Biden Blames Bush Administration for Deficit

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Vice President Joe Biden placed the blame for the ballooning deficit on the Bush administration today, arguing that the previous administration saddled the country with the burden of trillions of dollars in debt.

"Let's get serious here! How did we get this debt? Ladies and gentlemen, they put two wars on a credit card. Not paying a penny, not paying a penny, even though I introduced legislation to pay for that war. They voted against it," Biden said at the Wa-Ke Hatchee Park Recreation Center. "Two, they voted for a new entitlement program without paying one penny for it, and that was clear. Number 3, they added another trillion dollars in the tax cut for the very wealthy, so what's the result? These are the facts, folks, these are the facts.

"The result was by the time the reins got turned back over to Barack [Obama] and me, they had doubled the national debt in eight years, doubled the national debt in eight years," Biden added.

Biden recounted that within the first week of being in office, Larry Summers, a top economic adviser to the president, warned newly inaugurated President Obama of the deficit the country faced.

"We were sitting in the oval office, and Larry Summers, the chief economic adviser, and the economic team came in and said 'Mr. President, looking at this year's budget you are going to have a trillion dollar deficit.' He said, 'I haven't done anything yet,'" Biden said. "I'm serious. They said, 'No, Mr. President, the budget they passed, the budget they passed in October of last year guarantees no matter what you do you're going to have a trillion dollar debt this year in the budget.' A trillion dollar deficit to be precise."

Earlier in the week, the Washington Post fact checked President Obama's claim that the Bush administration's policies accounted for 90 percent of the country's current deficit and rated the assertion as false, since the president also pushed spending increases and tax cuts that added to the deficit.

Biden also claimed the Obama administration has proposed a plan that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years and has already decreased the deficit by $1 trillion

"We've already reduced the deficit. In four years, we'll reduce it by another trillion dollars. Ladies and gentlemen look, there's an easy way to do this. We have to make some difficult decisions. We've made them, but we've got to ask the very wealthy to pay more," Biden said.

"President Obama and Vice President Biden have no credibility on reducing our national debt," Amanda Henneberg, a spokeswoman for Romney, responded in a statement. "Over the last four years, the Obama-Biden team has presided over the largest increase in the national debt of any administration in history. And President Obama's latest spending plan is riddled with accounting gimmicks and tax hikes, rather than policies that will get our long-term debt under control. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will take immediate steps to cut spending and put our nation on track toward a balanced budget."

Biden mocked the GOP's concern about the debt, saying, "I love how they bleed over the national debt," but adding that Republicans would be unwilling to sign onto a deficit reduction plan that would promise $10 in cuts in spending in exchange for a dollar increase in revenue.

The vice president honed in on energy, touting the Obama administration's work as well as highlighting what he believes is the GOP's misunderstanding the role conservation plays in energy exploration and expansion.

"I love to hear them talk about their energy policy, which is 'drill baby drill,' right? OK, now let me say something about drilling. You all realize that there are more gas and oil rigs working today, pumping today, than all the rest of the rigs in the entire rest of the world. Do you know that? That's a fact. That's why we're importing less than we have in decades, that's why we're in the position we're moving in," Biden said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is an exponential, exponential supply of natural gas done right and renewable energy that's here in this country," he said. "That's why we doubled - and they voted against it - and Romney talked against it, we doubled the fuel economy standards for cars and trucks by 2025. That will save 12 billion barrels of oil over the period of time. I don't know how they don't think conservation is part of this. They, they sure don't know it."

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biden-blames-bush-administration-deficit-184436550--abc-news-politics.html

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Overuse threatens East Fork of the San Gabriel River

Thousands of picnickers and gold prospectors park every weekend along a two-lane road overlooking the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, then trundle down to the mountain creek with ice chests, boomboxes, shovels, sluice boxes and baby carriers strung with diapers.

They litter, light campfires, defecate in the wild, dig for gold and engage in many other banned activities along the river. U.S. Forest Service rangers try in vain to curtail the abuses but are hopelessly outnumbered.

Last Sunday, no rangers were in sight at a popular swimming hole where the air smelled of campfires and makeshift toilets in nearby bushes. A young man hunted birds with a BB gun. A few yards upstream, half a dozen gold prospectors were digging deep holes and dragging massive boulders across the river with steel cables attached to winches.

PHOTOS: Trashing the river

Clad in a white robe and standing waist-deep in water, Pastor Juan Morales smiled as congregants of Jesus Fuente de Vida Eterna in the City of Industry marched solemnly into the current to be baptized. Church members raised their hands in prayer and appreciation each time Morales dunked someone in the name of Jesus Christ.

"We've been coming here four times a year for seven years because it is beautiful and clean," Morales said in Spanish.

Beautiful and clean may have been an apt description in the past. But it doesn't fit today. Although water quality monitors say the East Fork is safe to swim in, the vicinity of the swimming hole was fouled by dozens of dirty diapers and, on some rocks midstream, human feces.

"I've lost count of the times I've pleaded with the Forest Service to get the trash out of the river," said Mark Yeltsin, manager of the Camp Williams Cafe, the only commercial establishment on the East Fork. "They have a stock answer: 'Sorry. We don't have the resources.'"

Tom Contreras, supervisor of the 640,000-acre Angeles National Forest, said a few more rangers and cleanup crews would certainly enhance his ability to enforce laws on the river, but budget restraints have made that all but impossible. "We have one full-time technician assigned to that area ? I wish we had more," Contreras said.

Environmental and community groups say conditions have reached critical mass, not only on the river but across the San Gabriel Mountains. Something needs to change.

"We desperately need a new vision and management plan for the East Fork and the entire range," said Juanna Torres, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club. "What we've got up there now isn't working."

San Gabriel Mountains Forever, a coalition of community and environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Friends of the River, is backing a plan that seeks to balance the crush of tourists with conservation. Essentially, it would transform the San Gabriels into a national recreational area co-managed by the National Park Service. The designation would make it eligible for additional federal resources, including law enforcement officers, interpretive signs and trash collection.

The National Park Service is completing a study of the proposal for submission to Congress and possible authorization next year.

Without any improvements, the San Gabriels will continue to suffer from being an enormous backyard for Southern California.

East Fork Road and California 39, the winding mountain highway that provides the only access to Crystal Lake and other recreational areas north of the East Fork, are patrolled by Forest Service rangers, the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, firefighters and Caltrans crews. Last Sunday, authorities were swamped with reports of car burglaries, drug deals, belligerent gold prospectors, rowdy parties, overturned vehicles, lost hikers and illegal campfires.

In August 2010, a ranger was beaten and left unconscious on the East Fork in a case that has been referred to the FBI and remains under investigation. A month ago, a vehicle driving through dry brush just off East Fork Road sparked a fire that blackened more than 4,000 acres of the San Gabriel watershed, which provides Los Angeles County with 33% of its water.

Refuse has been a health concern since 2000, when the California Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered the Forest Service to reduce trash levels in the East Fork to zero within three years. In response, rangers and volunteers were stationed at popular picnic sites to direct visitors to roadside trash bins and provide them with information about environmental issues and litter laws. They also posted bilingual "No Littering" signs.

That strategy was abandoned a few years later due to budget cuts. Since then, the number of visitors to the East Fork has mushroomed to about 15,000 people a day on the big weekends of summer. Compounding problems, gold prospectors developed a militant attitude toward rangers after learning that the ban on mining in the San Gabriels is based on a 1928 policy that does not include penalties.

Now, in a social dynamic peculiar to the East Fork, rangers crack down on prospectors by citing them for such things as "diverting the flow of the river" or "defacing the forest," while miners attempt to win sympathy and avoid harassment by picking up trash.

Such quirky rhythms have made regulars of prospectors such as Richard Skow, 57. Pushing a shovel deep into river gravel, Skow said, "We're the real stewards of this river. I filled three bags with trash this morning alone."

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/Ra33OTDLLYI/la-me-trashed-river-20120930,0,5708583.story

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Halfbrick?s award-winning ?Jetpack Joyride? finally hits Android

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Occupy Wall Street protester has lost his latest bid to prevent the Manhattan district attorney's office from using his tweets against him, clearing the way for the judge overseeing the case to unseal the tweets and give them to prosecutors. In a case that has drawn the attention of electronic privacy advocates, a New York judge denied a request from the protester, Malcolm Harris, to put the tweets on ice while his appeal is pending. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/halfbrick-award-winning-jetpack-joyride-finally-hits-android-210021330.html

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Tim Cook apologizes for Maps mess

Tim Cook apologizes for Maps mess

Well, it's hardly a secret that customers are unhappy with Apple's new mapping solution in iOS 6. And, while the company has admitted that, perhaps, it's not quite up to snuff yet, it has played down Maps' flaws and urged customers to be patient. Today, in an open letter to the Apple faithful, Tim Cook struck a far more candid and conciliatory tone, apologizing for failing to deliver a "world-class" product. Cook went so far as to suggest that unhappy customers could check out offerings from competitors like Bing, MapQuest, Google and Nokia -- at least until Cupertino sorts this mess out. You'll find the complete text of the letter after the break.

Update: You can read our editorial on Apple apologies since the launch of the iPhone here.

Continue reading Tim Cook apologizes for Maps mess

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/N7paWYH9kgA/

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'Angry Birds' spinoff 'Bad Piggies' is the whole hog

10 hrs.

You really can't go wrong spending the pocket change or the time it'll cost you to buy and play the newest game from the creators of "Angry Birds." When it comes to puzzle gaming for your mobile device,?"Bad Piggies"?really is the whole hog.

The "Angry Birds" spinoff from Finnish game company Rovio (which launched in Apple's App store Thursday)?has everything you'd want from a great mobile game???the bright art,?oddly lovable characters, ear-worm music and, most importantly, the highly-polished, infectious and thought-provoking puzzle gameplay you can jump into and out of at (almost) a?moment's notice.?

But let's get something straight: Though this game is clearly?a sister/spin-off/sequel to the?phenomenally?successful Angry Birds games,??there is nary a slingshot or irate?avian?to be found in "Bad Piggies." As the name implies, this game is all about the birds' egg-thieving?nemesis. And, more importantly, "Bag Piggies" has a gameplay?mechanic all its own.

In this game, those endlessly hungry porkers are trying to reach the birds' eggs,?but the map that leads to their delicious location has been torn to shreds. And so, it is your job to help your porcine buddies collect the pieces of the map, which are spread across more than 60?different levels.

But since the pigs are, well, nothing but snouty, leggless?orbs and thus entirely unable to move on their own, you're tasked with constructing contraptions to carry them from starting point A, across, over and around various landscapes and obstacles, to end?point B, where the map piece is.?

Plenty of other contraption-building games have come before, but with "Bad Piggies" Rovio has distilled the this kind of physics?puzzle?gameplay down to its sleek, accessible and addictive?essence.

The first two worlds???"Ground Hog Day" and "When Pigs Fly"???are each made up of 45 levels full of landscapes that must be rolled across or flown through. ?At the start of each level, you'll be given various items with which to make your pig-carrying jallopy???boxes, wheels,?balloons, fans, explosive soda pop bottles, umbrellas,?engines, propellers, rockets,?etc.

Once you've put your contraption together, you set it in motion and see how far you get.?But even when your pig is on the move, your work is not yet done. For example, if?you've attached a fan and a couple of soda pop bottles to the box with your pig in it, you'll have to smartly set the fan blowing or set the pop bottles exploding at just the right time to get your porcine?friend where he needs to go.

And often, he will not get where he needs to go.?This is a game in which, if at first you don't succeed,? you must find joy in try, trying again. You are certain to send your pig careening into walls and plummeting to the ground whereupon your contraption will bust to pieces. But that's OK. The fun?here comes in not only?learning from your mistakes but watching your mistakes happen.

As with "Angry Birds" (and plenty of other puzzle games), you'll be challenged to earn?three stars in each of the first two?worlds. But this time around, Rovio lets you know exactly what you need to do to get those?three stars. And these goals vary from level to level.?

You can earn a?star by, well, running into a?star placed in a hard-to-reach locale, or by?getting your pig??from the starting point to the map in a certain amount of time, or by making it through the level without damaging your?contraption?at all. Sometimes you collect a star by creating a contraption that gets you from point A to point B without using a specific part that would make that journey easier. And sometimes you'll be rewarded for getting the?Pig King through the course too.

And the star collecting ramps up to entirely new and epic proportions?once you unlock the Sandbox levels in the game. These sprawling levels toss 20 stars across vast landscapes and then give you a large?supply of parts with which to build your contraption. The goal here is to see how many stars you can get to. And snagging?more than a few stars is no easy task.?But it is an absolute blast to create and then?tinker with?the most madcap pig-rig you can think up as you try to inch your way to each star.

Of course, the question that will always follow Rovio is: Will this game be as wildly successful as "Angry Birds?" We can't help but wonder: Have they, once again, captured that mysterious something that will earn "Bad Piggies" the?billion downloads their feathered friends have?earned?

If I was a betting person, I'd say no. Not because "Bad Piggies" is a bad game in any way, but because?"Bad Piggies" will require more of you???and your brain???than Angry Birds does. While you could kind of mindlessly send your bird slingshotting through the air in "Angry Birds," you can't just mindlessly send your piggy rolling down a hill ... at least not if you want to be remotely successful.

You need to think about what you're building, you need to refine your work and you'll need to stay focused as your pig is in motion. It will certainly take you more time to get into the groove of this game???and that could be offputting to some casual players. But ultimately this?is?a good thing.?"Bad Piggies" is,?in many ways,?more challenging than its angry brethren?and, I think, because of that it is?more rewarding. It really is an absolute joy to see your pig fly ... and reach his destination in one piece.

"Bad Piggies" is?99 cents for the iPhone?here?and?$2.99 for the iPad here. It's $4.99 in the Mac App store here. And you'll find it for free on Google Play?here.?Rovio says it is coming to PCs and Windows Phones "soon."

Winda Benedetti?writes?about video?games for NBC?News. You can follow her tweets about games and?other things on Twitter here?@WindaBenedetti,?and you can?follow her?on?Google+.?Meanwhile, be sure to check?out the?IN-GAME?FACEBOOK PAGE?to discuss the day's?gaming news and reviews.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/angry-birds-spinoff-bad-piggies-whole-hog-6150498

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America's Top 10 Cities to Raise a Family - Homes.com Inspiring ...

Raising a family comes with a lot of responsibilities. One of the most important of them is choosing which city you want your family to call home. Finding a city that has the perfect combination of quality schools, family friendly activities, affordable homes and ample job opportunities can be quite an undertaking.

At Homes.com we want to be a partner in helping you locate the home of your dreams in the perfect city for you and your family. Here are the top ten cities we found to be the best to raise a family:

1.?Blacksburg, VA

In 2011, Business Week named Blacksburg the ?Best Place in the U.S. to Raise Kids.? Home to Virginia Tech, Moog Inc. and the National Weather Service, Blacksburg has a great educational base as well as plenty of economic opportunities. The city is known for its affordable living costs, low crime rates and exceptional schools. Blacksburg is brimming with family-friendly amenities and features a community center with an indoor pool and a nine-hole municipal golf course.

2. Raleigh, NC

One of the fastest growing cities in the country, Raleigh combines a big city look with a small town feel. The city is noted for its affordable family housing, low crime rates and high median family income, as well as one of the strongest school districts in North Carolina. Raleigh, located in the Wake County School District, has more than 70 excellent schools including Raleigh Charter High School, which is consistently ranked as one of the best schools in the state.

3.?Plano, TX

From the Spanish word ?flat,? Plano?s culture and environment are anything but. Home to several corporate headquarters including Dell Services, Dr. Pepper, Snapple Group, Alliance Data and Cinemark Theatres, Plano has an abundance of employment opportunities for parents. Consistently topping Forbes magazine?s safest cities in America list, its police department is one of the few in the country that requires officers to have a four-year college degree. Plano was given a national award for excellence for its Neighborhood Watch in 2011.

4. Tampa, FL

Tampa is the fourth most popular searched zip code on Homes.com in the months leading up to the school season, which may be due in part to its reputable school district. The district has a student-teacher ratio of 13.5:1, less than the national average of 15.4:1. Residents enjoy warm weather year-round and have only a short drive to enjoy the Gulf Coast?s pristine beaches. Families look forward each year to the city?s annual Gasparilla Festival, a pirate-themed celebration including parades, a ?Children?s Extravaganza,? music festival and marathon. The Port of Tampa is Florida?s largest port and seventh largest in the country. It contributes billions of dollars each year into the region?s economy.

5. Boston, MA

Boston is consistently recognized for its education, economy, culture, sports and rich history. Boston ranks third in livability and sixth in economy among U.S. cities. Home to several prestigious universities including Harvard and Boston University, Boston also boasts the largest pediatric research center in the world and the iconic Boston Children?s Museum, a dynamic facility with exhibits and hands-on learning experiences for children of all ages.

6. Rochester, MN

With fewer than 200 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, Rochester is one of the safest cities in America. Home to the Mayo Clinic, which employs more than one-third of the population, Rochester also boasts a rich history and an extensive park system. Many downtown buildings are part of the National Register of Historic Places, and the Root River and Douglas State Trails are great outdoor destinations for families.

7. Pocatello, ID

Families seeking a smaller city will enjoy Pocatello. Boasting safe neighborhoods and a low cost of living, the city offers several family-friendly activities including the Pocatello Zoo, Idaho Museum of Natural History and Ross Park Aquatic Complex. Families looking for an easy day trip can visit nearby places including Salt Lake City, Yellowstone National Park and the Rocky Mountains. Families will build memories enjoying the city?s recreational options and exploring the great Northwest.

8. Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix is the sixth most populous city in the U.S. and third most improved city according to rental searches on Homes.com. The city is home to seven Fortune 500 companies and has an active high-tech and telecommunications industry. Its many recreational activities are also a major draw for families. South Mountain Park and Preserve, the largest municipal park in the world, covers 16,500 acres and has more than 50 miles of biking, hiking and equestrian trails. Avid sports fans enjoy the best-attended PGA tour event each February at TPC Scottsdale, and Phoenix is one of only 13 cities that boast teams in all four major professional sports leagues.

9.Honolulu, HI

A popular vacation spot, Honolulu shouldn?t be overlooked by families as a great place to raise kids. Meaning ?place of shelter,? Honolulu has 470 high-rise buildings, placing the city fourth behind New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The city enjoys a strong economy, cultural and artistic attractions, and a thriving school system. More than 14 Honolulu schools have been presented with the Department of Education Blue Ribbon School for Excellence Award. With a 20-minute commute from one end of the city to the other, Honolulu offers hundreds of beaches and is an ideal location for daily family fun.

10. Lincoln, NE

With more than 100 parks, countless trails, a bustling metropolitan area and dozens of annual events, it?s hard to imagine getting bored in this city. Lincoln has a strong community feel and features numerous arts, cultural and family-friendly activities. Its International Thespian Society, Lincoln County State Fair, Capital City Ribfest, Lincoln Children?s Zoo and Sunken Gardens can be enjoyed by parents and kids alike.

We hope this list will help you to get inspired to find the city that will be the perfect place for you and your family to call home for many years. For additional information on finding the ideal city and deciding on if now is the time to move, please visit the real estate market section of our blog.

Posted in Real Estate Market

Source: http://blog.homes.com/2012/09/americas-top-10-cities-to-raise-a-family/

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Soldier's death shines light on Afghan insider killings

In the weeks before his death, 21-year-old Mabry Anders had grown increasingly worried that he might not come home from Afghanistan. The Army specialist was battling insomnia and would send brief, worried messages back to his family.

"He talked to me in the day, which would be in the middle of his night," his father, Dan Anders, said. "He didn't sleep. He was just worried."

There were good reasons for concern. During his six-month tour, the Taliban staged a major attack at his base, a suicide bomber had killed one of his brigade's most revered leaders, and an Afghan villager threw a fire-bomb at a vehicle he was traveling in.

But what Anders may not have expected is that his killer would be an Afghan army soldier, one of those the U.S. military is supposed to be training to take over security of the country ahead of the withdrawal of most U.S. troops by the end of 2014.

A surge in insider attacks (also known as "green on blue" attacks) has prompted NATO to temporarily curtail some joint operations. The move casts doubt on what exactly international forces can accomplish in those places where they cannot work alongside their Afghan allies.

Analysis: What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?

Interviews in Afghanistan and the United States have uncovered new details about the attack on August 27, which also took the life of another U.S. soldier, Sergeant Christopher Birdwell. These include Taliban claims that the insurgents prepared the Afghan soldier for the killings.

"After the shooting incident a group of Taliban came to my house and said that Welayat Khan was their man," said Nazar Khan, the brother of the Afghan soldier who was killed by U.S. forces after he opened fire on the Americans.

"'We have trained him for this mission and you must be proud of his martyrdom,'" the brother quoted a local Taliban commander as saying.

Interviews with Afghan officials suggest that Welayat Khan was not properly vetted. He was admitted to the force seven months before the attack, despite presenting a fake birth certificate and having gotten a flimsy recommendation from a commander who vouched for him simply because the two men were ethnic Pashtuns, according to Afghan sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

Insider attacks now account for one in every five combat deaths suffered by NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, and 16 percent of all American combat casualties, according to 2012 data. The rising death toll has alarmed Americans and raised new, troubling questions about the unpopular war's direction.

The Pentagon is promising better vetting of Afghan recruits like Welayat Khan, and NATO last week announced it was scaling back cooperation with Afghans to reduce risk to Western troops. That includes Anders' unit, stationed at Combat Outpost Xio Haq in Laghman province, in eastern Afghanistan, which, for the moment, has halted joint operations.

Last of 33,000 surge troops leave Afghanistan

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But it's unclear whether the United States or NATO or the Afghan government forces they're training will be able to stop the next Welayat Khan before he strikes.

Khan was raised in a deeply religious family in the mountain village of Shor Khil, a collection of about 100 mud-built houses near the Tora Bora mountains not far from the Pakistan border.

'Very upset and angry'
Relatives said they were taken by surprise when he joined the Afghan army. His cousin Rahman recounted that Welayat had lambasted Western military forces.

"Welayat had a small radio and liked to listen to news about Afghanistan. He became very upset and angry when there were reports about civilians being killed by airstrikes," Rahman said. "'May Allah save us from the hands of these infidels,'" he quoted Welayat as saying.

According to family members, Welayat had shown signs of mental instability since an accident at work when he slipped on a mountain while breaking rocks for construction. Nazar Khan, Welayat's older brother, said he would suffer mental breakdowns and "get angry at minor things."

In Welayat's pictures, provided by his brother Nazar Khan, he appears clean-shaven, young, stern looking, with a mass of thick black hair. He has a long face and slender build. In one picture he is gently holding his green beret in his right hand, with his left hand resting on the barrel of a machine gun.

Work with the Afghan army meant steady paychecks of about $240 a month, helping his 15-member family. Still, his relatives asked him to quit out of fear of reprisals by the Taliban, who have warned villagers not to join the Afghan security forces.

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads (on this page)

"We have all warned him to leave the army and find another job," Rahman said.

Reprisals from the Taliban, it turns out, wouldn't be a problem.

In cold blood
Although the Taliban claim to have trained Khan for his mission, there is nothing to suggest at this point that he knew where, when or even if he would strike on the morning of August 27. By all accounts, he did not know the two U.S. soldiers he shot.

Anders, an Army mechanic from a small town in Oregon, and Birdwell, from Windsor, Colorado, were part of an early morning clearance mission near the Afghan town of Kalagush when the lead vehicle in their convoy hit a bomb.

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are hardly a novelty and, after 11 years of war, troops know how to respond. Soldiers in the convoy quickly secured the area and Anders went to help load the damaged vehicle for transport.

Hundreds of Afghan soldiers detained, fired over 'links with insurgents'

The American patrol had the road blocked to ensure security. But the Afghan soldiers approaching in another convoy were not seen as a potential threat, and were allowed to pass. On board that convoy was Welayat Khan.

"They are trained to trust the Afghan soldiers," Anders' mother, Genevieve Woydziak, said.

Welayat Khan was sitting at the gun turret mounted on a vehicle in the Afghan convoy. At 8:10 in the morning, as his vehicle passed Anders and Birdwell, Welayat Khan took aim at the Americans and fired.

"The rest of the Afghan soldiers at that point laid their weapons down" to avoid being shot, Woydziak said.

Welayat Khan then jumped out of the Afghan vehicle and started to run. But he didn't get very far.

An American helicopter arrived in minutes and shot Khan dead less than a kilometer away, according to a U.S. Army spokesman.

Khan's older brother said the body was so riddled with bullets that it was unrecognizable.

Video: Marines dive for cover in Afghanistan firefight (on this page)

"The coffin was sealed," Nazar said, adding that the government declined to provide any money for the funeral because of Khan's links to the Taliban.

In hunting for an explanation, Reuters learned of an alternative narrative. Khan's brother heard from Afghan forces and an Afghan eyewitness that there was a dispute at the American roadblock, involving a pregnant women who needed to pass. In this scenario, an American at the scene told her to wait and Khan retaliated.

"My brother is a martyr and the whole family is proud of his martyrdom but we blame the Americans for inciting him to shoot," Nazar Khan said.

But a U.S. Army spokesman said there was no indication so far that Khan had any interaction with the American soldiers he killed, or with any of the other American forces, for that matter. The Army investigation is ongoing.

Video: Deadline looms as US troops leave Afghanistan (on this page)

The Taliban appears to be claiming they were in on the attack from the start, before Welayat Khan even joined the army.

"Mullah Abdul Samad and his men came to my house a day after I buried my brother and they were saying that Welayat joined them before enrolling in the army," Nazar Khan said, referring to the village Taliban commander.

It's unclear what, beyond perhaps Welayat Khan's fake birth certificate, NATO might have caught with its newly enhanced steps to weed out dangerous Afghan soldiers, announced in the weeks after the shooting.

Many of the attacks are chalked up to personal grudges, in a country where disputes are frequently settled at gunpoint and where asking after a wife's health could be seen as offensive.

Donkeys and dust as day breaks in Afghanistan

Brigadier General Roger Noble of Australia, deputy chief of staff of operations in Afghanistan, said NATO was working on creating "shooter profiles" from past cases to see if it is possible to identify worrying traits or characteristics.

Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan until July, warned that "the Taliban have found a niche."

"I think they're finding that ... relatively easy to do," he said at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "And our own vetting in the U.S. military is not that great, let's face it."

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, told Reuters that "a large number" of fighters have infiltrated the Afghan security forces.

'A hero comes home'
Anders' mother was at her office on August 27 when she got a call from workers at her house in Baker City, Oregon. They told her that two Army soldiers had arrived at her doorstep.

"I served in the Army myself. We knew why they were there," she said.

It was a long, 15-mile drive back to her home, where she would learn with certainty about her son Mabry's death earlier that day on the other side of the world. She has learned more details about it since then.

The parents are still wrestling with agonizing questions.

Video: General Allen: ?We?re working hard to eliminate threat? to coalition forces (on this page)

Dan Anders, Mabry's father, who lives in Wyoming, is concerned about the U.S. rules of engagement - saying, for example, that he had learned the helicopter that shot Welayat Khan as he attempted to flee had to request authorization to fire, even though Khan had just killed his son and Birdwell.

His mother is deeply concerned about the insider threat itself, saying that her son's Army friends in Afghanistan are afraid of some of the Afghans they serve with.

"They're training with these Afghan people and they're doing their thing and they know it's wrong," she said. "They know who they can trust. They know who they can't trust. They are in fear. Every day."

More Afghanistan coverage from NBC News

Some analysts see NATO's decision last week to scale back some joint operations as a worrying sign.

Nora Bensahel at the Center for a New American Security think tank said it raised serious questions about the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. "This will create a vicious cycle, where an emboldened Taliban increases its threats against any future joint patrols in order to make this temporary suspension permanent," Bensahel wrote.

Other critics of the war, including in Congress, have seized upon the insider attacks as an additional reason to accelerate the American withdrawal from the country.

Still, the Afghan conflict is not a top issue in the U.S. presidential election campaign and the insider attacks have not yet sparked widespread national outrage.

Video: How the war has changed (on this page)

Mabry Anders' home town of Baker City, Oregon appears to have been largely untouched by the war until his death. His hometown newspaper noted in an editorial that Anders' killing had "erased our collective complacency" about the 11-year-old Afghan war.

The newspaper, the Baker City Herald, estimated that some 2,000 people turned out on the streets for Anders' funeral procession. Hundreds held tiny flags.

Anders was just 10 years old at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and he enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from high school. He posted lots of photos on Facebook - many showing his sense of humor, even in Afghanistan.

More international stories from NBC News

On the day of his service, the Herald wrote a touching article called "A Hero Comes Home," noting the different ways people in the community paid tribute to Anders. Among them was a story about a man who went to a bar after the procession and bought a shot for Anders. He left it untouched, along with a handwritten note.

"It said: 'Mabry Anders, thank you, all gave some and some gave all,'" bartender Sarah Heiner told Reuters. She kept the shot until it evaporated, days later.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49190766/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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Considering a Debt Relief Program | Universal Finances | Credit ...

Fewer than four percent of homeowners and renters seek debt relief due to increased expenses. Homeowners claim that medical bills are the second most common reason for them considering a?debt relief program?while renters show medical expenses are the third most likely reason for debt relief. Other factors such as job loss or reduced hours may result in a homeowner seeking debt relief.

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Considering a debt relief program

Source: http://universalfinances.com/debt-relief-program

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President Emeritus John R. Silber Dead at 86 | BU Today | Boston ...

In the slideshow above, view images from John Silber?s tenure as president of Boston University, from 1971 to 1996. Photos by BU Photography

John R. Silber (Hon.?95), the president emeritus and former chancellor who led the transformation of Boston University from a commuter school to a renowned research institution, died early this morning, Thursday, September 27, at age 86. The cause of death was kidney failure.

Silber, who came to Boston University in 1971, was the University?s seventh president, and served for more than three decades, as president until 1996, then as University chancellor from 1996 to 2003. He also was a College of Arts & Sciences professor of philosophy and of international relations, a University Professor, and a School of Law professor of law.

Silber was strong-willed, outspoken, and often controversial, and his resolute work ethic, formidable capacity for knowledge, and dogged determination to improve both BU and the city of Boston made him well known in academic as well as political circles. During his tenure at BU?which coincided, for a time, with his unsuccessful 1990 run for governor of Massachusetts?he greatly expanded the campus, recruited top-notch faculty, including two future Nobel Prize winners, and established the University?s long-running partnership with the Chelsea Public School system, which began in 1988 and continued for 20 years. The University he served for so long awarded him an honorary degree at the 1995 Commencement.

?In the seven years I have served this wonderful institution, I have come to appreciate the magnitude of what John Silber accomplished at Boston University,? says University President Robert A. Brown. ?He worked tirelessly to transform the University, introducing ever higher standards in the hiring and promotion of faculty and admission of students. There were some who found fault with his candor, and those who disagreed with him on some policy or decision, but nobody can deny John?s legacy. He was famously outspoken and unhesitant in decision-making. He left an indelible imprint on Boston University and set the foundation for the course to greatness that we are steering today. We owe John a tremendous debt of gratitude.?

While his tendency toward blunt speech earned him moments of local and national attention, most memorably during his gubernatorial campaign, his friends and supporters praised him for choosing truth over tact. ?I called him the last candid man,? author Tom Wolfe (Hon.?00) said. ?There aren?t many left who say what they mean, and mean what they say.?

John R. Silber, Boston University President emeritus and chancellor

Silber was born in San Antonio, Tex., to Jewell Silber, a schoolteacher, and Paul Silber, an architect who immigrated to the United States from Berlin in 1902. He described his parents as ?strict but loving? people who ?gave no excuses.? In 1989, he told the Boston Globe about his realization at age four that his right arm, shortened by a congenital birth defect, would never grow. ?My mother always fixed my sleeves so I would have use of my arm,? he said. ?She never hid it. Neither have I. By not pampering me, they let me develop into the person that I am.?

He attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where he met his wife, Kathryn (Hon.?01), and graduated with a degree in philosophy. He earned a master?s degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1956 from Yale, both in philosophy, then returned to his home state to teach philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He was named chair of the philosophy department in 1962, and the dean of UT?s College of Arts and Sciences in 1967, but a clash with the chairman of the university?s board of regents over a plan to split the college into smaller schools led to his dismissal in July 1970. His principled stand, however, won the attention of the BU presidential search committee, then entering the ninth month of looking for a new leader.

When Silber arrived the following year, the school bore little resemblance to the BU of today. The campus had only 66 education and research buildings and 42 residence halls, the library had less than a million books, and most critically, the University was operating at a budget deficit of $8.8 million.

?When I came here, we didn?t have a list of our alumni,? Silber told the University?s weekly newspaper, the BU Bridge, in 2002. ?We didn?t have a balanced budget. We didn?t have a computerized payroll system. We were raising only about $2.5 million a year. Back then, running Boston University was like trying to fly a 747 without avionics, without an instrument panel.?

Silber took an ambitious tack, balancing the University?s budget in 18 months, and then launching an aggressive campaign to hire new faculty, first in the humanities and social sciences, then in the life sciences. Elie Wiesel (Hon.?74), the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, was recruited in 1976, and Derek Walcott, a College of Arts & Sciences professor emeritus of creative writing, in 1982?both went on to win Nobel Prizes, Wiesel?s in peace, and Walcott?s in literature. At Silber?s behest, two other Nobel laureates joined the faculty, the late Saul Bellow (Hon.?04), a University Professor and a CAS professor, in 1993, and Sheldon Glashow, the Arthur G. B. Metcalf Professor of Mathematics and Science, in 2000.

Over the next 25 years, BU experienced a period of unprecedented growth and engagement with the city of Boston. New programs and institutes served a range of constituencies?with the founding of the Prison Education Program in 1972, Metropolitan College offered courses for prisoners in state correctional facilities, while the University Professors Program allowed advanced undergraduates to plan their own curricula. The physical plant improved dramatically as well, doubling in size with the addition of facilities such as the Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering, in 1983, the Rafik B. Hariri Building for the School of Management, in 1996, and the Boston University Photonics Center, which opened in 1997.

John R. Silber and Family

The Silber family, 1971.

Under Silber?s leadership, BU also forged deeper ties with the community, most notably by taking the unprecedented step of managing a failing Boston-area school system. The Boston University/Chelsea Partnership, established in 1988, brought new facilities, curriculum changes, and new policies for students, teachers, and administrators into a troubled system, with the goal of making Chelsea?s school?s ?a model for excellence in urban education.? The partnership, which provided the district with tutoring programs, early-childhood education, scholarships, and enrichment programs, was intended to last for a decade; it ended in 2008 after two. Silber also created the Boston Scholars Program in 1973?the largest such scholarship program in the country. In 1993, he founded the Boston University Academy, a college preparatory school for secondary school students.

Silber served on the Kissinger Commission (the President?s National Bipartisan Commission on Central America), and was chair of the Massachusetts Board of Education, which during his tenure developed the first curriculum frameworks.

Despite his success in raising the University?s profile, Silber?s direct, unguarded critiques of students and faculty made him an unpopular figure in some circles at points in his career. In 1976, unhappy with what Time magazine called his ?overpowering style in office? and a proposed budget cut that could include faculty positions, 10 deans and three-quarters of the Faculty Assembly called for his resignation?a move that the Board of Trustees voted down.

His presidency was never again at stake, but Silber continued to draw public scrutiny over the years. He took a leave of absence from BU to run for governor of Massachusetts in 1990, and secured the Democratic nomination. His campaign was initially a success, but he failed to win over the old guard of the Democratic party, and ultimately lost to William Weld. After his return to the University, in 1993, the Massachusetts Attorney General investigated the finances of BU, and the University was asked to adjust its governance rules. In 1996, when he stepped down as president, he was named chancellor, maintaining an office on Bay State Road and continuing to live in BU-owned housing. In 2003, he was widely criticized for his role in selecting Daniel Goldin, a former administrator at NASA, as BU?s ninth president?and then dismissing him with a $1.3 million payout before Goldin took office.

Silber?s role at BU diminished over the next few years, as Aram Chobanian (Hon.?06), the former provost of the Medical Campus and School of Medicine dean, served as president ad interim, then president, until Robert A. Brown, the former provost of MIT, was appointed the 10th president of Boston University in 2005. Silber continued to live on the BU campus, but turned his attention to other interests, such as sculpture (he completed a bas-relief of Wiesel), and architecture. He published a well-reviewed critique of modernist architecture in 2008, taking special exception to the work of Frank Gehry, titled Architecture of the Absurd. In December 2011, he finished a critical analysis of the work of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, a project he began in 1954 when he was a graduate student and member of the junior faculty at Yale. The book, Kant?s Ethics: The Good, Freedom, and the Will (Walter de Gruyter, 2012), was published in May.

John R. Silber, Boston University President emeritus and chancellor

In 2007, the University honored Silber with a gala tribute, featuring letters and presentations from colleagues, dignitaries, and friends. While many friends poked fun at the former president?s notorious frankness and occasional temper, others talked of his lesser-known kindness: letters and phone calls that came at times of illness or trouble, his habit of eating breakfast and dinner with his children every day, even at the most demanding moments of his career, and his long and loving relationship with his wife, Kathryn, who died in 2005.

?What I am most grateful for was the honor and privilege of serving for more than 30 years,? Silber said at the end of the evening. ?BU was one of the finest toys I was ever allowed to play with?a great toy with enormous potential, if you polished it up and gave it a few tools to make it run.?

Silber is survived by six daughters, Rachel Devlin and Martha Hathaway, of Newton, Mass., Judith Ballan, of New York City, Alexandra Silber, of Carlsbad, Calif., Ruth Belmonte, of State College, Pa., and Caroline Lavender, of Atlanta, Ga., a son, Charles Hiett, of Hot Springs, Ark., 26 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Phyllis Silber, of San Antonio, Tex., two nieces, and a great-niece and a great-nephew.

Funeral services will be private. A memorial service will take place in the near future. BU Today will provide details when they become available.

Source: http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/president-emeritus-john-silber-dead-at-86/

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