Council on Foundations Plans to Step Up Advocacy - Government ...

In an e-mail last night to her group?s membership, Vikki Spruill, the new leader of the Council on Foundations, announced a campaign to convey the value of philanthropy to lawmakers.

She painted a picture of philanthropy under threat from politicians who are looking for new ways to increase revenue.

?Both President Obama and Governor Romney have put forth plans that will affect giving, and Congress is eyeing all tax deductions as potential revenue raisers,? she wrote. ?This would be a grave mistake and would negatively affect significant numbers of Americans.?

Since joining the Council in July, Ms. Spruill said, she has assembled a team of ?seasoned political strategists, communications tacticians, and tax-policy experts with deep ties to federal policy makers.? The campaign will focus on educating lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels, she said, showing them how philanthropy has changed lives, created jobs, and transformed communities.

Other nonprofit leaders have been sharpening their sabers in anticipation of renewed efforts by governments to limit the charitable deduction and introduce other changes they say would harm giving. President Obama has proposed capping all deductions for wealthy people at 28 percent, while Mitt Romney has said he would limit total deductions to $17,000 for middle-class families.

Last month, Independent Sector, an association of charities and grant makers, released a report calling for the creation of a single organization to lead such advocacy efforts.

Special coverage: Learn more about the charitable deduction and the effects that changing it could have on giving.

Source: http://philanthropy.com/blogs/government-and-politics/council-on-foundations-plans-to-step-up-advocacy/31046

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Fla. man charged in NY dinosaur fossils case

MIAMI (AP) ? A Florida man was charged Wednesday with smuggling dinosaur fossils into the United States, including a nearly complete Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton from Mongolia, federal prosecutors said.

Eric Prokopi, a self-described "commercial paleontologist" who buys and sells whole and partial dinosaur skeletons, was arrested at his home in Gainesville, according to a complaint unsealed by prosecutors. He was charged with smuggling goods into the U.S. and interstate sale and receipt of stolen goods.

He also faces one count of conspiracy to smuggle illegal goods, possess stolen property and make false statements. If convicted on all of the charges, he could face up to 35 years in prison.

Prokopi made an appearance Wednesday in federal court in Gainesville, where U.S. District Judge Gary R. Jones ordered him to be held on $100,000 bond. Prokopi must also surrender his passport and be kept under home detention. He did not enter a plea.

The arrest was handled by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the investigation "uncovered a one-man black market in prehistoric fossils." The U.S. government seized the Tyrannosaurus skeleton earlier this year after it was sold by an auction house for $1.05 million.

Prokopi did not immediately respond to a phone call, but his attorney has said he did nothing wrong.

Prokopi has been involved in a lawsuit in New York over the auction because the Mongolian government has said it may belong to that country. Prokopi's attorney in the lawsuit, Michael McCullough, has said his client is entitled to keep the creature he spent a year putting together at great expense.

McCullough has said the U.S. government was incorrect when it alleged that the skeleton pieces were brought into the country in one $15,000 shipment. He said there were three other shipments and only 37 percent of the completed skeleton came from one specimen.

Federal prosecutors said Prokopi misrepresented the identity, origin and value of the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar, a dinosaur that lived approximately 70 million years ago.

Prokopi also is accused of illegally importing from Mongolia the skeleton of a Saurolophus, another dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period that he sold to a gallery in California along with fossils of two other dinosaurs native to Mongolia, Gallimimus and Oviraptor mongoliensis. He also imported the fossilized remains of a Microraptor, a small, flying dinosaur from China, the complaint said.

Prokopi brought the fossils into the country between 2010 and 2012, prosecutors said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fla-man-charged-ny-dinosaur-fossils-case-183421980--finance.html

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Security forces hit militant hideouts in Khyber Agency, 8 killed ...

KHYBER AGENCY?-?At least eight militants were killed when fighter jets pounded their suspected hideouts in parts of Khyber Agency on Thursday morning.

According to the media reports, security forced backed by fighter planes bombed suspected militant positions in different parts of Bara sub-tehsil.

As a result of the bombing, eight militants were killed and seven others were reportedly wounded.

Four militant hideouts were also destroyed in the attack.

Source: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/10/18/news/national/security-forces-hit-militant-hideouts-in-khyber-agency-8-killed/

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Why Pets Should Be Included in the Presidential Debate ...

Yes, I want to hear about?Mitt Romney?s tax plan.? And, yes, I?m very interested in Obamacare.? And foreign policy.? And the deficit.? And the mortgage crisis.? But there?s another topic I?m just as interested in, one I?d like both?presidential candidates?to be asked about at the next debate: how to solve our national?companion animal?crisis.? Namely, how to remake a system that wastes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on housing, and ultimately killing, millions of healthy dogs, cats and other companion animals.

Perhaps some of you just rolled your eyes, but I?m guessing not many.? After all, according to theAmerican Pet Products Association?s?National Pet Owner?s Survey in 2011, 62% of all American households include at least one pet. There are over 78 million owned dogs and 86 million owned cats (?owned?, meaning not a stray, currently for sale, or awaiting adoption in an?animal shelter?or rescue organization).? In 2011, Americans spent $51 BILLION on our companion animals, the highest expenditure ever, even in the face of global recession.? In short, we Americans love our pets.? And many of us spoil them rotten.

But just like with the ubiquitous ?99%?, inside the pet population, there are clearly the ?haves? and ?have-nots.? The ASPCA estimates that 5 to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters each year. 3 to 4 million of those, the majority of whom are healthy and adoptable, are killed for lack of space, or because they slowly became unadoptable after living in the high-stress environment of a shelter for a period of time.? This is unacceptable to anyone who cares, who acknowledges the positive effects of sharing our homes and our hearts with those who have paws (or wings).? If you?ve ever cried into the fur of your beloved dog or cat, you know that this method of dealing with homeless animals must stop.? As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, ?The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.?? What does it say about our national morality that we find it acceptable, if sad, to take the lives of innocent creatures, creatures full of potential to love and be loved, to be a best friend and family member, but who instead leave the shelter in a trash can?

And then there are the tangible fiscal issues. ?The?candidates?are debating cutting miniscule funding for Big Bird while governments in every city and county in the nation pour taxpayer dollars into the rounding up, housing, and killing of innocent animals. ?That money could be used to help underserved kids, Mr. Obama, or refunded to taxpayers, Mr. Romney.? Furthermore, when nearly every state in the union is operating at a deficit, it creates a drain on the federal government. It?s in our national interest to stop this wasteful, irresponsible spending at the state level.

Before I cast my vote next month, I?d like to know where the candidates stand on this issue.? Currently, of course, all companion-animal laws are enacted at the state or local level.? There is nothing, however, that precludes our national politicians from having an opinion on states issues, and from putting forth ideas on how to solve them (and, if you need examples of that, see same-sex marriage, Roe v Wade, and other issues that are active at both a national and state level).? Both candidates own, or have owned, companion animals (I can hear all those Seamus-on-the-roof or Obama dog-eating comments now), and I assume they both love their dogs.? Disclosing their stances on the companion animal crisis will tell us a lot about these two men: their capacity for compassion, their problem-solving abilities, their willingness to acknowledge a problem that affects millions who don?t have a voice of their own, but are every bit as much a part of the American fabric as you or I.

On behalf of the millions of Americans who care about this issue, and on behalf of the millions of companion animals who will not survive their time in a shelter this year, I ask that this subject be broached at the next Presidential debate on Tuesday, October 16th.

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Adopt-A-Pet.com News, Helping Pet Adoption |

Source: http://blog.adoptapet.com/presidential-debat/

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Kaspersky Labs preps its own OS to guard vital industry against cyberwarfare

Kaspersky Labs' namesake Eugene Kaspersky is worried that widely distributed and potentially state-sponsored malware like Flame and Stuxnet pose dire threats to often lightly protected infrastructure like communication and power plants -- whatever your nationality, it's clearly bad for the civilian population of a given country to suffer even collateral damage from cyberattacks. To minimize future chaos and literally keep the trains running, Kaspersky and his company are expanding their ambitions beyond mere antivirus software to build their own, extra-secure operating system just for large-scale industry. The platform depends on a custom, minimalist core that refuses to run any software that isn't baked in and has no code outside of its main purposes: there'll be no water supply shutdowns after the night watch plays Solitaire from an infected drive. Any information shared from one of these systems should be completely trustworthy, Kaspersky says. He doesn't have details as to when the OS will reach behind-the-scenes hardware, but he stresses that this is definitely not an open-source project: some parts of the OS will always remain confidential to keep ne'er-do-well terrorists (and governments) from undermining the technology we often take for granted.

Filed under: Software

Kaspersky Labs preps its own OS to guard vital industry against cyberwarfare originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/16/kaspersky-labs-preps-its-own-os-to-guard-industry-against-cyberwarfare/

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Athena International Recognizes NC Military Business Center's Fran ...

Athena International Recognizes NC Military Business Center?s Fran Perez-Wilhite with Charlotte Women Leadership Award

CHARLOTTE (OCT 16, 2012) ? ATHENA International, in conjunction with sponsor KPMG Charlotte?s Network of Women, has recognized North Carolina Military Business Center?s Fran Perez-Wilhite?as recipient of the second annual Charlotte ATHENA Leadership Award?. The award recognizes exemplary women leaders who have achieved excellence in their business or profession, served the community in a meaningful way and, most importantly, actively assisted women to achieve their full leadership potential.

A former logistics officer at Fort Bragg, Perez-Wilhite has served as a Business Development Specialist in the NCMBC?s Charlotte office at Central Piedmont Community College since 2006.? A business development component of the North Carolina Community College System headquartered at FTCC, the NCMBC leverages military and other federal business opportunities for economic development and assists North Carolina businesses to engage, compete and win prime and subcontracts in the federal market.? Businesses notified or assisted by the NCMBC since it opened in 2005 have won at least 1,586 contract awards worth $3.5 to $11 billion.? Prior to joining the NCMBC, she spent thirteen years in various management positions at Philip Morris USA.

Founded 30 years ago, ATHENA International is a women?s leadership organization that supports, develops and honors women leaders through the programs it administers.? Locally, the program is sponsored by KPMG LLP, a licensed ATHENA host organization.

Cathy Green Burns, President of Food Lion LLC and Delhaize America, Inc., served as the keynote speaker, Dianne Dinkel, ATHENA International CEO and President presented the ATHENA award, and Molly Grantham, WBTV3 news anchor, was the master of ceremonies.

To contact Fran Perez-Wilhite or for more information on the NCMBC, visit www.ncmbc.us.

Source: http://www.ncmbc.us/blog/2012/10/athena-international-recognizes-nc-military-business-centers-fran-perez-wilhite-with-charlotte-women-leadership-award/

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Curiosity rover's second scoop discarded, third scoop of Martian soil commanded

ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2012) ? Commands will be sent to Curiosity today instructing the rover to collect a third scoop of soil from the "Rocknest" site of windblown Martian sand and dust. Pending evaluation of this Sol 69 (Oct. 15, 2012) scooping, a sample from the scoopful is planned as the first sample for delivery -- later this week -- to one of the rover's internal analytical instruments, the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument.

A later scoopful will become the first solid sample for delivery to the rover's other internal analytical instrument, the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.

The rover's second scoopful, collected on Sol 66 (Oct. 12), was intentionally discarded on Sol 67 due to concern about particles of bright material seen in the hole dug by the scooping. Other small pieces of bright material in the Rocknest area have been assessed as debris from the spacecraft. The science team did not want to put spacecraft material into the rover's sample-processing mechanisms.

Confidence for going ahead with the third scooping was based on new assessment that other bright particles in the area are native Martian material. One factor in that consideration is seeing some bright particles embedded in clods of Martian soil. Further investigations of the bright particles are planned, including some imaging in the Sol 69 plan.

Sol 69, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, will end at 5:01 a.m. Oct. 16, PDT (8:01 a.m., EDT).

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/IVYHOhwT-G8/121015194852.htm

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