Autopsy reveals Gandolfini died of heart attack

Celebs

Claudio Lavanga and Maria Elena Fernandez NBC News

22 hours ago

ROME -- A family friend of actor James Gandolfini announced at a news conference Friday that an autopsy showed "The Sopranos" star died of a "heart attack of natural causes" and "nothing else was found in his system."

The 51-year-old Emmy-winning actor suffered the heart attack in the bathroom of his room at the Hotel Boscolo in Rome while on vacation with his teenage son, Michael, and sister, Michael Kobold told reporters.

"James came here on vacation with family," Kobold said. "On Wednesday he went to visit the Vatican, and had dinner at the hotel with his son while waiting for his sister ... All are devastated for his loss. He was a loving father."

Kobold said that it could take up to 10 days of red tape to repatriate Gandolfini's body, but the family is hoping that, with the help of Italian authorities, it will happen in the middle of next week so that a funeral could be held in New York next Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

"He was happy, healthy, on vacation with his son," Kobold said. "He was fine."

Medical staff attempted to resuscitate Gandofini after his son found him in the bathroom, but he was pronounced dead at about 11 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET) Wednesday at Policlinico Umberto I hospital, which is a three-minute drive from the hotel.

Famous for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano in hit HBO show "The Sopranos," Gandolfini was on a celebratory trip to Italy with his 13-year-old son, who had just graduated from junior high school and won a soccer championship.

Experts said a heart attack was a common cause of death for a man in his 50s.

Dr. John Harold, president of the American College of Cardiology and a heart specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said that ?in many patients who have a heart attack, the first symptom is sudden death and they don?t even make it to a hospital.?

Tributes have flooded in for the actor, who won three Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild awards for playing Soprano from 1999-2007.

He also appeared in a number of big-screen roles, including the crime drama "Killing Them Softly" and "Zero Dark Thirty," a film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow, who directed Gandolfini in ?Zero Dark Thirty,? said she was devastated by the news of his death.

"James was such an enormous talent, and an even greater spirit. I will be forever grateful for the privilege of working with him, and shall cherish his memories always," she said in a statement.

Nicole Kidman said Gandolfini was ?such a great actor,? describing his death as ?a big loss.?

?Sending love and prayers to James? family. He will be greatly missed,? she said in a statement to eonline.com.

Brad Pitt described Gandolfini as ?a ferocious actor, a gentle soul and a genuinely funny man." ?I am fortunate to have sat across the table from him and am gutted by this loss.?

Gandolfini also made a good impression on the ordinary people he met.

An employee at the Hotel Boscolo told Italy's la Repubblica newspaper that during his stay the actor had signed autographs and was ?very friendly with us from hotel's staff and with other guests in the restaurant. A nice person.?

NBC News' Ian Johnston, Reuters and Mads Frese contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/james-gandolfini-autopsy-reveals-actor-died-heart-attack-6C10407874

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Kerry to push for coordinated aid to Syrian rebels

Secretary of State John Kerry waves as he boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, June 21, 2013, en route to Doha, Qatar. Kerry began an overseas trip plunging into two thorny foreign policy problems facing the Obama administration: unrelenting bloodshed in Syria and efforts to talk to the Taliban and find a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Secretary of State John Kerry waves as he boards his plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, June 21, 2013, en route to Doha, Qatar. Kerry began an overseas trip plunging into two thorny foreign policy problems facing the Obama administration: unrelenting bloodshed in Syria and efforts to talk to the Taliban and find a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Qatar (GUH'-tur) to meet officials from nearly a dozen nations to firm up and coordinate military and humanitarian aid going to the Syrian opposition trying to oust President Bashar Assad.

Kerry flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar, Saturday. It's the first stop on his seven-nation trip through the Mideast and Asia.

U.S. officials hope the meeting will re-energize a newly expanded Syrian opposition group, which is to elect new leadership in coming days.

Kerry is a strong proponent of international intervention to stop the civil war in Syria, which has claimed 93,000 lives.

President Barack Obama recently announced the U.S. will send weapons to the rebels, despite concern the arms could end up in the hands of Islamic extremists.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-22-Kerry/id-6a7ac48c20bd4747b853297378c108ed

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Fighter jets to provide training in Jordan (The Arizona Republic)

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FAA moving toward easing electronic device use

FILE - This Feb. 23, 2011 file photo shows United Airlines planes taxing at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. The government is moving toward easing restrictions on the use of electronic devices by airline passengers during taxiing, takeoffs and landings. An industry-labor advisory committee was expected to make recommendations next month to the Federal Aviation Administration on easing the restrictions, but the FAA said Friday that deadline has been extended to September. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

FILE - This Feb. 23, 2011 file photo shows United Airlines planes taxing at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. The government is moving toward easing restrictions on the use of electronic devices by airline passengers during taxiing, takeoffs and landings. An industry-labor advisory committee was expected to make recommendations next month to the Federal Aviation Administration on easing the restrictions, but the FAA said Friday that deadline has been extended to September. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The government is moving toward easing restrictions on airline passengers using electronic devices to listen to music, play games, read books, watch movies and work during takeoffs and landings, but it could take a few months.

An industry-labor advisory committee was supposed to make recommendations next month to the Federal Aviation Administration on easing the restrictions. But the agency said in a statement Friday the deadline has been extended to September because committee members asked for extra time to finish assessing whether it's safe to lift restrictions.

"The FAA recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft; that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions," the statement said.

The agency is under public and political pressure to ease the restrictions as more people bring their e-book readers, music and video players, smartphones and laptops with them when they fly.

Technically, the FAA doesn't bar use of electronic devices when aircraft are below 10,000 feet. But under FAA rules, airlines that want to let passengers use the devices are faced with a practical impossibility ? they would have to show that they've tested every type and make of device passengers would use to ensure there is no electromagnetic interference with aircraft radios and electrical and electronic systems.

As a result, U.S. airlines simply bar all electric device use below 10,000 feet. Airline accidents are most likely to occur during takeoffs, landings, and taxiing.

Cellphone calls and Internet use and transmissions are also prohibited, and those restrictions are not expected to be lifted. Using cellphones to make calls on planes is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. There is concern that making calls from fast-flying planes might strain cellular systems, interfering with service on the ground. There is also the potential annoyance factor ? whether passengers will be unhappy if they have to listen to other passengers yakking on the phone.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that a draft report by the advisory committee indicates its 28 members have reached a consensus that at least some of the current restrictions should be eased.

A member of the committee who asked not to be named because the committee's deliberations are supposed to be kept private told The Associated Press that while the draft report is an attempt to reach consensus, no formal agreement has yet been reached.

There are also still safety concerns, the member said. The electrical interference generated by today's devices is much lower than those of a decade ago, but many more passengers today are carrying electronics.

Any plan to allow gate-to-gate electronic use would also come with certification processes for new and existing aircraft to ensure that they are built or modified to mitigate those risks. Steps to be taken could include ensuring that all navigational antennas are angled away from the plane's doors and windows. Planes that are already certified for Wi-Fi would probably be more easily certified.

Although the restrictions have been broadly criticized as unnecessary, committee members saw value in them.

One of the considerations being weighed is whether some heavier devices like laptops should continue to be restricted because they might become dangerous projectiles, hurting other passengers during a crash, the committee member said. There is less concern about tablets and other lighter devices.

FAA officials would still have the final say. An official familiar with FAA's efforts on the issue said agency officials would like to find a way to allow passengers to use electronic devices during takeoffs and landings the same way they're already allowed to use them when planes are cruising above 10,000 feet. The official requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak by name.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told a Senate panel in April that he convened the advisory committee in the hope of working out changes to the restrictions.

"It's good to see the FAA may be on the verge of acknowledging what the traveling public has suspected for years ? that current rules are arbitrary and lack real justification," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of Congress' more outspoken critics of the restrictions, said in a statement. She contends that unless scientific evidence can be presented to justify the restrictions, they should be lifted.

Edward Pizzarello, the co-founder of frequent flier discussion site MilePoint, says lifting the restriction is "long overdue."

"I actually feel like this regulation has been toughest on flight attendants. Nobody wants to shut off their phone, and the flight attendants are always left to be the bad guys and gals," said Pizzarello, 38, of Leesburg, Va.

Actor Alec Baldwin became the face of passenger frustration with the restrictions in 2011 when he was kicked off a New York-bound flight in Los Angeles for refusing to turn off his cellphone. Baldwin later issued an apology to fellow American Airlines passengers who were delayed, but mocked the flight attendant on Twitter.

"I just hope they do the sensible thing and don't allow people to talk on their cellphones during flight," said Pizzarello, who flies 150,000 to 200,000 miles a year. "There are plenty of people that don't have the social skills necessary to make a phone call on a plane without annoying the people around them. Some things are better left alone."

"It'll be nice not to have to power down and wait, but it never really bothered me. As long as they don't allow calls I'll be happy," said Ian Petchenik, 28, a Chicago-based consultant and frequent flier.

Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Hudson Crossing, said airlines would only profit if the FAA also amended the rules to allow passengers to access the Internet earlier ? something that is not being suggested.

"Unless the FAA is considering relaxing the rules on Wi-Fi access, this is not about making money. This is about keeping the passenger entertained," he said.

Heather Poole, a flight attendant for a major U.S. airline, blogger and author of the novel "Cruising Attitude," said easing the restrictions would make flight attendants' jobs "a whole lot easier."

There is a lot of pressure for airlines to have on-time departures, she said. Flight attendants are dealing with an "out-of-control" carry-on bag situation and then have to spend their time enforcing the electronics rule.

"These days, it takes at least five reminders to get people to turn off their electronics, and even then, it doesn't always work," Poole said. "I think some passengers believe they're the only ones using their devices, but it's more like half the airplane doesn't want to turn it off."

But there is concern about whether easing restrictions will result in passengers becoming distracted by their devices when they should be listening to safety instructions.

On a recent flight that had severe turbulence, a business class passenger wearing noise-canceling headphones missed the captain's announcement to stay seated, Poole recalled.

"Takeoff and landing is when passengers need to be most aware of their surroundings in case ? God forbid ? we have to evacuate," she said. "I don't see that guy, or any of the ones like him, reacting very quickly."

___

Mayerowitz reported from New York.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-06-21-Cellphones-Planes/id-f576c93873de4c8eab78ec0979f28845

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DENIED! Outrage after feds reject Sandy flood claims | PIX 11

MANASQUAN, N.J. (PIX11) ? Eight months later and many Sandy damaged homes are practically untouched since the storm because people are still waiting to get their insurance money to rebuild.

Now, PIX11 News has learned, thousands of people are being blindsided with denials even though they have foundation damage that is clearly caused by flood waters from Sandy.

And it is not their private for-profit insurance companies doing this to them. It is the federal government.

?This is a section of the foundation where it broke apart and cracked all the way down through the footings and shifted,? explained Dina Sass, a homeowner in Manasquan, N.J.

Like most homeowners who live near the water, Sass gets her flood insurance through the federal government?s National Flood Insurance Program.

?When you buy into a policy that is backed by the government, you think it?s solid,? said Sass.

That is why she was shocked when her claim on the foundation damage was denied.? The reason, said the insurance program, was that the damage was directly caused by earth movement.? The denial went on to say ?we do not insure loss of property caused directly by earth movement even if the movement is caused by flood.?

Sass said:? ?A flood policy, hmmm, and they exclude something that is caused by a flood?? It is incredible.?

The same government program is also requiring elevation in order to insure properties in the future.

?We are required to raise our house another four feet, whole new foundation, how pay for that?? It?s an incredible amount of cost,? said Sass.

A cost that could be more than $100,000 ? and it would all be out of pocket.

?It?s so wrong in every way,? said longtime public adjuster Dave Charles, who says the Sass? house is undeniably damaged.? He adds that thousands of people like the Sass family are dealing with denials on their foundation damage from the federal government.

?Every aspect of that policy is written by Congress,? said Charles who thinks Congress made a mistake in recent years when they rewrote the policy and now it?s having unintended consequences on those slammed by Sandy.

?I can?t allow myself to believe that they are heinous enough to do this on purpose to so many people?? he said.

The federal insurance program says every homeowner can appeal a denial.

This claim denial problem may well take an act of Congress to fix.

?You?re talking about years and years from now and meanwhile I have three little kids, a sick husband and no house,? said Sass, shaking her head.

PIX 11 reached out to the National Flood Insurance Program through FEMA?s regional office in New York.

They told us they know about this concern but they are ?not in a position to comment,? and said to get in touch with the D.C. office.

PIX11 hasn?t heard back from them.

Source: http://pix11.com/2013/06/21/denied-outrage-after-feds-reject-sandy-flood-claims/

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'Sopranos' star Gandolfini dead; son called for help

1 hour ago

ROME -- James Gandolfini?s teenage son called for help after discovering his father collapsed in a bathroom, according to the manager of the Italian hotel where the ?The Sopranos? star was staying. The Emmy-winning actor was later pronounced dead Wednesday at age 51.

Gandolfini, who rose to fame as mob boss Tony Soprano on the hit HBO show, was still alive when the ambulance arrived, according to Antonio D'amore, who runs the Hotel Boscolo in Rome.

Gandolfini suffered a suspected heart attack in the bathroom of his hotel room at about 10 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) Wednesday, according to D?amore.

He said Gandolfini?s son, Michael, was with him in the room and called for help. Hotel staff rushed to the room and found the actor on the bathroom floor, D'amore said.

Workers tried to resuscitate him and he was taken to the nearby Policlinico Umberto I hospital. Michael Kobold, who lived with Gandolfini years ago and considered him a "big brother," spoke to reporters Thursday outside the hotel and confirmed that hotel workers called an ambulance and first aid was administered on Gandolfini before he was transported to the hospital.

?Our prayers and condolences go to Mr Gandolfini's family and firends," Kobold said, referring to himself as a family spokesman. "We ask you all to respect the family's privacy at this difficult time.?

Kobold said Gandolfini died of "an apparent heart attack."

Claudio Modini, head of the hospital's emergency room said that Gandolfini was admitted at 10:40 p.m. (4:40 p.m. ET) and doctors tried to resuscitate him. But he was declared dead at 11 p.m. (5 p.m. ET), 20 minutes after being admitted. He said an autopsy would be performed Friday, as required by local law.

Riccardo De Luca / AP

A view of the hotel where actor James Gandolfini was staying while vacationing in Rome.

Gandolfini and his family were visiting Rome prior to his scheduled appearance on Saturday as guest of honor at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. The actor was going to participate in a roundtable with Italian director Gabriele Muccino. Now, the festival organizers said they will pay him tribute instead.

"He was a genius," said "Sopranos" creator David Chase. "Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time."

Edie Falco who played Carmela Soprano, the unforgettable mobster's wife, said Gandolfini was "a man of tremendous depth and sensitivity, with a kindness and generosity beyond words."

"My heart goes out to his family," she added. "As those of us in his pretend one hold on to the memories of our intense and beautiful time together. The love between Tony and Carmela was one of the greatest I've ever known."

Jamie Lynn Sigler spent 10 years playing Gandolfini's daughter on the HBO ground-breaking series and said she was "heartbroken" to hear of his passing.

"I spent 10 years of my life studying and admiring one of the most brilliant actors , yes, but more importantly one of the greatest men," she said. "Jim had the ability, unbeknownst to him, to make you feel like everything would be alright if he was around. I treasure my memories with him and feel so honored that I was an up close witness to his greatness."

Michael Imperioli, who played Tony Soprano's nephew, called working with Gandolfini a "pleasure and a privilege" in a statement. "Jimmy treated us all like family with a generosity, loyalty and compassion that is rare in this world...I will be forever grateful having had a friend the likes of Jimmy."

Federico Castelluccio, who played Furio Giunta on the series, described Gandolfini as "really well-naunced" and "one of the greatest actors of our time."

"He was a soft-spoken guy, but a warm guy," New York Times TV writer Bill Carter told TODAY's Matt Lauer. "When he hugged you, it was genuine."

Gandolfini won critical acclaim, three Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild awards for playing Tony Soprano from 1999-2007.

"We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family," HBO said in a statement. "He was a special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect. He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us."

Although a New Jersey native, Gandolfini didn't expect to land the role of Tony Soprano. "I thought that they would hire some good-looking guy, not George Clooney but some Italian George Clooney, and that would be that," he told Vanity Fair in 2012.

But instead, it was Gandolfini who got the nod, and he made viewers care about a mob boss who could order the murder of a family member one minute and turn around and tenderly feed the ducks that swam in his estate's swimming pool the next.

"I think you cared about Tony because David was smart enough to write the Greek chorus, through (Soprano's psychiatrist) Dr. Melfi," Gandolfini said. "So you sat there and you got to see his motives, what he was thinking, what he was trying to do, what he was trying to fix, what he was trying to become. And then you saw it didn?t really work out the way he wanted it to."

Actress Lorraine Bracco, who played Melfi, said in a statement, "We lost a giant today. I am utterly heartbroken."

Despite being globally associated with Tony Soprano, Gandolfini went on to play quite different roles including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden-hunt docudrama "Zero Dark Thirty." He also played a tortured alcoholic on "Killing Them Softly" and starred in the remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123."

"I admire Jimmy as a ferocious actor, a gentle soul and a genuinely funny man," said actor Brad Pitt, who worked with Gandolfini on "The Mexican" and "Killing Them Softly. "I am fortunate to have sat across the table from him and am gutted by this loss."

Gandolfini went on a USO tour to Kuwait and Iraq in 2004, and found himself unable to forget the soldiers and Marines he met there. The result was his 2008 HBO documentary, "Alive Day Memories," in which he spoke with 10 men and women who survived the war. The program was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding nonfiction special, and NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams called it a "powerful and nonpolitical hour of television."

He recently completed shooting Fox Searchlight's "Animal Rescue" with Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace, and was developing "Criminal Justice," a limited series at HBO.

Chef Mario Batali, one of Gandolfini's oldest friends, said he was "shocked and devasted" by the actor's death. "I only hope to help his family any way I can in their grief and mourning."

Another close friend of Gandolfini's, actor Gilles Marini, took to his Facebook page to express his heartbreak over the death of "my bud." Marini wrote that he saw Gandolfini last weekend at their children's graduations and Gandolfini told him he was excited to go with his son on a boy's trip to Italy.

"It was an honor to have met this man, such a great Dad!" Marini said. "I spent so much time with James' son teaching him soccer. I feel for that kid. It must be so hard right now for little Michael . Guys, say a prayer for him and his family. This is going to be very difficult time for them. I am so so sad!"

TODAY.com's Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/sopranos-star-james-gandolfini-dead-51-teenage-son-found-actor-6C10387812

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Filmmaking magic with polymers

June 12, 2013 ? Think about windows coated with transparent film that absorbs harmful ultraviolet sunrays and uses them to generate electricity. Consider a water filtration membrane that blocks viruses and other microorganisms from water, or an electric car battery that incorporates a coating to give it extra long life between charges.

The self-assembled copolymer block film that makes it all possible is now being fabricated with intricately organized nanostructures, giving them multiple functions and flexibility on a macroscale level never before seen.

Gurpreet Singh, a Ph.D. candidate in The University of Akron College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, led a team of researchers to devise a method that enables the films to assemble themselves and allows them to serve as templates or directly as end products. The films can be embedded with nanoparticles that enable everything from data storage to water purification.

Breakthrough with many functions

Superimposed with nanopatterns that allow them to be implanted with a variety of functions -- electronic, thermal or chemical -- the films can be produced at an industrial level, which is no small feat in the world of science, says research team member Alamgir Karim, associate dean of research for the college and Goodyear Chair Professor of Polymer Engineering. Other research collaborators include Kevin Yager of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., Brian Berry of the University of Arkansas and Ho-Cheol Kim of the IBM Research Division of Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif.

"We have moved films manufacturing from microns to meter scale, opening pathways from the lab to fabrication," Karim says. "Fundamentally, it allows us to practice nanoscience on a large scale. We can now produce these films quickly and inexpensively, yet with precision and without compromising quality."

Created with speed and uniformity, compatible with flexible surfaces, and subjected to temperature extremes, the copolymer thin films -- developed at the National Polymer Innovation Center at UA -- are noted in two recent American Chemical Society Nano journal articles: "Dynamic Thermal Field-Induced Gradient Soft-Shear for Highly Oriented Block Copolymer Thin Films"and "Large-Scale Roll-to-Roll Fabrication of Vertically Oriented Block Copolymer Thin Films."

Market-ready technology

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the research represents a market-ready revival of a technology developed by Bell Laboratories in the 1950s for metal and semiconductor purification and adapted in the 1980s for polymer crystallization. Since then, the technology remained dormant, until now.

"We revived the technology and made it scalable, opening opportunities for full-scale manufacturing," Karim says, noting that IBM has expressed interest in continuing the research and development of the technology, and is exploring applications ranging from membranes for batteries to high-density magnetic tape storage.

"The process should be of interest to a broad range of industries -- from high-tech to low-tech -- worldwide," Karim adds. "Manufacturing of these nanostructures can be done on industrial platforms such as UA's roll-to-roll manufacturing (developed by collaborator Distinguished Professor of Polymer Engineering Miko Cakmak) at relatively high speeds not possible previously."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/Is_HUnufp2Q/130612133147.htm

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International Travel Medical Insurance coverage: ?Exactly Why ...

International travel for the retired is right here and booming! As a result so is the need for International Travel medical insurance. But regardless of whether you are six or 60 the need to have for international travel insurance is correct for absolutely everyone, regardless of age or length of time abroad. Suppose you fall ill just a couple of hours right after arriving at your destination. Or you make a trip to another country and you are injured in an accident? Or one particular of your youngsters is a part of a group making a visit abroad, gets food poisoning and demands hospitalization. In all instances, without having adequate travel insurance with medical coverage, you will be accountable for the costs above and beyond the limitations of your current health-related program.

International travel insurance is usually utilized by short-term travelers, largely on holidays and pleasure cruises. Apart from covering health-related expenditures for a brief travel time, it also covers emergency medical evacuations and trip cancellation refunds.

Travel insurance reviews are useful for worldwide travelers who have to go abroad fairly typically. There are a quantity of travel insurance companies that give support to thousands of traveling individuals on medical travel insurance programs. These packages are meant to offer health-related protection and help services in instances where men and women develop medical problems outdoors the country.

To stay away from any potential healthcare disasters, wise travelers are ready by carrying AAA travel insurance coverage. Examine to see whether or not your standard wellness insurance coverage will take care of medical expenses in other nations. If it will, what is the magnitude of your coverage?

Before you leave examine your policy document or speak to the insurer to confirm what precise actions your insurance coverage firm requires you to take in a health-related emergency. If you have to purchase any treatment options or medicines, once more preserve receipts and original prescriptions if achievable.

Always read the fine print. Accidental coverage is not provided in the case of drunken driving, driving under the influence of narcotic substances etc. Exclusions are also provided for accidents in the course of risky sports, that implies in situation of accidents in these scenarios the insurance coverage business is not liable to pay any reparations to the insured.

Numerous the best travel medical insurance organizations also provide discounts for owning numerous policies with them or for preserving a very good driving record. A group package is intended to cover school travels, such as sporting events, group travel, or any travel that carries ten or far more people. Given that the family packages are restricted, covering only the immediate members, the extended travelers insurance polices could be necessary to cover additional parties. Hence, few organizations that provide medical insurance for travel may provide up to ten percent discounts, whilst other businesses could offer you a lot more or less. This is the most ideal approach to find cheap travel insurance.

You can establish which insurance is the very best for you and your predicament by mastering about the diverse kinds of coverage provided by the insurance companies your familiar with. It is also beneficial to research medical travel insurance reviews. By basically phoning to get more info you?ll understand and find out the alternatives obtainable for your distinct kind of trip and destination.

Be entirely open and sincere about your medical background and any activities you are most probable to participate in, regardless of whether you feel they?re risky or not. As with any insurance coverage policy if in doubt declare it anyway. One of the most common defenses made by insurers when declining a claim is that details was not disclosed or not properly disclosed. Declare anything and document it.

So, if you are arranging to travel, regardless of whether it is for organization or for pleasure, you should absolutely assume about acquiring a single trip insurance coverage policy. The comfort, peace of mind and assurance you will enjoy whilst traveling, far outweigh the premiums you will spend. In case one thing goes wrong, you know that you will acquire the finest compensation and rewards.

Ultimately, verify your current insurance coverage policies for feasible travel insurance medical coverage. There is no sense in paying more for what you already have in your homeowner or tenant policy, such as theft and loss coverage.

To check out more, please go to: flight insurance worth it

Source: http://patientblog.oaevansville.com/uncategorized/international-travel-medical-insurance-coverage-exactly-why-you-need-it/

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Police end hostage standoff in New Jersey; suspect dead

By David Jones

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Three children trapped all weekend in a New Jersey bedroom with a gunmen and the dead body of their mother were freed early Sunday when police burst through the door and stopped the gunman with a single shot, authorities said.

The suspect died of his wound shortly after the siege ended.

A SWAT team using flash-bang grenades stormed a back door of the home in Trenton about 3:45 a.m. EDT Sunday and moved to the second floor, where they fired the single shot at gunman Gerald Tyrone Murphy before taking him into custody, State Police Colonel Rick Fuentes told a news conference.

Another official said the children had been trapped inside the room for at least the length of the standoff.

"I have every reason to believe that the kids were in the room and that they were possibly restrained during" the standoff, Mercer County prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. said at the news conference.

Officials said the girls, both teenagers, may have been physically abused by Murphy, 38, a convicted sex offender.

The partially decomposed bodies of Carmelita Stevens, 44, believed to be Murphy's girlfriend, and her 13-year-old son were discovered in different second-floor bedrooms of the two-story home in Trenton, a rundown city that is the state capital, authorities said.

Murphy had threatened to harm his hostages - Stevens' two daughters, 16 and 18, and her 4-year-old son - and claimed to have a gun and explosives. Officials declined to say whether any explosives were recovered.

Murphy had barricaded himself inside the house on Friday afternoon after police were called to check on a resident there, a Trenton police spokesman said on Friday.

Police went to the home after an unidentified relative of Stevens reported to authorities that neither she nor some of her children had been seen since April 24, Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera said.

Once there, officers noticed an odor and discovered the partially decomposed body of a woman, but pulled back when they saw Murphy had a gun, Rivera said.

Police said Murphy was not the father of any of the children.

Fuentes said hostage negotiators had maintained contact with Murphy throughout the ordeal, passing food and water through an upper window. Residents on the surrounding block were evacuated during the standoff as a precaution.

Murphy had an extensive criminal record, including arrests for robbery, a weapons offense and child endangerment, according to Bocchini. An arrest warrant had been issued in Pennsylvania for Murphy after he failed to register there as a convicted sex offender.

(Reporting by David Jones; Editing by Chris Francescani, Maureen Bavdek and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-end-hostage-standoff-jersey-detain-suspect-115012647.html

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The Moneysaver: Your New Router & Gaming Headset, Plus Infinite ...

This router is known colloquially as the "Dark Knight." Sold.

If you're in the market for a new router, or think you should be, we're here to recommend the ASUS RT-N66U. For the average person, I'd recommend just grabbing an Apple Airport Express or Airport Extreme, setting up your network, and never thinking about it again. But if you're a power user, the ASUS is the way to go.

It's the Wirecutter's favorite router, and highly-regarded on Amazon after over 400 reviews. Those three antennas are removable and upgradeable, and the router supports custom firmware. At $150 with today's deal, it even comes in cheaper than the Airport Extreme. [Amazon]

If you feel 802.11ac is something you must have right now, the ASUS RT-AC66U has you covered for an additional $40.

Need a new gaming mouse? We've got just the cheap ticket.

Wish you had all those Star Wars and Star Trek blu-rays on your shelf? Here you go.

Tech

If you're looking for a gaming headset, this Turtle Beach is an awesome deal. If you're looking for non-gaming cans, and you're looking to spend normal people money, the Audio-Technicas are the ones to beat.
? Turtle Beach Ear Force XP 300 Wireless Gaming Headset ($100) | Amazon via Deals
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Interested in more shaving-related deals? Click here for our Moneyshaver.
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Double the max counts, half the price. A gaming mouse will up your game and your enjoyment of your? Read?Videogames and movies. It's the best of both worlds.Read?Shave your face, not your wallet.Read?

Source: http://kotaku.com/the-moneysaver-your-new-router-gaming-headset-plus-485324413

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Ignore Toxic Advice From Phantom Zone Politicians, Syria Edition (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302467808?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Coming to Grips With Marriage: "This is It??" | Relationships in ...

Many individuals and couples come into therapy with a similar relationship complaint: being married isn?t what they expected. More specifically, the reality of marriage is not aligned with their fantasies of marriage.

It?s nice to have fantasies. They give us goals, the drive to achieve, hope, desire, and more. However, when we expect that reality is going to match our fantasies, disappointment results when the picture we painted in our minds doesn?t come true. If our fantasies are unrealistic, even good, positively-functioning relationships can be experienced as bad, negative, and disappointing.

Jennifer and Todd (identities protected here) had been dating for three years and lived together for a year and a half before they got engaged. They were engaged for another year, and then were married. Two years after they were married, they entered couples therapy. Jennifer?s primary complaint was that marriage just wasn?t what she?d expected, and that nothing special happened after they got married. They went on with their daily lives, after getting married, and since they already were living together, nothing was really different.

Todd?s main complaint was that Jennifer didn?t do enough to make his life easier, as he imagined marriage would bring. Todd was more traditional in the idea that marriage meant that his wife would take care of household work, cooking, etc. Todd was becoming more and more frustrated as Jennifer ?nagged? him to help more, especially since Jennifer and Todd both work full time. In Todd?s fantasy, he was the one who would work while his wife would maintain the home.

It quickly became clear that an issue clouding their relationship was the fantasies they both had surrounding marriage. Regardless of their positively functioning relationship prior to being married, they?d both subconsciously expected that the marriage ceremony would create and carry a magical aura of happiness around them that would stay with them through their lives. There would be no negativity, and it would be exactly as they painted it in their minds.

These fantasies set the environment for disillusionment and disappointment. When negativity inevitably enters the picture, which may not have been part of the fantasy, the sense is that the relationship is failing. Something must be ?wrong? if the marriage isn?t meeting the fantasy at all times.

The reality is, relationships will have negativity at times. There may be mundane moments, and there may be times where you don?t want to be around each other at all. Part of any relationship (whether or not married) is learning to accept that things won?t always be exciting, positive, and romantic.

What keeps a relationship healthy is understanding that a relationship isn?t always positive, so the when negativity, or lack of positivity is present, that it doesn?t necessarily mean the wheels are coming off your relationship. In fact, it is very common for people to futilely jump from relationship to relationship (and marriage to marriage) trying to find the unrealistic fantasy whenever the reality starts to sway from it.

Now, this doesn?t mean that all relationships are good, or that a bad relationship automatically means you have an unrealistic fantasy. If you?re experiencing negativity more than positivity in your relationship, or if you?re overall unfulfilled in your relationship as a whole, then it?s something to look into, either with a therapist for yourself, or a couples therapist (it?s often helpful to be in both ? one for you and one for your relationship together). It?s important to be able to discern between a relationship that?s actually bad for you, versus a fantasy that?s bad for your relationship.

Through their work in couples therapy, Jennifer and Todd began to understand the internal issues that were plaguing their relationship (stemming from childhood and their relationship role models, and other influences). They also realized that their current relationship functions on a decent level, but both were disillusioned by the fact that the fantasy didn?t cone true when they got married.

Learning to except relationships as they are, and making relationships function according to our own efforts? isn?t as easy as it sounds. It?s ego-bruising to realize that we create fantasies in our lives that keep us from realistic happiness (not only in relationships). Some fantasies can come true, if they?re realistic, while others aren?t realistic (such as having a relationship free of all negativity and being exactly as fantasized).

Jennifer and Todd remain in couples therapy, now more accepting of each other and the positives?and negatives that surface at different times in their relationship. They are now working to create a realistic relationship dream that they can achieve together.

????Last reviewed: 29 Apr 2013

APA Reference
Anonymous. (2013). Coming to Grips With Marriage: ?This is It???. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 30, 2013, from http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships-balance/2013/04/29/coming-to-grips-with-marriage-this-is-it/

?

Source: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships-balance/2013/04/29/coming-to-grips-with-marriage-this-is-it/

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How Developers Coded in 1985

Programmer John Graham-Cumming tells a fascinating story about what coding like was back in 1985. Unlike today's programmers who wear hoodies, down energy drinks and use a paper thin computer, programmers in 1985 had to code by hand... with actual paper.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/cPizMNisgZA/how-developers-coded-in-1985-485041376

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LG will launch the world's first 55-inch curved OLED HDTV (update)

We heard that the curved OLED HDTV prototypes LG showed at CES would be coming soon, and now it's official. A Korean press release indicates we can expect the 55EA9800 to launch in the next month, with shipments starting in June. According to the specs, its 4.3mm depth results in a weight of just 17kg, probably thanks to a carbon-fiber reinforced frame. Like an IMAX theater screen, the edges are curved towards the viewer to provide a more immersive feeling. Given the fact that we're still waiting for LG's flat OLED TVs to see a wider release we doubt it will arrive on US shelves any time soon, but until then you can check out our in-person pics from CES below, and a video after the break.

Update: LG sent over the English press release, which confirms pre-orders start today at more than 1,400 retail locations with a price of 15 million Korean won ($13,500), a healthy bump over the standard version's $10K MSRP. Release dates and pricing for non-Korean markets are coming "in the months ahead," check after the break to read all the details first hand.

Gallery: LG's curved EA9800 OLED display eyes-on

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, LG

Comments

Source: LG Korea

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/28/lg-curved-oled-hdtv/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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In changing region, U.S. committed to military ties with Gulf Arabs

By William Maclean and David Alexander

DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington is signaling its military commitment to its Gulf Arab allies at a time of unfamiliar strain in their decades old partnership.

Syria's civil war and Iran's nuclear program have led to tensions, with Gulf Arab states willing a more assertive U.S. response to bring Iran to heel and force Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. Growing U.S. energy independence has further complicated a relationship founded on oil and defense.

Some Gulf Arab oil states had even begun to wonder if the alliance was anything more than the "practical marriage of convenience for a finite period of time" that Henry Kissinger, in a 2007 interview, saw in Washington's ties to Saudi Arabia.

Washington is moving to dismiss such doubts, indicating its military partnership with the ruling dynasties who sit on a third of the world's conventional oil reserves will remain deep-rooted, even if trimmed by budget cuts at home.

"The United States isn't going anywhere. The United States is firmly committed to the security of all our regional partners," said a senior official accompanying U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in the Middle East last week. "We understand in a clear-eyed way what the threats are in the region."

Hagel began his week-long trip days after the Pentagon said it was finalizing a $10 billion arms deal that would strengthen the militaries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as that of Israel.

The agreement, more than a year in the making, would result in the sale of 25 F-16 Desert Falcon jets worth nearly $5 billion to the UAE. The UAE and Saudi Arabia also would be allowed to purchase weapons with so-called "stand-off" capabilities that enable them to engage the enemy with precision at a distance.

A few days before the trip, President Barack Obama welcomed to the White House Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE, the largest U.S. export market in the Middle East.

In a joint statement they reaffirmed a shared commitment to "close defense and security cooperation, including joint training exercises, counterterrorism cooperation and the deployment of interoperable U.S. defense systems".

The deal, and Sheikh Mohammed's warm U.S. welcome, are the latest in a series of signals Washington is sending to the region of its undimmed resolve to support the ruling families, partners in Washington's confrontation with Iran.

OIL AND THE WORLD ECONOMY

The West's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, says it expects a continued fall in U.S. oil imports, with North America becoming a net oil exporter by around 2030 and the United States becoming almost self-sufficient in energy by 2035.

Some Gulf Arabs worry that a United States self reliant in oil might show less commitment to safeguarding the Strait of Hormuz, the world's main energy artery through which 40 percent of the world's sea-borne oil exports pass.

Ensuring global energy security is likely to remain an important part of U.S. strategy, said a U.S. official based in the Middle East. While U.S. purchases of Gulf Arab oil may be declining, global dependence is increasing. This fact engages American support, he said.

"Since the health of the U.S. economy is closely tied to the world's, there's every reason for Washington to help protect its allies here," said Les Janka, a former White House and Pentagon official who now heads a business consultancy in Riyadh.

When General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs, told the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank on March 18 that he hoped America would achieve energy independence, he added: "But I can assure you that at least from a military perspective . . . you will find that the future will be a period of greater commitment."

Pressed to elaborate by UAE envoy Yousef Al Otaiba, Dempsey replied that that commitment should not be measured in terms of carrier battle groups but in terms of improved collaboration.

"We just have to figure out how to help you do more, so that we can do less, but that doesn't mean less well."

Energy is far from the only concern. A U.S. pivot to Asia, perceptions of U.S. economic decline and U.S. military withdrawals, first from Iraq and now from Afghanistan, have blurred Gulf Arabs' security landscape.

Fear of Arab Spring contagion, too, means that Gulf Arab authorities see future threats coming as much from internal sources as from the external ones that were the original premise for Western military support.

Shashank Joshi of Britain's Royal United Services Institution said Gulf Arab officials appeared acutely aware the internal threat they now faced "doesn't quite yoke the Americans in the same way" the external threats once did.

On Syria, Iran and Bahrain, arenas for a region-wide tussle for influence between Sunni and Shi'te powers, Washington's preference for dialogue appears weak to some Gulf Arabs.

"HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW"

In Bahrain, home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and an important Western ally in keeping Hormuz open, a simmering revolt by its Shi'ite Muslim majority has prompted calls by some in Washington for U.S. ships to base elsewhere.

Echoing the view of many Western analysts, Dubai-based Robert Jordan, a former U.S. ambassador to Riyadh, said he was concerned about the message - "we're here today and gone tomorrow" - that a pullout would send. "Perception becomes reality in this part of the world," he said.

Gulf rulers are acutely aware they depend for their security on people who live thousands of miles away, who do not share their religion or lifestyle, and above all who sympathize with the democratic impulse at the origin of the Arab revolts.

In December a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council announced plans to set up a unified military command to tighten defense cooperation.

GCC states are increasingly well-armed. Defense spending by GCC states rose about 9 percent to $74 billion last year, estimated Nicole Loeser, Middle East analyst at Forecast International. She predicts it will hit $86 billion in 2017.

Yet Gulf Arab states have faced a host of obstacles to military integration, including a lack of common equipment and their own reliance on bilateral accords with their U.S. ally.

Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political scientist in the United Arab Emirates, said confidence in America had dropped because of disagreements with Washington over Syria and dismay over its security failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But America remained indispensable. "We live in a very dangerous region, so ... our ties with America remain strong".

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington and Mahmoud Habboush in Dubai; editing by Janet McBride)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/changing-region-u-committed-military-ties-gulf-arabs-134213071.html

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Computer scientists suggest new spin on origins of evolvability

Monday, April 29, 2013

Scientists have long observed that species seem to have become increasingly capable of evolving in response to changes in the environment. But computer science researchers now say that the popular explanation of competition to survive in nature may not actually be necessary for evolvability to increase.

In a paper published this week in PLOS ONE, the researchers report that evolvability can increase over generations regardless of whether species are competing for food, habitat or other factors.

Using a simulated model they designed to mimic how organisms evolve, the researchers saw increasing evolvability even without competitive pressure.

"The explanation is that evolvable organisms separate themselves naturally from less evolvable organisms over time simply by becoming increasingly diverse," said Kenneth O. Stanley, an associate professor at the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. He co-wrote the paper about the study along with lead author Joel Lehman, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.

The finding could have implications for the origins of evolvability in many species.

"When new species appear in the future, they are most likely descendants of those that were evolvable in the past," Lehman said. "The result is that evolvable species accumulate over time even without selective pressure."

During the simulations, the team's simulated organisms became more evolvable without any pressure from other organisms out-competing them. The simulations were based on a conceptual algorithm.

"The algorithms used for the simulations are abstractly based on how organisms are evolved, but not on any particular real-life organism," explained Lehman.

The team's hypothesis is unique and is in contrast to most popular theories for why evolvability increases.

"An important implication of this result is that traditional selective and adaptive explanations for phenomena such as increasing evolvability deserve more scrutiny and may turn out unnecessary in some cases," Stanley said.

Stanley is an associate professor at UCF. He has a bachelor's of science in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals. He has over 70 publications in competitive venues and has secured grants worth more than $1 million. His works in artificial intelligence and evolutionary computation have been cited more than 4,000 times.

Lehman has a bachelor's degree in computer science from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in computer science from UCF. He continues his research at the University of Texas at Austin and is teaching an undergraduate course in artificial intelligence.

###

University of Central Florida: http://www.ucf.edu

Thanks to University of Central Florida for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 69 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127973/Computer_scientists_suggest_new_spin_on_origins_of_evolvability

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Egypt pulls out of talks to protest Middle East nuclear arms

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt said on Monday it was withdrawing from a second week of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) talks in Geneva in protest at what it called the failure to implement a 1995 resolution for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.

That was an implicit reference to Israel which neither confirms nor denies having nuclear arms and is not a signatory to the NPT. Arab states and Iran say Israel's presumed nuclear arsenal poses a threat to Middle East peace and security.

Cairo said it was pulling out of the talks "to send a strong message of???? ????non-acceptance of the continued lack of seriousness in dealing with the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East".

"We cannot continue waiting forever for the implementation of this resolution," Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency MENA. Cairo called on member states and international bodies "to bear responsibility for implementing legitimate international resolutions."

U.S. and Israeli officials have said a nuclear arms-free zone in the Middle East could not be a reality until there was broad Arab-Israeli peace and Iran curbed its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful energy and research purposes.

The two-week meeting in Geneva is to review progress in implementing the 1970 NPT, a treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear arms in the world.

In a speech on the first day of the NPT conference on April 22, former Egyptian Ambassador to Geneva Hisham Badr said "Egypt and many Arab countries have joined the NPT with the understanding that this would lead to a Middle East completely free of nuclear weapons.

"However, more than 30 years later, one country in the Middle East, namely Israel, remains outside the NPT," he said.

(Reporting by Shaimaa Fayed in Cairo and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-pulls-talks-protest-middle-east-nuclear-arms-194455222.html

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