Judge rejects $8.5 million Groupon settlement

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday rejected a proposed $8.5 million class action settlement with Groupon Inc intended to resolve allegations that the expiration dates on its coupons violated consumer protection laws.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego found fault with a provision in the settlement that would have set aside $75,000 to be divided among two non-profit groups. The judge said neither of the organizations were "expressly committed to righting the specific wrongs alleged in this case."

While Sabraw denied other objections to the settlement by members of the class, he said he had to reject the entire settlement because he did not have the authority to strike just the charity provisions.

Representatives for Groupon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

John Stoia, a lawyer at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd representing plaintiffs who bought vouchers on Groupon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The decision marked the latest by a court to address so-called cy pres awards in class actions, in which money is dedicated to charity rather than distributed to the plaintiffs themselves. Cy pres comes from a French phrase meaning "as near as possible."

The charitable awards have become common when the amount of money recovered is small and the class itself is large, making distribution impractical.

The charities are typically intended to represent the interests of the classes of plaintiffs.

But in several instances, courts have rejected the settlements after finding the money dedicated to the cy pres award should go to the plaintiffs themselves, or are going to inappropriate charities.

Groupon agreed to the settlement in April as the Chicago-based company sought to put behind it lawsuits alleging that its vouchers violated federal and state laws applying to the expiration dates for gift certificates.

Among the laws Groupon allegedly violated was the federal Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which restricts the sale of gift certificates that expire in less than five years. Groupon denied the allegations.

Of the $8.5 million, $75,000 was set to go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology, two organizations concerned with Internet rights.

But Sabraw said neither organization was focused on the core issue of the case -- expiration dates and other restrictions on consumer vouchers or misleading advertising related to vouchers.

"That consumers purchase vouchers on the Internet is not enough," he said. "Indeed, it is incidental to the claims at issue in this case."

Sabraw said he agreed with objectors who argued that the money should instead be distributed to the class itself.

Representatives for the non-profits did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is In re Groupon Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, No. 11-md-02238.

(Editing by Eric Effron and Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-rejects-8-5-million-groupon-settlement-230458591--sector.html

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Italians Take Up The Torch To Ignite Their Own Tech Startup Scene

TechCrunchItalyLast year Italy?s official statistics bureau, ISTAT, produced a report on the state of the internet in Italy. It found that in world terms, Italy was below average in terms of Internet usage. The European average is 73% usage by population, but Italians were hovering around the 63% mark. But official statistics can be cruel and out of date - and it's clear now to any observer on the ground that whatever is happening in the home market, Italian tech startups aren't just shooting for their own country but for yours as well. Evidence of this emerged when Facebook bought Italy-based Glancee, this year - this was the location based mobile story of the year. And there have been other undercurrents. The Italian Startup Scene Facebook Group which now has over 8,300 members, up from less than 3,000 last year - is still growing. Clearly many of the old attitudes are changing fast, and are probably out of date as we speak. For instance, the TechCrunch Italy CrunchUp event in Rome this last week was originally supposed to be a simple meetup. But it's a sign that Italy's startup eco-system has exploded in the last 18 months or so that we ended up having to find a venue for over 1,000 people who wanted to come. Italy has clearly changed since I scratched around a tiny Italian-only event in 2008.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6iwxtB18iMg/

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Meet our 2012 OWL Awards Nominees! | NAWBO Sacramento Valley

On October 18, 2012 the National Association of Women Business Owners will celebrate its 15th annual?Outstanding Women Leaders?(OWL) Awards gala. With up to 200 guests expected, we will honor not only women business owners, but also women who are community leaders in the Sacramento region.
Registration required at?http://www.nawbo-sac.com/owl

The OWL Awards are given to women in a number of categories:

  • Woman on the Way Award (Up and coming business owner, less than 5 years in business)
  • Luminary Award (An individual/organization lighting the way for others)
  • Woman Innovator Award (Successful business owner in a non-traditional business)
  • Vision Award (A non-profit organization whose vision provides opportunities for girls or women)
  • Executive Woman Award (Senior level corporate woman)
  • Wise Woman Award (Woman Business Owner of the Year)
  • Achievement Against All Odds (Success despite unfavorable circumstances)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award (business woman with long term success & track record of giving back)

As always, this year?s nominees are the best of the best- amazing women leading small businesses, non-profits, and corporations; organizations that make our community a better place.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Kitty O?Neal?is NAWBO?s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for 2012.? She is most known as the?anchor of the highly rated and award winning KFBK Afternoon News from?4 to 7 pm, a show she has hosted for 20 years, and is the Lifestyle Editor for the station.?Since 2001, the readers of Sacramento Magazine have annually?voted Kitty the Best Afternoon Drive Radio Personality in Sacramento. ?Now in her 27th year with KFBK, Kitty has served in various capacities,?including producing talk shows for KFBK and serving as News Director for seven?years on then-sister station KGBY-FM. ?She has several television credits to her name and has been featured in numerous articles for local?newspapers and publications. ?Kitty and husband, ?Kurt Spataro, ?are?partners in several Sacramento area restaurants including Spataro and Esquire?Grill.??As she does for the OWL Awards every year,?Kitty donates much of her time and talent to community events and charitable?organizations. ?Read more about Kitty O?Neal.

Other Outstanding Women Leaders finalists?(recipients to be named at the?OWL Awards) are:

  • Kathleen Collins, Cathy?s Cake Bite Company
  • Mauriah Conway-Spatola, Goff, Conway-Spatola Law Group
  • Susan Crane, The Party Concierge
  • Crystal Gomez,?California Clothing Recyclers
  • Gina Jackson, DishwasherMATE!
  • Joanna Jullien,?Banana Moments
  • Elyssa Lee, Sactown Magazine
  • Jennifer Lombardi, Summit Eating Disorders & Outreach Program
  • Toni Morris, Sutter Surgical Hospital-North Valley/Bridges For Humanity
  • Valerie Sherman, United Building Maintenance
  • Anne Staines, ProProse LLC/Candela Partners
  • Michele Steeb,?St. John?s Shelter for Women & Children
  • Kira Stewart, Art Consulting Services
  • Cecilia Tsang, F.I.T. Club/Family Wealth Law Group
  • Firebreathers in Training (FIT) Club
  • Girl Scouts,?Heart of Central California
  • St. John?s Shelter for Women & Children

To support your favorites and celebrate all our nominees, REGISTER HERE to attend the event on October 18th.

Congratulations to all our finalists!

?

This entry was posted on Friday, September 28th, 2012 at 5:15 pm and is filed under News & Updates, OWL AWARDS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. -->

Source: http://www.nawbo-sac.org/meet-our-2012-owl-awards-nominees/1953

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Marine-turned-country star sings about PTSD

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

Everything you see in the music video happened to Marine-turned-country-singer Stephen Cochran: Pushing the girl away, boozing into oblivion, the gun on the blanket. It all went down last year.?

Courtesy of Stephen Cochran

Stephen Cochran, a former Marine recon scout and now a country-music singer, has penned a new song about PTSD - combat-related symptoms that almost claimed his life in 2011.

Even the actor who portrays Cochran is, himself, a former Marine and Iraq veteran who knows of post-traumatic stress, who has wrangled with identical demons. The actor was not acting.

The only on-screen tweak from reality was?the type firearm shown. In his dimmest hour, behind a locked door in his Nashville home, exhausted, alone, and telling himself: ?I?m done,? Cochran rested a loaded shotgun against his bed.

?I was just trying to get the nerve. I had it planned out,? Cochran told NBC News. ?I didn?t know what was wrong with me. I was tired of taking all these pills. I was going through a breakup. Couldn?t write anymore. Watching everything fall apart. I was ready to check out.?


Then: salvation, and a surreal rescue scene worthy of an epic ballad. His dog, Semper Fi, began scratching relentlessly at his door, bloodying her paws. Next, Cochran?s ex-fianc? unexpectedly entered the house, simply to retrieve a forgotten item, he said. She saw the anxious dog. She expected the worst. She barged into the bedroom, spotted the gun and physically restrained Cochran.?

But from anguish came inspiration. Amid an existence long blurred by PTSD ??the residue of Afghanistan firefights, Marine buddies lost in combat, and his own nearly fatal injury???one question blazed in Cochran's head. He jotted it down: ?How do you paint a picture back in focus??

?It was the only way I could describe trying to put your life back together, literally trying to do the impossible,? he said.

Around that single thought, Cochran penned an entire song, ?Pieces,?an ode to the blackness from which he was aching to escape, a tale of reconnecting the scattered fragments of his shattered world, and a message of solidarity for his military brothers and sisters. The single ? part of a CD with the same title???will be released in this country on Nov. 11. The song already has charted in Europe.

?It?s not just my story. So many of us think about (suicide) because you just get so tired, so tired of being the crazy guy. Or of hearing: ?He?s weird.? Or of hearing: ?We can?t hire you because we really don?t know what post-traumatic stress is and you might come back and kill us all.?

?I really wrote it as my own healing, for what I was going through,? added Cochran, 33, who teamed with fellow musician Trevor Rosen to complete the song. It took them only 15 minutes.

But after playing it at several veterans? benefits, Cochran heard from service members up and down the chain of command how they, too, connected with the lyrics. That feedback has turned ?Pieces? into the soundtrack of the singer?s ongoing crusade.

?We have an epidemic of suicides in the military right now.?At this point, we are physically losing both of these wars in the United States of America, not overseas.

Related: First opera about Iraq War reaches out to veteran suffering from PTSD

?If we want to stop our suicides, we need a complete overhaul in our ?warrior? terminology in this country, in the way we train our families (how to relate with homecoming veterans). That?s what I want to start with ?Pieces,? and the video. I want to get a bridge between our civilian population and the veterans. And I want to reach into the rooms of some of these guys and girls ??who are just sitting in the dark and watching TV all day like I did???and let them know: You?re not alone.?

Perhaps the most ironic thread of Cochran?s story coils back to the days of his first, true musical success. In 2007, one year after retiring from the Marines, he scored a country hit with ?Friday Night Fireside,? the culmination of a childhood dream for a guy raised in Nashville. The accompanying video was voted No. 1 by Great American Country?fans for five straight weeks.

courtesy of Stephen Cochran

After his the light-armoured vehicle crashed in Afghanistan, Stephen Cochran fractured vertebrae and suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2004. Told he would never walk again, an experimental procedure by VA surgeons restored his steps.

Two years later, Cochran became the national spokesman for research and development at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ??his thank you for a successful, experimental surgery performed by VA surgeons who repaired his broken back. In 2004, Cochran had splintered several lumbar vertebrae when the vehicle in which he was riding through southern Afghanistan slammed into gaping hole that once held an anti-tank mine. He couldn?t feel or move his legs for months, and was told by doctors that he?d never take steps again. He walked.

The former Marine reconnaissance scout, part of the U.S. force that first knocked the Taliban out of Afghanistan?s Helmand Province, next teamed up with the VA to become its national co-chair for voluntary service. In that role, Cochran toured America, urging veterans to seek help for combat stress, ?to let them know you don?t have to suffer in silence,? recalled Rosetta Fisher-Oliver, the VA?s chief of voluntary service for Tennessee and for parts of Kentucky and Georgia.

In 2011, Cochran recorded the music video ?Hope??for the VA to try and cement his get-help pleas to fellow troops. What few knew: Cochran was losing his own hope.

?We worked on that video together, and the week he was supposed to make the video, I tried to get in touch with him, just to check to see that he was going to be on time,? said Fisher-Oliver.

She was unable to reach him, however, because Cochran was by then seeking treatment ? after reaching the brink of suicide in his bedroom.

?Here?s a person who?s trying to get the message out and he?s still struggling with issues too,? she said. ?He later told me: ?I almost wasn?t here.? ?

Cochran now acknowledges that he carried ?almost dual personalities? during that time. In front of fellow veterans and fans, he sang, smiled, shook hands and signed autographs. ?But I also had to deal with this monster I have inside my head and inside my gut, all day.? At home, his family and his then-fianc?, he admitted, took the brunt of his mood swings and emotional detachment.

courtesy of Stephen Cochran

After breaking his back in Afghanistan, Cochran was greeted by a fellow Marine. He later regained the ability to walk.

?You?re screaming out: Please help me understand what I?m going through, because I have no clue! That?s why you see the high number of divorces in the military,? Cochran said. ?I told my fianc?: ?I don?t know what I?m dealing with so the best thing for you to do is just leave and you?ll thank me later.' ?

She left.

But in what could have been Cochran?s final minutes, she came back, and burst into his bedroom.

After Cochran artfully turned that horrid moment into a song, he met the man picked to portray his downward spiral in the ?Pieces? video: Daniel Dean, a Nashville songwriter and actor. He also looks a bit like Cochran. He seemed like a logical choice.

In talking with Dean, though, Cochran learned that the man was a Marine sniper who did three tours in Iraq. And they both had lived for years with the lingering anxieties that often remain for veterans who log months of combat exposure.

?He told me: 'This is my story, too,'? Cochran remembers. ?That dude lived that.?

They also agreed with the concept that ?Pieces? would be not just the first music video to delve so deeply into PTSD. It would break ranks with dozens of other standard, country-music videos about the U.S. military ? mini movies that often include battle scenes that, some critics say, glorify war.

?Stephen does country music and so do I, and there?s a lot of military songs and a lot of them are pretty much B.S.? Dean said. ?You?ve got the Toby Keith type stuff?and that?s all right for what it is. But very rarely does a song hit a military person the way this one does.

?Just because it?s real. It?s one of the things I doubt you?ll hear any of the other country stars singing about. It?s (usually) more of the patriotic angle. Most military members aren?t songwriters like Stephen and I. So, I guess that lets us be able to sing things that you can?t say or can't deal with.??

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/28/14128747-a-country-song-about-ptsd-all-youve-got-left-are-these-pieces?lite

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Steinbrueck surprise shakes up German election race

BERLIN (Reuters) - Next year's German election just got a lot more interesting.

News on Friday that Peer Steinbrueck, a former finance minister with an acerbic wit, will lead the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) into the 2013 vote was a surprise to many in Germany and may have stirred unease in Chancellor Angela Merkel's entourage.

Just a few weeks ago, Steinbrueck was seen as the least likely of three SPD contenders - a "troika" also comprising party chief Sigmar Gabriel and former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier - to challenge Merkel.

His nomination, roughly a year before Germans go to the polls, means the campaign will be more confrontational. Merkel can no longer count on the consensual, conciliatory SPD she experienced in the 2009 campaign, when the centre-left party's campaign was led by the far more diplomatic Steinmeier.

For the SPD, choosing Steinbrueck amounts to a high stakes gamble. The 65-year-old from Hamburg, an avid chess player who has won the endorsement of both the party's living former chancellors - Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schroeder - is perhaps the only politician in the SPD with a hope of beating Merkel.

His centrist positions could lure conservatives from the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) and Free Democrats (FDP), who are fed up with the chancellor's leftward policy shift on issues ranging from nuclear power to childcare and wages.

And his financial expertise - he led Berlin's response to the 2008-09 global financial crisis - could convince voters that he would be a safe pair of hands in leading Germany through the euro zone turmoil.

Although a majority of Germans praise Merkel's handling of the euro crisis, there is a feeling that she has failed to lay out a convincing vision for Europe's future or rally the country behind her policy goals.

Steinbrueck, a gifted speaker with clear-cut opinions and a readiness to express them in unvarnished fashion, will appeal to Germans who bemoan what they see as Merkel's caution and slipperiness.

At a news conference on Friday, he vowed to defeat Merkel and replace her centre-right government with a coalition of SPD and Greens, an outcome that looks like a long shot for now.

"The big question for the SPD is who has the best chance to beat Merkel. To me that's Steinbrueck," said Frank Decker, a political scientist at Bonn University.

RUFFLING FEATHERS

But a Steinbrueck candidacy also carries big risks for the SPD.

Traditional leftists in the party may balk at supporting a centrist who as finance minister backed an increase in the retirement age, and in his 2010 book "The Bottom Line" urged the SPD to distance itself from its union roots.

This week Steinbrueck unveiled a set of tough new proposals for reining in banks, in part to assuage the fears of the party's powerful left wing.

Steinbrueck and the SPD will also have to convince Germans that bolder steps to resolve the euro crisis, including some form of common bond issuance, are the right course. Polls show this will be a hard sell.

But perhaps the biggest challenge for Steinbrueck will be controlling himself.

A tall man with sparse, spiky hair, he has earned a reputation for speaking his mind and ruffling feathers.

"Steinbrueck says what he thinks. Ninety percent of the time it's a strength, the other 10 percent it gets him in trouble," said a senior German official who worked closely with Steinbrueck when he was finance minister.

When Nicolas Sarkozy gate-crashed a meeting of European finance ministers in 2007, Steinbrueck took him to task for lax budget policies, infuriating the then French president.

After investment bank Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy in 2008 he blamed the United States for spawning the financial crisis and predicted that its days as a financial superpower were numbered.

His biggest clash came with the Swiss, whom he likened to "Indians" running scared from the cavalry during his 2009 crackdown on tax havens.

After news of his candidacy emerged on Friday, the right-wing Swiss People's Party tweeted: "Will Switzerland now have to protect its borders from the German cavalry?"

Last year, Steinbrueck made headlines for loudly heckling his successor as finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in parliament: "If you want to become chancellor, you better learn some manners," Schaeuble shot back.

Schaeuble was probably right. Steinbrueck will need to control his temper and rhetoric if he is to be taken seriously in Germany, a country where moderation and seriousness in politics are highly valued commodities.

Officials close to Merkel see another key weakness: Steinbrueck does not suffer fools gladly.

On the campaign trail he can sometimes seem condescending and distant. In the one race Steinbrueck did run, the 2005 election in the big state of North Rhine-Westphalia, he suffered a humiliating defeat to the CDU, prompting then-chancellor Schroeder to call an early federal election that he ended up losing to Merkel.

"If you show a dumb person they are dumb, they will hate you. That is his big problem," a top Merkel aide told Reuters.

The big question in the 2013 election will be whether German voters, who are notoriously averse to change in times of crisis, are really ready for something new.

Opinion polls, which show Germans preferring Merkel to Steinbrueck as chancellor by 53 percent to 36, suggest not.

But if, after eight years of Merkel, Germans decide they want someone who slams their fists on the table and isn't afraid to call the shots, then Steinbrueck has a chance.

Regardless who wins, the German election is shaping up as a far more interesting battle than it seemed only a few weeks ago.

"Steinbrueck is the rhetorical machinegun of German politics, and Merkel the mistress of ju-jitsu," said Josef Joffe, editor of weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "Both are absolutely alpha animals who'll give each other a good run."

(Editing by Janet McBride and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steinbrueck-surprise-shakes-german-election-race-123312970--business.html

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AP Exclusive: Brown did service at his old daycare

This Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 photo shows Tappahannock Children's Center administrator, Ina Minter, removing coats from the front of a mural painted by rapper Chris Brown as part of his community service at the center in Tappahannock, Va. Brown has logged more than 1,400 hours of community service for the 2009 beating of former girlfriend Rihanna, basically completing his sentence. The Associated Press has learned one-third of those hours were recorded at Tappahannock Children's Center, a rural Virginia daycare center where the singer spent time as a child and his mother once served as director. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

This Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 photo shows Tappahannock Children's Center administrator, Ina Minter, removing coats from the front of a mural painted by rapper Chris Brown as part of his community service at the center in Tappahannock, Va. Brown has logged more than 1,400 hours of community service for the 2009 beating of former girlfriend Rihanna, basically completing his sentence. The Associated Press has learned one-third of those hours were recorded at Tappahannock Children's Center, a rural Virginia daycare center where the singer spent time as a child and his mother once served as director. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

This Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 photo shows Tappahannock Children's Center in Tappahannock, Va. Chris Brown has logged more than 1,400 hours of community service for the 2009 beating of former girlfriend Rihanna, basically completing his sentence. The Associated Press has learned one-third of those hours were recorded at Tappahannock Children's Center, a rural Virginia daycare center where the singer spent time as a child and his mother once served as director. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2012 file photo, Chris Brown performs during the 54th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Brown?s community service records have come under the scrutiny by a prosecutor and a judge, who are trying to ascertain their accuracy. He was required to perform community service after the 2009 beating of former girlfriend, Rihanna. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

(AP) ? Chris Brown has logged more than 1,400 hours of community service for the 2009 beating of former girlfriend Rihanna, basically completing his sentence. The Associated Press has learned one-third of those hours were recorded at a rural Virginia daycare center where the singer spent time as a child and his mother once served as director.

And in the last seven months, an AP analysis of the work records indicates Brown's labor credits increased by four times from what they had been during the previous two years. Yet through it all, Brown hasn't stopped being an R&B superstar, performing worldwide, releasing an album and even getting injured in a nightclub brawl.

Brown's service records have come under scrutiny by a prosecutor and a judge, who are trying to ascertain their accuracy. At a Monday hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg called the accounting of Brown's community service by Richmond, Va., Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood "somewhat cryptic."

No specific concerns were detailed by the court, yet the AP analysis of Brown's service shows that in the past seven months, the artist has been credited for working 701 hours ? a feat that previously took him 28 months to achieve, clocking sporadic, shorter shifts mostly at Richmond police and fire stations.

In recent months, the logs show Brown has essentially been working three jobs ? performing cleanup duty in Richmond police precincts by day, janitorial chores at the daycare 45 miles east by night, and hit songs for global audiences in between.

Ida Minter, the administrator of the Tappahannock Children's Center, said Brown attended the nonprofit facility "off and on" for more than 12 years and his mother was employed there for 24 years, including as director.

Brown's community service at the center began in January 2010, but work entries dramatically increased in March of this year. Most of his shifts were logged between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. and were typically listed as "general cleaning," with some entries describing him painting or stripping and waxing floors. It is unclear who supervised him.

Brown's attorney Mark Geragos said Monday that he welcomed inquiries from Los Angeles probation officials and said he urged Brown to work double shifts so the lawyer wouldn't have to keep coming back to court.

Minter described Brown's work at the daycare center favorably.

"I think Chris always goes beyond because he always wants to give back to where he grew up," she told the AP. "And this was a part of his home because his mom worked here full-time."

"If you've ever been involved in stripping and waxing, it's hard," she said. "It's a lot of work."

Minter said Brown was always accompanied by someone while working at the center, but she said she couldn't discuss who it was.

The singer, who pleaded guilty to felony assault in June 2009, only worked at night and on weekends when no children were present, Minter said. That is supported by the logs, which also showed that Brown only worked one other weekend shift that wasn't at the daycare center.

Brown has been undeniably busy in recent months, releasing his new album "Fortune," traveling to France for a video shoot, winning a Grammy Award, performing at other award shows and resuming his friendship and music collaboration with Rihanna.

He has also drawn negative attention for being present at a bottle-throwing brawl at a New York City nightclub that left him with a cut chin. And in February, a woman in Miami accused him of taking her cellphone to prevent her from snapping pictures of him.

It was after that incident that Brown, 23, accelerated his work schedule, completing the 701 hours in seven months, according to the records filed Monday.

Meanwhile, the singer has remained an active promoter of his work on Twitter, where he sends out almost daily links to his music and clothing line, and also interacts with fans.

His international travel, which must be approved by Schnegg, has somehow been squeezed around his marathon community service sessions.

In July, for instance, Brown is listed as working 42 hours in four days before leaving for France. Upon his return, he worked 12 consecutive days, logging 164 hours, 100 of which were at the daycare described in Norwood's log as "Tappa Day Care."

March was similarly busy, with Brown being credited for work on 20 of the month's 30 days; he was approved to travel to Cancun, Mexico, for five of the remaining days.

Before this week, Brown had received praise from Schnegg and had never been in danger of violating his probation. But that could change if the inquiry the judge ordered turns up irregularities with the singer's service.

Schnegg allowed Brown to perform his work in his home state of Virginia under the supervision of Norwood, but on Monday noted there are discrepancies in the chief's accounting.

For one, Brown's work log shows he has put in 1,402 hours, but a couple of errors in the data may push the total up to 1,404. And although Brown was sentenced to perform 1,440 hours of labor, the chief wrote in a letter dated Sept. 14 that Brown had completed all his service hours.

Norwood's spokesman declined to respond to questions from the AP on the discrepancies. "Chief Norwood has reported directly to the judge, providing periodic updates regarding the progress of Chris Brown's community service," spokesman Gene Lepley said.

Prosecutors "are not happy with the quality of the report," Schnegg said Monday. "They don't know if it's reliable, yes or no."

District Attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the office would make all its comments on the case in court.

The judge and prosecution aren't the only ones concerned about the administration of Brown's sentence. In August, Virginia probation authorities recommended that Richmond police stop supervising Brown after the singer tested positive for marijuana and what they believed was unapproved travel to France. However, they made no critical comments about his community service.

Geragos, Brown's attorney, declined comment for this story, but he said at Monday's court hearing that he believes his client has completed all his community service.

Brown's labors have left a lasting mark at the Tappahannock Children's Center: a colorful wall mural featuring a huge clown face and splashes of purple, orange, green and yellow. The words "Big Room" ? the informal name of the large space amid a warren of smaller classrooms ? is painted in fat letters along a wall where jackets are hung on hooks.

Brown approached Minter, who has known Brown since his birth, to ask if he could use his art skills on the walls of the big room, she said.

The singer is not the only celebrity to perform community service with an entity to which they have close ties. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn had similar arrangements.

Both actors had received permission in advance for the assignments in misdemeanor cases. Before Monday's filings, there had been no mention of Brown working at his boyhood daycare center in probation reports.

___

Steve Szkotak reported from Richmond, Va.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-28-Chris%20Brown-Community%20Service/id-093b47fdd53f4830a62100595e468b5c

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New Treatments May Help Restore Speech Lost to ... - Health.com

BRAINsmall New Treatments May Help Restore Speech Lost to Aphasia
By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) ? Most people know the frustration of having a word on the ?tip of your tongue? that they simply can?t remember. But that passing nuisance can be an everyday occurrence for someone with aphasia, a communication disorder caused by a stroke or other brain damage that impairs the ability to process language.

About 1 million Americans ? roughly one in every 250 ? are affected by aphasia, which can also impact reading and writing skills. But how they acquire the problem and how long they?ll endure it differ from person to person, explained Ellayne Ganzfried, a speech-language pathologist and executive director of the National Aphasia Association.

?No two people with aphasia are alike because everyone?s brain responds to the injury in a different way,? Ganzfried said. ?About half of people who have aphasia recover quickly, within the first few days. If the symptoms of aphasia last longer than two or three months, a complete recovery is unlikely ? [though] some people continue to improve over a period of years and even decades.?

Strokes are the most common cause, followed by head injuries, tumors, migraines or other neurological issues. Depending on the damage to the brain regions controlling language, which are typically in the left hemisphere, the resulting aphasia can be broken into four broad categories:

  • Difficulty expressing thoughts through speech or writing
  • Difficulty understanding spoken or written language
  • Difficulty using the correct names for objects, people, places or events
  • Loss of almost all language function, with no ability to speak or understand speech.

?Processing language requires the collaboration of lots of different parts or systems of the brain,? explained Karen Riedel, director of speech-language pathology at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. ?The whole brain ?talks? ? the whole brain has something to do with the use of language.?

Because of this, a variety of therapies are used to help people regain as much speech and language as possible. But regardless of the injury, people with aphasia have the best chances for recovery when language therapy begins immediately, Riedel said.

Because aphasia is so variable, a therapy that helps one person might not help another, she noted. Tried-and-true techniques include melodic intonation therapy, which uses melody and rhythm to help improve the ability to retrieve words, and constraint-induced therapy, which forces people to use speech over other communication methods.

But technology, Riedel said, has introduced new language-improvement techniques into the mix over the last few years that are both exciting and fun. Several apps available for iPhone or iPad involve synthetic speech that helps engage those with aphasia in yet another realm of communication.

?Our patients have much more access to different kinds of programs that are computer-based,? she said. ?There?s always something new around the corner.?

What remains a constant concern, however, is the misunderstanding many people have of those with language difficulties and how to treat them, Ganzfried and Riedel agreed.

?Many people with aphasia will become socially isolated because of their communication difficulties, which can lead to depression,? Ganzfried said. ?There are also many misconceptions about aphasia, including that the person is mentally unstable or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It?s also extremely frustrating. Imagine knowing what you want to say in your head but you can?t get the words out.?

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders has more about aphasia.

A companion article relates a new mom?s battle with aphasia.

SOURCES: Ellayne Ganzfried, M.S., speech-language pathologist, and executive director, National Aphasia Association, New York City; Karen Riedel, Ph.D., director, speech-language pathology, Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City

Last Updated: Sept. 28, 2012

Copyright ? 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

HEALTHDAY Web XSmall New Treatments May Help Restore Speech Lost to Aphasia

Source: http://news.health.com/2012/09/28/new-treatments-may-help-restore-speech-lost-to-aphasia/

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Clashes between Syrian troops, rebels spark fire in historical district of Aleppo

AFP

Damaged buildings and streets in the northern city of Aleppo, Sept 28, 2012. Photo by AFP

Raging battles between Syrian government forces and rebels in the historic districts of central Aleppo have started a major fire that threatens to destroy the city's medieval souks, or markets, activists said Saturday.

The labyrinth of narrow alleys lined with shops was once a major tourist attraction, but has been the scene of near-daily firefights and shelling in recent weeks, after rebels who fought their way into the city two months ago pushed toward its center. Some activists described the overnight blaze as the worst blow yet to a district that helped make the heart of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial hub, a UNESCO world heritage site.

The fire started late Friday amid heavy government shelling and was still burning Saturday morning, activists said. Video posted online showed a pall of smoke hanging over the city.

One Aleppo-based activist, Ahmad al-Halabi, estimated the fire destroyed a majority of the shops in the district. "It's a disaster. The fire is threatening to spread to remaining shops," said al-Halabi, speaking from the stricken area by telephone.

He claimed Syrian authorities cut the water supply off the city, making it more difficult to put out the fire. He said rebels and civilians were working together to control the fire with a limited number of fire extinguishers. "It is a very difficult and tragic situation there," he said.

Rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad launched Thursday what they said would be a "decisive battle" to drive his forces out of Aleppo and fighting has since spread to wide swaths of the city.

Since the rebel offensive began in August, each side has controlled about half of the city and has repeatedly tried - but failed - to capture the rest. Aleppo would be a major strategic prize, giving the victor new momentum. The souks (markets), a maze of vaulted passageways with shops that sell everything from foods, fabrics, perfumes, spices and artisan souvenirs, lie beneath Aleppo's towering citadel where activists say regime troops and snipers have taken up positions.

Many of the shops have wooden doors, and clothes, fabrics and leather inside helped spread the fire, activists said.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a wide network of activists on the ground, said it was not clear how the fire was started but also said a large part of the souks have been destroyed.

The claims could not be independently verified because of limitations on the work of journalists in Syria.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/clashes-between-syrian-troops-rebels-spark-fire-in-historical-district-of-aleppo-1.467424?localLinksEnabled=false

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A Suicide Gone Viral

Shepard Smith of Fox News

Shepard Smith of Fox News. Smith apologized Friday after Fox News aired a live car chase in which the suspect committed suicide.

Live coverage of a car chase on Fox News turned into a grisly spectacle Friday afternoon when the suspect got out of his car, stumbled down a hillside, pulled a gun, and shot himself in the head. As the scene unfolded, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith grew increasingly apprehensive, then yelled ?get off it, get off it!?, belatedly urging the show?s producers to stop the live feed as it became obvious the man was going to do something rash. The station cut awkwardly to a commercial just after showing his death.

After Fox aired the on-air suicide, Smith apologized to viewers, saying, ?We really messed up.? Another news outfit, though, seemed less tortured about its decision to publicize the snuff film. BuzzFeed immediately posted the footage on YouTube, where it garnered more than 1,000 ?likes? in under an hour. ?Here?s the video of that car chase suicide aired by Fox News,? tweeted Dorsey Shaw, who makes videos and gifs for Buzzfeed. BuzzFeed?s official account quickly retweeted it, and it began to make the rounds. (And to be fair, it wasn?t just BuzzFeed. Gawker subsequently posted the video on its site as well, as did the blog Mediaite, and the Drudge Report initially linked to BuzzFeed?s post, though it soon changed its top link to Smith?s apology.)

The site?s decision to post and share the clip sparked immediate blowback. ?Why is Buzzfeed sharing a suicide video? C?mon guys,? tweeted Reuters social media editor Anthony De Rosa. The Columbia Journalism Review chimed in, tweeting, ?Who's worse? @FoxNews for airing the suicide, or @BuzzFeed for re-posting the video just in case you missed it the first time?? Andrew Kaczynski, a BuzzFeed political reporter, fired back: ?@CJR I prefer your whiny usually incorrect long form analysis pieces over your instant judgement.?

Others, including Slate?s own Farhad Manjoo, defended the site. ?I'm with @BuzzFeed. People are talking about a thing on Twitter. Posting stuff people are talking about is what BF does. This is their job,? Manjoo tweeted.

I?m not linking to the video here, which betrays my own views as to whether it?s right to broadcast footage of a non-public figure committing suicide. Research suggests that graphic depictions of suicide in the media can spur copycat suicides, especially among young people, and the World Health Organization?s guidelines warn against sensationalizing it. Virtually everyone who has studied it agrees that, at a minimum, suicides should be covered with a modicum of sensitivity and context. BuzzFeed exhibited neither.

120928_TECH_buzzFeed

A still from the BuzzFeed video uploaded to YouTube of a car chase that Fox News aired live Friday, in which the suspect killed himsellf.

And to Manjoo?s tweet that it?s BuzzFeed?s job to post stuff that people are talking about, I replied, ?So if people are talking about child porn? ?? He responded that of course you have to use some judgment, ?but this was a news event, I think.? (He also pointed out that the video might violate YouTube?s community guidelines, which say, ?If your video shows someone being physically hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don't post it.?)

I emailed Ashley McCollum, BuzzFeed?s press manager, and she said essentially the same thing as Manjoo. Her statement:

Making an editorial decision on how to cover a sensitive, tragic news event like this is never an easy one. But it is, indeed, a news event and we are a news organization. We posted both an edited version and the full version and we respect our readers' judgment.

Gawker?s Hamilton Nolan penned a similar defense, calling his site?s decision to post the video ?ethical,? because ?it is news.?

Of course it?s news that Fox News accidentally aired the video. And you can make a good case that Fox was inviting this type of debacle with its habit of airing live car-chase feeds. But Fox couldn?t have known that it was about to air a suicide. BuzzFeed, by contrast, knew exactly what it was doing. By posting the clip on YouTube (and on its own site) and tweeting it out for the world to see, it ensured that footage of a man killing himself would reach orders of magnitude more people than it would have otherwise. That might be good business for BuzzFeed, but it?s hard to see the benefit for anyone else.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=3518a40c7275e627cda337dfbd5977df

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Free Speed Reading Course (1/5) | Self Help Hypnosis

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