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BEIRUT (AP) ? Opposition activists said Syria's uprising hotspots were quiet after a deadline for a U.N.-brokered truce passed at dawn Thursday, hours after President Bashar Assad's regime promised special peace envoy Kofi Annan it would halt fighting.
It was the first brief lull after weeks of escalating attacks on opposition strongholds.
Still, expectations were low for an abrupt end to the bloodshed that has roiled Syria for 13 months and claimed more than 9,000 lives. Syria has backtracked on previous peace plans, has characterized the uprising it's facing as a terrorist plot and has escalated the shelling of rebellious areas in recent weeks.
The regime also set an important truce condition when it announced Wednesday it would halt the fighting ? saying it still has a right to defend itself against the terrorists that it says are behind the country's uprising.
Under Annan's plan, the cease-fire is to be followed by the deployment of an observer mission and negotiations between Assad's government and the opposition on a political transition.
Opposition activists said the 6 a.m. Thursday truce deadline passed without reports of major violence.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said all of Syria's flashpoints in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, the northern regions of Idlib and Aleppo, the capital Damascus and its suburbs, as well as Daraa to the south and Deir el-Zour to the east were quiet.
"Nothing is happening in these hotspots so far," said Abdul-Rahman, referring to the areas that have witnessed intense attacks by government forces and clashes between troops and defectors over the past few weeks.
In the city of Homs, activist Tarek Badrakhan said no explosions or shelling were heard since 10 p.m. Wednesday, but that army vehicles were still in the streets on Thursday. Badrakhan said nights are usually quiet, with shelling resuming in the mornings, and that it was too early to judge whether attacks had been halted.
Homs has been battered by daily shelling for the past three weeks.
The Observatory said some shots were fired in the Damascus neighborhood of Qadam after midnight Wednesday and that an explosion went off in a car in a Damascus suburb, causing no injuries. Fares Mohammed, an activist in the Damascus suburb of Zabadani, said an army tank at a checkpoint fired three shells at a nearby open area between 5:50 a.m and 6:10 am. Thursday.
The rebel Free Syrian Army, a fighting force determined to bring down Assad, has said it will abide by the cease-fire. But the opposition is not well organized, and there are growing fears of groups looking to exploit the chaos.
A cease-fire could pose a major risk for the Assad regime.
Many activists predict that huge numbers of protesters would flood the streets if Assad fully complies with the agreement and pulls his forces back to barracks. But Syria has ways to maintain authority even without the military, in the form of pro-regime gunmen called "shabiha" and the fiercely loyal and pervasive security apparatus.
Over the course of the uprising, the military crackdown succeeded in preventing protesters from recreating the fervor of Egypt's Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands of people camped out in a powerful show of dissent that drove longtime leader Hosni Mubarak from power.
On Wednesday, the White House cautioned that the Assad regime has reneged on promises to stop the violence in the past.
"What is important to remember is that we judge the Assad's regime by its actions and not by their promises, because their promises have proven so frequently in the past to be empty," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington.
Annan is scheduled to brief the U.N. Security Council on Thursday by videoconference from Geneva.
Western powers have pinned their hopes on Annan's plan, in part because they are running out of options. The U.N. has ruled out any military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and several rounds of sanctions and other attempts to isolate Assad have done little to stop the bloodshed.
"The West or Arab states have very little leverage over Syria, and the one thing which would certainly weaken the regime ? which is some form of military intervention ? is the one policy that is not being considered," said David Hartwell, senior Middle East analyst at the defense and intelligence group IHS Jane's.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have called for arming the rebels, but even if they follow through there is no guarantee that such efforts could cripple Assad's well-armed regime.
Asked what steps the U.S. could take if the deal collapses, Carney, the White House spokesman, cited humanitarian and other non-lethal assistance and further sanctions.
The conflict is among the most explosive of the Arab Spring, in part because of Syria's web of allegiances to powerful forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Shiite powerhouse Iran.
On Wednesday, Annan was in Iran ? Syria's key regional ally ? to press for support for his peace plan.
Annan earlier secured the backing of Russia and China, which have given Assad a significant layer of protection by blocking strong action against the regime at the U.N. Security Council. Those two countries fear a resolution condemning Assad might open the door to possible NATO airstrikes on Syria, similar to the military campaign in Libya.
Under Annan's plan, Syria was to have withdrawn its forces from population centers on Tuesday. However, the regime disregarded the deadline and was still attacking its opponents Wednesday with tanks and mortar fire, including in Homs.
Badrakhan, the Homs activist, said nearly three weeks of shelling have turned the city into a ghost town and that most of his neighborhood of Khaldiyeh was destroyed.
The wounded were being treated inside homes after a makeshift hospital was destroyed earlier this week. Dozens of corpses that were being kept inside the clinic had to be buried in a public garden, he said.
Bassam Imadi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said he had no faith in the Annan initiative to stop the bloodshed.
"Peace will never come to this country before this regime is overthrown ? that is something for sure," Imadi said. "The regime is using all these breaks, those initiatives, those diplomatic and political solutions only to try and finish the uprising."
___
AP writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
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Black Sabbath, Kiss and the Sex Pistols have also blasted the institution.
By Gil Kaufman
Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose
Photo: Getty Images
Suffice it to say that in his lengthy, lawyerly letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week refusing his induction as part of the classic line-up of Guns N' Roses, singer Axl Rose had a bone (or two, or six or 20) to pick with the process.
It's hard to say who the enigmatic hard-rock icon was most mad at, but his steadfast refusal to attend the induction, or even acknowledge the honor, put him in a long tradition of rock legends who've either bashed the RRHOF for not including them (only to change their tune once their number came up) or refused to show up, not to mention the fans who've raised holy hell when their favorite bands couldn't make the cut.
"We Want You on That Wall, We Need You On That Wall": Our Open Letter To Axl Rose
Among the other hell-raisers:
Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath: Before the group got the call in 2005 , the Blizzard of Ozz had been very vocal about how little he wanted to do with the Hall. In a 1999 letter to the Hall of Fame, Ozzy famously told the institution, "Just take our name off the list. Save the ink. Forget about us. The nomination is meaningless, because it's not voted on by the fans. It's voted on by the supposed elite for the industry and the media, who've never bought an album or concert ticket in their lives, so their vote is irrelevant to me." He added, "Let's face it, Black Sabbath has never been media darlings. We're a people's band and that suits us just fine."
John Lydon/Sex Pistols: Lydon (aka "Johnny Rotten") was his typical snotty self when his pioneering punk band made the short list in 2006. In a cheeky letter, the perennially put out Lydon wrote, "Next to the Sex Pistols rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. We're not coming. We're not your monkey and so what?" Needless to say, the band did not show up for the ceremony.
Gene Simmons/Kiss: The kabuki theater bass player is never at a loss for words. And nothing makes him angrier than the fact that the "greatest band in the world" has never been invited to the party. He's lashed out at the Rock Hall repeatedly in the 12 years since his group became eligible. "There are disco bands, rap bands, Yiddish folk song bands, but not Kiss," he said in 2008.
David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen/Van Halen: The longest-running soap opera in rock was kicked up a notch in 2007 when VH was slated for induction. Original singer Roth had been rehearsing for the event and speculation swirled for months about who would show up and if replacement singer Sammy Hagar would be on hand as well. Then, in classic VH fashion, Eddie and Dave both bailed and it was left to Hagar and now-former bassist Michael Anthony to accept on the band's behalf.
And then there are the fans. In addition to the unending volley of complaints from the Kiss Army, followers of Canadian prog rockers Rush have been bellyaching for the past decade of the band's eligibility that the wizardly trio deserve their spot in the Hall. They've picketed, launched petitions and all but drawn their broadswords and threatened to storm the I.M. Pei-designed glass pyramid in Cleveland to rectify this grave injustice. All to no avail.
Are you disappointed that Axl Rose won't be at this weekend's Hall of Fame ceremony? Let us know in comments below.
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Snooki dyed her hair black and added "Barbie extensions." Check out more star tress-formations and tell us what you think!
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Britney Spears: Can she do it?
Credit: AP Photo
As Britney Spears' signing on a judge on the U.S. edition of ?The X Factor? appears to be moving closer and closer to reality, we have serious doubts that the pop singer could add anything of merit to the program.
Instead, her main draw will be to curiosity seekers who tune in to see if she can form a sentence unaided by others. And guess what? The people who view to see a potential? train wreck count just as much in the ratings as those who honestly watch to see the talent competition. And at this point, show founder Simon Cowell, who has not delivered the ratings he bragged his program would, needs a big name to bring in eyeballs. And he?s apparently willing to pay $15 million to Spears to do just that.
Here?s why we have doubts about Spears as a viable draw: While she remains a ubiquitous fixture in the gossip pages as we see pictures of her and her two sons or her and her fiancee out and about, any actual speaking that we?ve heard from Spears in the past few years has been as carefully controlled as a politician?s and about as revealing.
For example, any television interviews for ?Femme Fatale? were taped beforehand, so any embarrassing gaffes could be edited out, and her replies consisted of about as much depth as a shallow rain puddle. She answered her questions for Rolling Stone via email so there was no give or take.
Seldom were her answers any longer than two sentences and they were about on a third-grader?s conversational level (In her defense, she wasn?t being asked anything that would necessarily require greater detail or introspection so it's unclear if she's capable of deeper thoughts). After reviewing several of them today, the most interesting thing I discovered about Spears is that she likes vanilla-scented candles.
The 30-year old remains, according to a judge, unable to run her own financial and personal affairs, so any major decisions have to be made in conjunction with her conservator, her father. Earlier this month, Spears went to court to ask that her finance, Jason Trawick, be appointed co-conservator. Her father has been conservator since 2008 after some especially troubling events showed that Spears was not mentally competent to oversee her legal, personal and business decisions.
Spears has toured since the conservatorship has been in place and while her outings tend to consist of her walking about, dancing stiffly, and lipsyncing, there have been no shudder-inducing outbursts or truly cringe-worthy moments that marked much of 2007 for her.
Instead, Spears seems to operate on some kind of auto-pilot now. In interviews, she answers questions, but never seems fully engaged. In concert, she is competent, but not compelling.
While people will tune in to ?X Factor? to see if she brings the crazy and answers in complete non-sequiturs that make absolutely no sense, a la Paula Abdul her first few seasons on ?American Idol? or Steven Tyler on ?Idol? now, that?s not going to happen. Her handlers will never allow that to, for one thing, and, other than her weird, white-trash clad, gum-smacking interview with Matt Lauer a few years ago, she hasn?t really displayed those kind of mindblowing WTH moments in such a setting.
Instead, I predict she?ll be a non-entity...like Jennifer Lopez on ?Idol,? but even more so, in terms of giving contestants very mild advice, like ?You need to bring more emotion to the song,? or giving them such heartfelt encouragement as ?I really felt it when you sang that... ?? In other words, dullsville. Lopez's blandness worked for her in that it softened out her hard edges and let people see her as human and compassionate.? In some ways, Spears' climb is a tougher one: she needs to show fans that she is capable of deep, instructive thought and insight that she has garnered from spending more than half her life in show business. I'd advise her to start most of her feedback with "One thing I learned years ago..."?or? "I once made the same mistake of not... "
?The Voice? made fans realize that artists can give constructive advice and can have opinions without being mean or crazy, but the competition among that show's four mentors also helps bring out the daggers and the fun.? It?s, quite frankly, hard to imagine Spears being able to survive in that kind of fast-paced environment, so ?The X Factor? is definitely a safer spot for her, but "The Voice" has raised the bar on what fans expect from artists on these shows.
I hope for her sake she doesn?t have any crazy moments, as she does seem to be back on an even keel and that?s a very good thing. However, a calm life and demeanor, sadly, never make for great TV.
How do you think she will fare??
Follow Melinda Newman on Twitter @HitFixMelinda
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Apple fixed the exploit; now, the company is working on the cure
A week after the?Flashback trojan hit Mac users, Apple is?announcing that it's "developing software that will detect and remove the Flashback malware." And, going one step further, the company is working with ISPs to find and disable the trojan creator's computer servers that are involved in the operation of the virus.
Over 600,000?Mac users have been affected by the Flashback trojan since it started popping up on computers running OS X earlier this month. The trojan uses a javascript-related security hole to infect unsuspecting users. Though the security hole was patched by Apple back on April 3, that fix does little to help those who already fell prey to the malware. Apple's planned software will finally let Flashback victims?recover from being infected.
If you can't wait for Apple's fix, don't worry ? you're not helpless in the meantime. There is a manual procedure for removing the offending trojan available on computer security company?F-secure's website. Be forewarned, though: You'll need a little bit of technical smarts to get it done.
[via?Ars Technica]
[Image credit:?Maxim Trudolubov]
(Source)
This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca
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Review of Finance and the Good Society. By Robert J. Shiller. Princeton University Press. 288 pp. $24.95.
Business confidence and credit are "singularly varying," Walter Bagehot, the editor of The Economist observed in 1896. "After a great calamity, everybody is suspicious of everybody; as soon as that calamity is forgotten, everybody again confides in everybody."
In 2012, suspicion has not yet subsided. And with good reason. Financial institutions brought the United States (and much of the rest of the world) to the brink of Depression in 2008-2009, and, it seems clear, Dodd-Frank hasn't fixed them. Enter Occupy Wall Street.
There is almost universal agreement, Robert Shiller, a professor of economics at Yale University, acknowledges, that our financial system has "real problems" -- and that regulations and restrictions should be put on it. Nonetheless, he insists, there is no alternative to financial capitalism. In Finance and the Good Society, Shiller argues that despite the "absurd concentrations of wealth" it engenders, its bewilderingly complex structures, and the games it forces people to play, finance capitalism can be harnessed to protect consumers, promote the public interest, and help reverse the alarming trend toward social and economic inequality, while doing what it does best: deliver superior products and services.
Any book by Shiller should command our attention. A behavioral economist, he challenged the view, dominant in academia and the financial sector in the 1980s and '90s, that markets were efficient and rational. In Irrational Exuberance (2000) he warned against a stock market bubble, urging investors in a second edition of the book to "make conservative preparations for possible bad outcomes." In 2003, Shiller suggested that further increases in housing prices could lead to a world-wide recession -- and followed up, five years later, with The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened And What To Do About It.
In this book, Shiller, ever the contrarian (but somewhat surprisingly), does not join the chorus of critics of finance capitalism -- and finance capitalists. He deems the belief that financiers have incentives to engage in predatory practices an "illusion." He denies that Goldman Sachs officials (who sold securities to clients while the company was selling them short) or Countywide Financial Corporation salesmen (who pushed subprime housing loans) "acted deliberately with full knowledge of the outcome." He denominates lobbyists "as probably more public-spirited than most." And he disagrees with "the popular notion" that extremely wealthy people are actively and aggressively seeking to prevent even a modest distribution of income, through taxes or regulation.
Equally surprising, Shiller suggests that finance capitalism, while not yet perfected, "is gradually improving." And that government regulation, while necessary -- "I am told," he writes, than many of the people who visit the Securities and Exchange Commission "can be manipulative and adversarial" -- is unlikely to prevent bubbles and overleveraging.
Shiller supports a social safety net and progressive income taxes, but he believes that under finance capitalism "many of our best protections" come from private financial arrangements that spread risk. He makes a compelling case that market mechanisms such as "cap and trade" are an efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He claims that the market can address even the most personal problems, including dating services and kidney exchanges (which incentivize a large pool of people to make donations). And he wants a more expansive and humane insurance industry to extend coverage to the kinds of risks (like educational or career choices) that reveal themselves slowly instead of catastrophically and suddenly.
The government, according to Shiller, can and should facilitate the democratization of finance capitalism. Although most of his proposals are, at the moment, political non-starters, they deserve a hearing. Reading into the record the grotesque and growing income inequality in the United States, he weighs the pros and cons of a progressive consumption tax, points out that estate taxes, if set at "an intermediate level," can allow wealthy people to leave a farm or family business to their children, and advocates indexing tax systems to inequality (making them automatically more progressive if inequality were to worsen).
Finance and the Good Society is a timely and on the whole persuasive reminder that the institutions of capitalism have the capacity to spread democracy, prosperity and greater equality. All the more reason for wishing that Robert Shiller was a bit more sensitive to the damage they -- and the modern malefactors of wealth -- have done in recent years to the social fabric of the United States. Do we, one wonders, really have to "make it possible for a relatively small number of people -- a management -- to use their personal judgment to decide on the direction of our major activities"? And even if we acknowledge that before the emergence of modern finance capitalism societies were much more hierarchical and violent, should we acquiesce so readily to the power and the resources they now command? Not, in my view, if the goal is a good society.
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