Barada TV Puts Syria's 'YouTube Revolution' On Air

In this spring of revolutions, Arabic satellite channels have defined the story by providing around-the-clock coverage and commentary from Tunisia to Libya.

But that's not the case in Syria, where authorities ensure the revolution won't be televised by banning most international media.

A London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, has stepped in, beaming anti-government programming into Syria — with financial support from the U.S.

'The YouTube Revolution'

In an airless room in a Turkish hotel, Malik Al-Abdeh, the chief editor of Barada TV, produces a two-hour live broadcast.

It's not going well. Guests don't show up. The engineer, who runs the camera, the lights and the connection to London, sweats as he sits in the interviewees' chair.

"I'm not the guest — that's why I'm very stressed at the moment," he says.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137154947/barada-tv-puts-syrias-youtube-revolution-on-air?ft=1&f=1004

sarah palin al sharpton bill oreilly fox news hamid karzai

GPS Users Fear Getting Lost In Wireless Expansion

GPS devices have become ubiquitous: Millions of drivers rely on them for directions.

The government hopes to construct a new air traffic control system based on GPS navigation rather than the use of radar.

They've also become an important tool in agriculture.

But a multibillion-dollar proposal to provide broadband Internet access using satellites and a network of 40,000 antennas could interfere with their devices. This could potentially make it harder for first responders to find emergencies, aviators to fly and drivers to navigate.

A Powerful Signal

Rick Richter, owner of Richter Aviation in Maxwell, Calif., flies what used to be known as crop dusters. He uses GPS every day.

"It provides swath guidance to within one meter accuracy of where we would like to put the chemicals, or the crop protection products, or the seeds or fertilizers," he says. "So it allows for a precise application of our products and reduces the environmental impacts."

Richter is president of the National Agricultural Aviation Association, one of several groups that want to put the brakes on the construction of a new broadband service by a company called LightSquared.

In a video on its website, LightSquared offers an enticing vision:

"Wireless devices will work in every single part of the country," the video explains. "People will be able to send e-mail from the Grand Canyon. Download a full-length movie in mere minutes while on the move. Make a phone call far away from Anywheresville."

Richter says the problem is that the radio signals the broadband carrier wants to use for its wireless network would interfere with signals GPS uses.

"There's no doubt there's going to be interference," he says. "You can almost guarantee that because the signal is so much more powerful than a GPS signal."

In fact, the government's own tests have shown the LightSquared signals cause some GPS receivers to lose signal strength and others were knocked out entirely.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137105443/gps-users-fear-getting-lost-in-wireless-expansion?ft=1&f=1003

harry reid john mccain al gore bill clinton newt gingrich

A Summer Haircut? Don't Count On A Whole New You

Summer is a time for kicking back and doing all those things people don't do at other times of the year. But balancing spontaneity and impulsiveness can be an art. Commentator Laura Lorson has learned to relax and embrace her more questionable summertime decisions.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137111773/a-new-summer-haircut-dont-count-on-a-new-you?ft=1&f=1057

john mccain al gore

Dems Oppose Toomey Plan to Ensure No Default

Stephen Moore, WSJRumors are bouncing through Washington and Wall Street that Republicans in Congress are flirting with a debt default in August as a way to get President Obama to agree to spending cuts.This rumors got steam from a widely cited Reuters report that said "an increasing number of Republicans do not believe the Obama administration's dire predictions of economic catastrophe if the debt limit is not increased" and that the GOP thinks "a period of technical default can be managed without plunging markets into chaos."

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/06/13/dems_oppose_toomey_plan_to_ensure_no_default_257185.html

hamid karzai barak obama hillary clinton george w bush nancy pelosi

White House: Weiner scandal is a 'distraction'

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama believes U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner was wrong to send a lewd picture of himself over Twitter and then lie about it, and the continuing scandal surrounding the New York Democrat is a distraction from important national business, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday.

Obama himself later strongly suggested Weiner should step down, telling NBC in an interview that if he were in the congressman's position, he'd resign.

"Obviously, what he did was highly inappropriate," Obama said in the interview, scheduled for broadcast Tuesday. He added, "Ultimately, there's gonna be a decision for him and his constituents. I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign."

Obama went on to explain his thinking, saying that "when you get to the point where, because of various personal distractions, you can't serve as effectively as you need to at the time when people are worrying about jobs and their mortgages and paying the bills, then you should probably step back."

The comments by Carney and then Obama were the first by the administration since the scandal broke in late May.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/RblIpLESzzI/index.html

bill clinton newt gingrich sarah palin al sharpton bill oreilly

The President Is Spinning Mightily

Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-GazettePresident Barack Obama visited the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, a week ago Friday to tout the alleged economic benefits of his bailout of Chrysler.The bailout kept the Jeep plant open, the president told workers there. "This plant indirectly supports hundreds of other jobs right here in Toledo," he added. "After all, without you, who'd eat at Chet's or Inky's or Rudy's?"

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/06/12/obama_is_spinning_mightily_110176.html

hillary clinton george w bush nancy pelosi harry reid john mccain

Fire Evacuation Order On 2 Arizona Towns Lifted

But firefighters remained in both Springerville and Eagar, mopping up hot spots and guarding against flare-ups. A county fire official said residents could begin returning home because the blaze was "no longer a threat to the citizens."

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/12/137139322/fire-evacuation-order-on-2-arizona-towns-lifted?ft=1&f=1004

fox news hamid karzai barak obama hillary clinton george w bush