texas' upcoming Denius-Sams Gaming Academy could solve this discrepancy by tapping two executives whose work many of us know by heart. Both legendary designer Warren Spector and Blizzard COO Paul Sams will guide (and sometimes teach) year-long post-baccalaureate certificate programs at the Academy that focus on creative leadership and game company management -- yes, that means instruction from gurus behind the Deus Ex and Warcraft franchises, among other classics. The programs will also emphasize that all-important ability to finish a game, rather than mastering skills in isolation. The first students join the Academy's ranks in fall 2014, although they'll need to be exceptional to stand a chance of getting in -- just 20 spots will be open in the first year.
[Image credits: Nightscream, Wikipedia; Rob Fahey, Flickr]
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Rubio to push biometric system in U.S. Senate immigration bill
By Caren Bohan and Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is considered crucial for the success of an immigration law overhaul, on Tuesday vowed to fight for a biometric system to track foreigners leaving the country after a Senate panel rejected the provision, in part because it was too costly.
Rubio and seven other Republican and Democratic senators, known as the "gang of eight," have crafted a sweeping bill that would revamp the immigration system, increase work visas and put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.
In its second day of examining the legislation, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against the Republican amendment that would have made it easier for the government to track illegal immigrants and other foreigners who have overstayed their visas.
The amendment would have required a biometric system, which uses technology such as iris scans and fingerprinting, at every point of entry in the United States before illegal immigrants would be eligible for permanent residency or a green card.
Citing a $25 billion price tag and saying it would delay citizenship for the unauthorized foreigners, two of the Republicans who helped craft the bill sided with Democrats to defeat the amendment 12-6.
In an effort to keep the legislation intact, the bipartisan gang of eight senators agreed to work together to block amendments that could kill the bill.
But Rubio's office said he was disappointed by the vote and would fight to add biometrics to the exit system when the bill is considered by the full Senate later this year.
"Having an exit system that utilizes biometric information will help make sure that future visitors to the United States leave when they are supposed to," his spokesman said.
Immigration reform advocates hope Rubio's popularity with conservatives will help sell the bill to his party.
The committee has already succeeded in rejecting other Republican attempts to beef up border security in ways that go beyond the bill and could jeopardize the path to citizenship.
On Thursday, lawmakers were due to consider changes to work visa programs and were under pressure from businesses to make it easier to recruit highly skilled workers from other countries and bring in more foreigners to do manual labor.
High-tech companies and other businesses are pushing for changes to provisions that would require firms to seek American applicants first for any job and that would prohibit the displacement of U.S. workers. The companies are backing a series of amendments by Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch concerning the skilled worker visa program known as H1-B.
The AFL-CIO labor organization opposes the amendments, saying they would be unfair to American workers.
The committee delayed some of Hatch's most controversial amendments to give lawmakers time to hash out a compromise.
Hatch, whose support is important because it would increase pressure on the Republican-led House to work on legislation, said he has had conversations with the Senate gang of eight and has made clear the H1-B visa issue may be pivotal to his vote.
"I think they're taking me seriously. Let's put it that way," Hatch said of the Senate gang. "And I hope they do because if they don't, I'm not going to support this bill."
As the committee debated changes to the nearly 900-page bill, a group of conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives vowed to "tear up" and defeat that bill if it reaches their chamber.
They derided the Senate legislation as little more than "amnesty" for those who have come to the United States illegally or overstayed their visas. If enacted, they said it would cost U.S. taxpayers trillions of dollars.
Representative Steve King of Iowa told reporters that House conservatives were launching a public relations campaign consisting of floor speeches, opinion articles and other actions to "get the message out that there's another viewpoint here. It's not the one that's being stampeded in the Senate and may be stampeded in the House."
Representative Steve Stockman of Texas, referring to the eight Republican and Democratic senators who wrote the Senate's immigration bill, said, "They have a gang of eight. We're going to have a gang of millions" who, Stockman said, "will rise up against" the bill.
Instead of comprehensive immigration reform, these House conservatives want new steps to secure the southwestern U.S. border against illegal crossings before considering other changes to immigration law.
(Reporting by Caren Bohan, Rachelle Younglai and Richard Cowan; Editing by Vicki Allen and Andrew Hay)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rubio-push-biometric-system-u-senate-immigration-bill-202931591.html
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Tuesday 14 May 2013
Remember Baba Wawa and Lewinsky's lipstick?
Pop culture
2 hours ago
It's hard to imagine the interview game without Barbara Walters as a major player. Walters, 83, confirmed Monday that she'll be retiring from TV appearances in 2014.
No more Walters? She's been on television for a half-century, longer than many of her current co-workers have even been alive, and she's given us plenty of memorable moments along the way. Here's a look at four of them.
Baba Wawa
Walters was famously imitated on "Saturday Night Live" by the comedy legend Gilda Radner back in the 1970s. Walters confessed she didn't like the impersonation at first. "I don't talk that way, and I do pronounce my Rs," Walters recalled thinking, though she said she loved Radner anyway. Walters was parodied by others of course -- including Rachel Dratch on "30 Rock" -- but Baba Wawa became legend.
What kind of tree are you?
It's perhaps the most famous goofy reporter question, but it wasn't all Walters' idea. She was interviewing Katharine Hepburn in 1981 and Hepburn compared herself to a tree, so Walters went there: "What kind of tree are you?" she asked the legendary actress, hastening to add, "If you think you're a tree." (Hepburn chose an oak, over a Dutch Elm disease-stricken elm.) She was never allowed to live down that question, with even Johnny Carson teasing her about it, and proclaiming that he would be a tumbleweed.
Monica Lewinsky: 'Sometimes I hate his guts'
Walters has interviewed world leaders and movie stars, but she herself says her most-watched interview came in March of 1999, when she sat down with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, whose affair with Bill Clinton while he was president became a worldwide scandal. "Sometimes I have warm feelings (for Clinton), sometimes I'm proud of him still, and sometimes I hate his guts," Lewinsky told Walters. In an odd sidenote to the interview, the lipstick Lewinsky wore -- Club Monaco's Glaze, no longer made -- became a huge bestseller after the interview was seen nationally.
She may inquire about trees and romantic relationships, but Walters isn't shy about playing hardball with world leaders. The journalist met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in 2001 and called him "remarkably open." She asked him about how he felt when he saw news of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks (angry, and guilty for not being able to prevent them). And then she dropped a bombshell. "I'm going to ask you a terrible question," she warned. "Did you ever order anyone killed?" Putin answered right away: "Nyet."
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Police ID suspect in New Orleans shooting spree
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Police late Monday identified a 19-year-old man as a suspect in the shooting of about 20 people during a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans, saying several people had identified him as the gunman captured by surveillance camera videos.
Superintendent Ronal Serpas said officers were looking for Akein Scott of New Orleans. He said it was too early to say whether he was the only shooter.
"We would like to remind the community and Akein Scott that the time has come for him to turn himself in," Serpas said at a news conference outside of police headquarters.
A photo of Scott hung from a podium in front of the police chief. "We know more about you than you think we know," he said.
The mass shooting showed again how far the city has to go to shake a persistent culture of violence that belies the city's festive image. Earlier, police announced a $10,000 reward and released blurry surveillance camera images, which led to several tips from the community.
"The people today chose to be on the side of the young innocent children who were shot and not on the side of a coward who shot into the crowd," Serpas said.
The superintendent said SWAT team members and U.S. marshals served a searched warrant at one location looking for Scott, but didn't locate him.
He vowed that police would be "looking for Akein Scott for the rest of the night and tomorrow... and I would strongly recommend that Akein turn himself in."
Angry residents said gun violence ? which has flared at two other city celebrations this year ? goes hand-in-hand with the city's other deeply rooted problems such as poverty and urban blight. The investigators tasked with solving Sunday's shooting work within an agency that's had its own troubles rebounding from years of corruption while trying to halt violent crime.
"The old people are scared to walk the streets. The children can't even play outside," Ronald Lewis, 61, said Monday as he sat on the front stoop of his house, about a half block from the shooting site. His window sill has a hole from a bullet that hit it last year. Across the street sits a house marked by bullets that he said were fired two weeks ago.
"The youngsters are doing all this," said Jones, who was away from home when the latest shooting broke out.
Video released early Monday shows a crowd gathered for a boisterous second-line parade suddenly scattering in all directions, with some falling to the ground. They appear to be running from a man in a white T-shirt and dark pants who turns and runs out of the picture.
Police were working to determine whether there was more than one gunman, though they initially said three people were spotted fleeing from the scene. Whoever was responsible escaped despite the presence of officers who were interspersed through the crowd as part of routine precautions for such an event.
Police said in a news release Scott has previously been arrested for illegal carrying of a weapon, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, resisting an officer, contraband to jail, illegal carrying of a weapon while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of heroin.
It was not immediately clear whether he had been convicted on any of those charges.
"Akein is no stranger to the criminal justice system," Serpas said.
Serpas said that ballistic evidence gathered at the scene was giving them "very good leads to work on."
Witness Jarrat Pytell said he was walking with friends near the parade route when the crowd suddenly began to break up.
"I saw the guy on the corner, his arm extended, firing into the crowd," said Pytell, a medical student.
"He was obviously pointing in a specific direction; he wasn't swinging the gun wildly," Pytell said.
Pytell said he tended to one woman with a severe arm fracture ? he wasn't sure if it was from a bullet or a fall ? and to others including an apparent shooting victim who was bleeding badly.
Three gunshot victims remained in critical condition Monday, though their wounds didn't appear to be life-threatening. Most of the wounded had been released from the hospital.
It's not the first time gunfire has shattered a festive mood in the city this year. Five people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in January after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, and four were wounded in a shooting after an argument in the French Quarter in the days leading up to Mardi Gras. Two teens were arrested in connection with the MLK Day shootings; three men were arrested and charged in the Mardi Gras shootings.
The shootings are bloody reminders of the persistence of violence in the city, despite some recent progress.
Last week, law enforcement officials touted the indictment of 15 people in gang-related crimes, including the death of a 5-year-old girl killed by stray gunfire at a birthday party a year ago.
The city's 193 homicides in 2012 are seven fewer than the previous year, while the first three months of 2013 represented an even slower pace of killing.
On Monday night, 100 to 150 people gathered for a unity rally and peace vigil in the wake of Sunday's shootings. Some residents stood in their doorways or on their steps. At one point, trumpeter Kenneth Terry played, "O For a Closer Walk With Thee."
Robin Bevins, president of the ladies group of the Original Four Social Aid and Pleasure Club, said she and members of her organization came to the rally to show solidarity.
"This code of silence has to end," said Bevins, who's also a member of the city's Social Aid Task Force. "If we stand up and speak out, maybe this kind of thing will stop."
Amy Storper, who lives in a neighborhood near where the shooting happened, brought her 7-year-old son William to the rally.
"I felt the need to come out and show my support, to let people in this neighborhood know that people care," she said. "Perhaps if the whole city showed up, all 300,000, then maybe we can make a difference."
Mayor Mitch Landrieu walked into the area, greeting people, shaking hands and stopping to talk with some residents before addressing the crowd.
"We came back out here as a community to stand on what we call sacred ground," Landrieu said. "We came here to reclaim this spot. This shooting doesn't reflect who we are as a community or what we're about."
Leading efforts to lower the homicide rate is a police force that's faced its own internal problems and staffing issues. At about 1,200 members, the department is 300 short of its peak level.
Serpas, the chief since 2010, has been working to overcome the effects of decades of scandal and community mistrust arising from what the U.S. Justice Department says has been questionable use of force and biased policing. Landrieu and Serpas have instituted numerous reforms, but the city is at odds with the Justice Department over the cost and scope of more extensive changes.
Landrieu's administration initially agreed to a reform plan expected to cost tens of millions over the next several years. But Landrieu says he wants out now because Justice lawyers entered a separate agreement with Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman over the violent and unsanitary New Orleans jail ? funded by the city but operated by Gusman.
The site of the Sunday shooting ? about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter ? showcases other problems facing the city. Stubborn poverty and blight are evident in the area of middle-class and low-income homes. Like other areas hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the area has been slower to repopulate than wealthier areas. And Landrieu's stepped up efforts to demolish or renovate blighted properties ? a pre-Katrina problem made worse by the storm ? remain too slow for some.
Frank Jones, 71, whose house is a few doors down from the shooting site, said the house across from him has been abandoned since Katrina. Squatters and drug dealers sometimes take shelter there, he said.
A city code inspector, who declined to be interviewed, was there Monday
"It's too late," Jones said. "Should have fixed it from the very beginning. A lot of people are getting fed up with the system."
___
Associated Press reporters Kevin McGill, Michael Kunzelman and Stacey Plaisance contributed to this story.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-id-suspect-orleans-mass-shooting-014532190.html
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