No war too 'hopeless' for Brahimi

Some might say that Lakhdar Brahimi is crazy to try to end the Syria conflict, but the veteran troubleshooter says he has never believed there is a war that is too "hopeless" to tackle.

The 78-year-old former Algerian foreign minister, who was a UN envoy in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, is being brought out of retirement again.

He will replace another veteran UN peace envoy, Kofi Annan, in what looks to many to be a hopeless quest to end the slaughter in the war between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the Syrian rebels.

Brahimi takes over as UN-Arab League envoy for Syria after Annan, his former boss at the United Nations, quit in bitterness at the lack of international support he said he was given by the divided major powers.

Annan was asked when he resigned whether he doubted the sanity of anyone who took his job. "Let me say that the world is full of crazy people like me, so don't be surprised if someone else decides to take it on," Annan replied.

The Algerian diplomat appears to relish such challenges.

"Never in my career have I felt that a situation is hopeless or that change is impossible -- despite what other people may have told me," he once said.

Brahimi cut his diplomatic teeth in Algeria's war of independence against France from 1954 to 1962. Brahimi left his studies in Paris in 1956 to become the National Liberation Front representative in Southeast Asia.

After independence, Brahimi was Algeria's ambassador to Britain, Egypt, Sudan, and the Arab League in Cairo.

He first made his name on the international scene in 1989 when, as an Arab League envoy, he brokered an agreement to end Lebanon's 17-year long civil war. That brought him into close contact with the Syrians he must now try to calm.

Brahimi was Algeria's foreign minister from 1991 to 1993 and then became a peace-maker for the United Nations in some of the world's most troubled regions.

He led the UN mission in South Africa during the 1994 elections that brought Nelson Mandela to power. He was sent to help end Yemen's civil war in 1994, and served as UN special representative in Haiti until 1996. He was later UN envoy in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), Sudan, Burundi, Liberia, Nigeria, Angola, Ivory Coast and Afghanistan.

After 9/11, Annan told Brahimi to return to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2004 to head the UN mission helping launch the government and rebuild the country.

From there, Brahimi was moved to another country in crisis as Annan's envoy in Iraq -- where sectarian strife was building after the US led invasion to bring down Saddam Hussein.

Brahimi also made his name at the United Nations by leading an inquiry into how to reform UN peacekeeping after its failure to respond to the Rwanda genocide in 1994 and the massacre in Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995.

Alongside Annan, Brahimi is a member of the Elders, the statesmen including Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu and Martti Ahtisaari who attempt to mediate in wars.

"We're extremely careful not to claim that we're going to take a problem and solve it. What we're saying is that from time to time, in certain situations, a problem needs a little push," Brahimi says on the Elders website.

"Brahimi may be the last person with the courage and the credibility in the Arab world to pull off such a trick, but even with his optimism he knows that this is a desperate situation," said one Western diplomat.

Brahimi, born on January 1, 1934, studied law and political science in Algeria and France and is fluent in Arabic, English and French. He is married with three children.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-war-too-hopeless-brahimi-170610835.html

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Occupy Our Homes Launches TV Ad Campaign ... - AOL Real Estate

Occupy Our Homes, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, launched a national ad campaign this week aimed at inspiring beleaguered homeowners to battle foreclosure and eviction. The organization has created a foreclosure-resistance template and support network that it hopes borrowers will use to fight off repossession of their homes.

The group has affiliates across the country, and some of them have already helped a number of distressed homeowners stave off foreclosure.

Five of these homeowners appear in the ad, including a veteran, Bobby Hull, who obtained a loan modification after local OOH affiliates staged an extended sit-in at his property last year. AOL Real Estate reported on the sit-in in its early stages.

The ad closes with a plug for the group's website, OccupyOurHomes.org, which directs homeowners to the organization's affiliates and provides a field manual for battling foreclosure by using Occupy sit-in tactics.

Visitors to the website can use an online tool called "start an occupation," which enlists the support of OOH groups committed to defending homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

"When there have been cases that have come to light in various communities, we've seen a real uptick in interest of people reaching out to us for help, checking out the resources we have available," said Occupy Our Homes spokesperson Han Shan about the purpose of the ad.

OOH said it raised $34,496 for the campaign using crowd-funding website LoudSauce.com. The ad, which will appear on networks including CNN, Fox and MSNBC, is part of the "Occupy Spots" project, a joint effort between Occupy Wall Street and LoudSauce.com "whose goal is to provide an alternative to Super PACs by funding ads by and for the 99 percent."

"It's about trying to take to the airwaves," Shan said.

See also:
Woman Nearly Loses Home Over Tax Bill That Wasn't Hers
Homeowner Staves Off Eviction With Help from Occupy Detroit
Who Lives in Famous Murder Homes Now

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/08/16/occupy-our-homes-launches-tv-ad-to-fight-foreclosures/

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Pinterest unveils Android, iPad apps

11 hrs.

Social networking start-up Pinterest has rolled out versions of its service for Android-based smartphones and for the iPad, its latest move to boost its appeal to a broader audience.

An online scrapbook where users can "pin" images and share them with others, Pinterest has grown to about 23 million users in July from about one million a year ago, according to online analytics firm comScore.

In its first official press briefing, Chief Executive Ben Silbermann said on Tuesday the Android app was among the most requested items by users.

The privately held company, which does not currently have any revenue-generating business, raised $100 million in funding at a reported $1.5 billion valuation in May.

Pinterest's move comes as some social networking high-flyers are feeling the sting of investor disenchantment. Facebook, the world's No.1 social networking company, is trading well below its $38 a share IPO price on worries about slowing revenue growth and long-term money-making capabilities.

Last week Pinterest opened its online service to the general public, ending a multi-year period in which users who signed up had to wait to be admitted by the company.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Pullin)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at:?http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Source: http://www.gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/technology/gadgetbox/pinterest-unveils-android-ipad-apps-943366

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Is It Time To Invest In Coal? - Stocks - eWallstreeter

From: Long Investing Ideas from Seeking Alpha - 9:39am - August 15, 2012

By Invest Chief:Needless to say, coal has had a rough a year. New environmental regulations and cheap, abundant natural gas have helped give coal a temporary squeeze on prices. The Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL) is down over 23% YTD and Patriot Coal (PCXCQ) was a poster child for failing coal industry.Despite the negatives presented with coal, should you be a buyer? First, let's look at the facts: 40% of the world's electricity comes from coal, which is more than the alternative sources such as natural gas, nuclear power, wind, solar and geothermal combined. That is a significant chunk of reliance on coal that will not simply vanish overnight. While coal does have some environmentally unfriendly qualities it is cheap and abundant which gives it its continued appeal. That being said, continuing to develop and look for alternatives is a must.To be far, it is important to note that ...

Continue reading this article ?

Source: http://ewallstreeter.com/is-it-time-to-invest-in-coal-2425/

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Study links British recession to 1,000 suicides

LONDON (Reuters) - A painful economic recession, rising unemployment and biting austerity measures may have already driven more than 1,000 people in Britain to commit suicide, according to a scientific study published on Wednesday.

The study, a so-called time-trend analysis which compared the actual number of suicides with those expected if pre-recession trends had continued, reflects findings elsewhere in Europe where suicides are also on the rise.

"This a grim reminder after the euphoria of the Olympics of the challenges we face and those that lie ahead," said David Stuckler, a sociologist at Cambridge University who co-led the study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The analysis found that between 2008 and 2010 there were 846 more suicides among men in England than would have been expected if previous trends continued, and 155 more among women.

Between 2000 and 2010 each annual 10 percent increase in the number of unemployed people was associated with a 1.4 percent increase in the number of male suicides, the study found.

The analysis used data from the National Clinical and Health Outcomes Database and the Office of National Statistics.

Stuckler, who worked with researchers from Liverpool University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stressed while this kind of statistical study could not establish a causal link, the power of the associations was strong. Its conclusions were strengthened by other indicators of rising mental health problems, stress and anxiety, he added.

He also pointed out the study showed a small reduction in the number of suicides in 2010 which coincided with a slight recovery in male employment.

DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, ALCOHOL ABUSE

A survey of 300 family doctors published by the Insight Research Group on Tuesday found that 76 percent of those questioned about the effects of the economic crisis said they thought it was making people unhealthier, leading to more anxiety, abortions and alcohol abuse.

Data this month from the government's Health and Social Care Information Centre showed the number of prescriptions dispensed in England for antidepressants rose 9.1 percent in 2010.

A study published last July, also by Stuckler, found that across Europe, suicide rates rose sharply from 2007 to 2009 as the financial crisis drove unemployment up and squeezed incomes.

The countries worst hit by severe economic downturns, such as Greece and Ireland, saw the most dramatic increases in suicides.

In Britain, there's little doubt times have been getting harder. The economy has shrunk for the last nine months and now produces 4.5 percent less than before the economic crisis.

Government debt is well above a trillion pounds and is predicted to rise above 90 percent of GDP even with austerity policies being pushed through by the government.

Many Britons have had the worst squeeze in living standards for 40 years and the crisis has hit young people hard, with youth unemployment soaring above 20 percent.

Stuckler's BMJ study found that the number of unemployed men rose on average across Britain by 25.6 percent each year from 2008 to 2010, a rise associated with a yearly increase in male suicides of 3.6 percent.

"Much of men's identity and sense of purpose is tied up with having a job. It brings income, status, importance..." Stuckler said in a telephone interview.

"And there's also a pattern in the UK where men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women, while women are much more likely to report being depressed and seek help."

The World Health Organisation estimates that every year, almost a million people die from suicide - a rate of 16 per 100,000, or one every 40 seconds.

The U.N. health body also estimated that for every suicide, there are up to 20 attempted ones.

(Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/study-links-british-recession-1-000-suicides-230210111.html

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Lawsuit filed in Calif. over Brockovich chemical

(AP) ? Environmental groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the California Department of Public Health for failing to establish a safe drinking water standard for the cancer-causing chemical made famous in the film "Erin Brockovich."

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group claim the department is eight years late in setting the hexavalent chromium standard and has made no progress toward the goal.

The lawsuit claims the delay is unjustified and seeks a court order setting a faster timeline.

Studies show that hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, can cause cancer in people and has been found to cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, lymph nodes and liver of animals.

The chemical comes chiefly from industrial pollution ? it's used for production of stainless steel, textile dyes, wood preservation, leather tanning and as an anti-corrosive ? but also occurs naturally.

The dangers of chromium-6 became widely known after the film "Erin Brockovich" exposed the case of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. The utility was accused of leaking the contaminant into the groundwater of Hinckley, a small desert town, causing health problems including cancer.

A year later in 2001, the California legislature directed public health agencies to set an enforceable drinking water standard for the chemical by 2004.

The process was delayed due to a scientific dispute over whether chromium-6 is carcinogenic when ingested in water, said Sam Delson, deputy director for external and legislative affairs at the California Environmental Protection Agency. It has long been established that chromium-6 is carcinogenic when inhaled.

Federal scientists at the National Toxicology Program confirmed in 2007 that it's also carcinogenic when ingested.

The California EPA then set a "public health goal" ? a preliminary benchmark in creating a drinking water standard ? for hexavalent chromium. But in 2010, the agency recommended stricter limits after research showed that fetuses, infants and children are more susceptible than adults to the cancer-causing effects of the chemical. That goal was set last year at .02 parts of hexavalent chromium per billion parts of water.

Results of state water quality testing conducted between 2000 and 2011 throughout California showed that about a third of the 7,000 drinking water sources tested had chromium-6 levels at or above that limit.

The highest concentrations were reported in southern California, including in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Santa Barbara counties.

Using the benchmark, the Department of Public Health must develop the standard as close as possible to the health goal, factoring in the technical feasibility and costs of water testing and treatment.

Department of Public Health spokesman Ken August said there is no typical timeline for how long it takes to develop a standard. The agency is currently preparing a cost-benefit analysis, he said, and will take another two to three years to establish the standard.

There is no federal standard for chromium-6. Last year, the U.S. EPA released recommendations for enhanced monitoring of the chemical in public water systems and is conducting a review of chromium-6 to decide whether to set a nationwide standard.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-08-14-Toxic%20Water-California/id-9ff94be19f02466dabba304cea9f61ad

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Wildfires threaten homes in several western states

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Wildfires have destroyed dozens of homes and threatened hundreds more in several western U.S. states, including Idaho, where an on-duty firefighter was killed by a falling tree.

Anne Veseth, a 20-year-old who was in her second season as a firefighter, was killed Sunday as she worked a fire near Orofino, the U.S. Forest Service said. Her older brother also is a wild-land firefighter in Idaho, where 12 blazes are burning.

"The Forest Service is devastated by the loss of one of our own," Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell said.

Officials were investigating the death, which came on the same day that another firefighter narrowly escaped a wildfire in southeastern Oregon.

That firefighter was forced to deploy her emergency shelter in an area overrun by wind-whipped flames. She suffered minor burns to a leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation.

Her 20-person federal crew made it to a safety zone and was pulled off the fire. The blaze scorched about 653 square miles in remote terrain straddling Oregon and Nevada, where five ranches in the Kings River Valley were evacuated.

A crew in central Washington state also barely outran flames Monday at a wind-driven fire in Kittitas County. The firefighters managed to drive to safety as they got ahead of the Taylor Bridge fire, said Richelle Risdon, a county fire spokeswoman.

That same fire destroyed 40 homes since it ignited Monday east of the town of Cle Elum, said state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mark Grassel. Within hours, it had grown to about 23 square miles, according to fire commanders.

Officials said more homes were burning or under threat near the small town about 60 miles west of Seattle, but no injuries were reported so far. Grassel said the fire crept within six miles of the nearby city of Ellensburg, though crews stopped its forward movement.

Some property at a chimpanzee sanctuary outside Cle Elum burned but the animals were uninjured, Diana Goodrich of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest told KING-TV.

In Utah, a lightning-sparked fire consumed about 34 square miles, threatened a herd of wild horses and shut down the historic Pony Express Road in the state's western desert.

Meanwhile, crews in Northern California made progress against an aggressive wildfire in Lake County that grew to more than 9 square miles and destroyed three buildings. Officials lifted evacuation orders for the residents of nearly 500 homes late Monday, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

"The fire is still actively burning, but burning in a remote area," Berlant said. "It's burning in brush that's tinder dry and hasn't seen a fire in decades."

A separate wildfire to the north was threatening about 600 homes, prompting some evacuation orders in the Seneca and Rush Creek communities in Plumas National Forest. The fire burned about 55 square miles, officials said.

Fires across California have affected some national parks, including Lassen Volcanic National Park and Joshua Tree National Park.

In Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is in Northern California, a fire forced the closure of a highway and several trails. It burned 33 square miles of pine forests and thick brush, fire officials said.

At Joshua Tree, park officials said a fire burned up to 300 acres of rocky, tree-covered hillsides, closing the scenic Keys View Road.

A handful of other fires in hot and dry Southern California was sparked by lightning, including three burning out of control northeast of Julian. None were threatening any structures.

__

Associated Press writers John Miller in Boise, Idaho; Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore.; Brian Skoloff in Salt Lake City, and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wildfires-threaten-homes-several-western-states-082405747.html

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Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 3pm ET with special guest Brian Klug!

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 3pm ET with special guest Brian Klug!

The mobile industry never stops and neither do we. After all, what would be the fun in that? The podcast boat will be steered by coxswains Myriam and Brad, as always, but this week Anandtech's Brian Klug will be joining them. Speaking of fun, get ready for a geekery session unmatched by any other.

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Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 3pm ET with special guest Brian Klug! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/14/engadget-mobile-podcast/

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Eagles looking for more from Vick

Vikings 49ers FootballAP

It?s no coincidence that unnamed league executives leaked a chest-thumping slew of news regarding the locked-out officials to Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN as ESPN was preparing to air the first Monday Night Countdown of the season.? The NFL wants to put the screws to the locked-out officials; what better way to do it than have the screw-turning featured on the pregame show for the first Monday night game of the preseason?

The huffing and puffing from the unnamed league executives is aimed at getting the locked-out officials to realize that, despite widespread criticism of the replacement officials, the NFL doesn?t plan to blink.? A deeper goal may be to convince the replacement officials that fanning the flames of criticism of the replacements officials isn?t working, in the hopes that the locked-out officials will, you know, stop doing it.

They likely won?t, even though the efforts of the locked-out officials to stir up trouble aren?t resonating with fans, yet.

The fact that the unnamed league executives also leaked to Schefter and Mortensen (Ed Werder is feeling left out) points of contention unrelated to money suggests that the league wants to take focus off the notion that the two sides are only $100,000 apart per team and to place it on the perception that the locked-out officials don?t want some to be full-time NFL employees, and/or that the locked-out officials want to make it harder to fire any of them for poor performance.

In the end, it?s another game of chicken.? Sources have told ESPN that the lockout is likely to last until the third week of the regular season because the NFL believes (hopes) that the locked-out officials will cry ?uncle? after missing the first two weekends of real football.? The locked-out officials are hoping that the performance of the replacement officials will create the kind of kerfuffle that will push the league to bend.

With most if not all of the locked-out officials having other employment, they won?t be giving in because they need the money.? In the end, it could be that their commitment to the game ? and their disgust at seeing third-tier and lower replacements screw up calls while wearing the NFL shield ? will prompt them to strike a deal and get back to work.

Regardless of when and how it happens, the league and the locked-out officials need to get this done.? If we assume that the NFL has hired the best of the best officials to supervise its games, those are the people who need to be working the games that count.? Pro football has become way too important to entrust the outcomes to wide-eyed officials who have never worked games in front of 1,000 fans ? and who now will be working nationally-televised games played in front of 60,000, 70,000, 80,000, and more.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/13/on-third-anniversary-eagles-looking-for-awareness-from-vick/related/

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Refinery fire site too dangerous for investigators

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Federal and state investigators are trying to determine how to safely enter the area where a fire broke out in a Chevron Corp. refinery last week so they can examine a failed pipe blamed for the blaze, which the company chose not to replace nearly a year ago after an inspection.

Structural engineers on Monday determined the damaged crude unit that was the site of the fire in the facility was too hazardous to enter. The 8-inch pipe leaked and its contents ignited, sending black smoke into the sky above Richmond, Calif., and thousands of nearby residents to hospitals with complaints of eye irritation and breathing difficulty.

Investigators were discussing plans on how to make the unit safe so the faulty pipe could be removed for testing, said Hillary Cohen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.

"The crude unit is still off-limits because of safety concerns. Probably for another day or two," said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the state division of occupational safety and health, or Cal-OSHA. That agency is also investigating the cause of the blaze.

The Aug. 6 conflagration destroyed an area of the refinery that produces a large amount of the gasoline that satisfies California's clean-air regulations, which are the toughest in the nation. Other parts of the refinery, which supplies 16 percent of California's daily gas consumption, are still producing fuels.

But the refinery's reduced output has sent state gas prices rising higher than normal, analyst said. The average price for a gallon of regular on Monday in California was $4.07, up from $3.86 last Tuesday.

Chevron examined the line that failed and a larger companion line linked to it last year but decided it was good for another five years of service.

After the fire started, the small leak in the pipe was discovered quickly by Chevron's engineers, a fact that may have helped save their lives, said Randy Sawyer, chief environmental health and hazardous materials officer for Contra Costa County, where the refinery is located. The company has set up a claims center to help residents seeking compensation from exposure to the smoke.

When the crew of more than a dozen people removed insulation to inspect the decades-old pipe, they were engulfed in a cloud of vapor and narrowly escaped the unit before the fire ignited, investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said.

"It was good they found the leak early ... the sooner you find the (leak) and ignition point, the less fuel there is to burn at the ignition point," Sawyer said.

Investigators want to learn why Chevron did not replace the old pipe that failed, and suspect corrosion as a likely cause of the leak. The company had inspected the unit in November and replaced a larger corroded pipe that was connected to the one that failed, federal investigators said.

"Investigators continue to be onsite and we are fully cooperating with them to move this investigation forward," said Melissa Ritchie, a company spokeswoman.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/refinery-fire-too-dangerous-investigators-072432428--finance.html

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