Croatia celebrates its EU membership

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) ? Fireworks are ready and foreign leaders are arriving as Croatia celebrated on Sunday its entry into the European Union some 20 years after winning independence in a bloody civil war that shook the continent.

Croatia will become the 28th EU member on Monday, the bloc's first addition since Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. Croatia's membership marks a historic turning point for the small country, which went through carnage after declaring independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

A decade back, when Croatia started negotiating the entry, the once war-torn country was overjoyed at the prospect of becoming a member of the European elite. But with the EU in deep financial turmoil and Croatia's own economy in recession for five consecutive years, the excitement has dimmed.

Thousands of people are expected to join in the celebrations across the country, including in the main square of the capital, Zagreb, where artists will perform for dozens of EU and regional leaders until midnight when big fireworks and the singing of Beethoven's Ode to Joy ? EU's anthem ? will mark the official entry into the bloc.

Customs posts will be removed from Croatia's borders with EU neighbors Slovenia and Hungary, while EU signs and flags will be put on its borders with non-EU states Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro.

But overall, the celebrations will be much more modest and less jubilant than when Bulgaria and Romania ? currently EU's poorest states ? became members. With the entry, Croatia ? a nation of 4.2 million people ? will become the third poorest country in the EU.

"There are not too many festivities because the general situation is not brilliant," Croatian President Ivo Josipovic told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "We have to develop our economy, take care of those people who are jobless now, and there is no time and money for big celebrations."

With an unemployment rate hovering at around 20 percent, plunging living standards, endemic corruption among its political elite and its international credit rating reduced to junk, many Croats are not in the mood to celebrate.

Protest movement Occupy Croatia is planning an anti-EU march Sunday evening, saying in a statement that "the European Union is not a solution to our problems."

"The entry into the European Union is an economic genocide over the people living in our country," the group said in a statement, blasting the EU as a "union tailored for rich corporations and their politicians."

The EU is in the grips of a recession, with many countries struggling to stimulate growth while grappling with a debt crisis that has led governments to slash spending and raise taxes. The EU countries account for 60 percent for Croatia's exports, which has sent the Balkan country's economy into a steady decline.

"It's important that we remember that Croatia is joining at the strangest time for the European Union in history," said Paul Stubbs, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Economics in Zagreb. He said Croatians "might see some increased prices, some increased competition, I wouldn't expect some huge increase in investment overnight."

But, the pro-EU voices in Croatia note that joining the bloc means Croatians could find jobs in more prosperous EU countries, that their country could attract more foreign investment, and that the EU's leadership in Brussels could help keep widespread corruption and economic mismanagement in check.

"We really had no choice," said Nino Vidic, a Zagreb resident. "Croatia is a small country, and logically as a Catholic country, we strive toward the West."

___

Associated Press writer Jovana Gec contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/croatia-celebrates-eu-membership-101549636.html

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Social Sec will stay solvent for 20 years... *IF* we pay off 1/3 of the National Debt

When Social Security was first implemented in the 1930s, the government assigned the "retirement age" to be 65. After that, you could start drawing benefits.

By some strange coincidence, the average age of death in the 1930s was..... 65.

Meaning, half the people who would pay in all their lives, would never draw out a dime, except for death benefits.

And the rest wouldn't draw out very much before they, too, kicked off.

Social Security was designed to be "self-supporting"... for that time. With no thought of what might change in the future... like medical science advancing enough to enable people to live a LOT longer.

BTW, all the money you've paid in, has already been spent. In the SS Trust Fund is nothing but IOUs from the government. Remember Obama's statements a year or so ago, that if the Debt Ceiling wasn't raised, Social Security checks couldn't be written to its benefits recipients?

The money has been "borrowed" by other government agencies, and spent. All the money being paid out as benefits to retirees, is coming from the money you and I are paying in now. None of it is being saved for us. This is the defining characteristic of a Ponzi scheme.

Which brings us to the other issue.

Remember the other predictions various govt officials have made, saying that SS will be "solvent" for the next 15 or 20 or 30 years (depending on which politician you listen to)? They mean that they will be able to pay retirees their scheduled benefits from that money supposedly in the Trust Fund, until then.

But all the Trust Fund money has been "borrowed", and is gone. This means that those agencies that "borrowed" it, have to pay back ALL the money by that deadline (15 or 20 or etc. years from now), so it can be paid out to retirees that need it. And of course, if they are going to be replenishing the Trust Funds this way, they can't borrow any more while they're paying it back.

So, how much money is owed to the SS Trust Fund and other such govt-held trust funds?

Answer: 30.1% of the entire National Debt is owed to these Trust Funds. That's $4.7 trillion. (See reference below.)

That's how much must be paid back into the SS Trust fund and other such funds, to keep them "solvent" for that long.

Has anyone heard of any plans to pay off 30% of the National Debt within the next 15 years? Or 20? Or.....?

Neither have I.

Next time someone tells you how solvent the Social Security Trust fund is, or any other government trust fund, show him the numbers and see what he says then.

Reference: See Current and Back Issues: Overview: Daily Treasury Statement: Publications & Guidance: Financial Management Service . Pick a recent date, and and look under "Intergovernmental Holdings".

Source: http://www.usmessageboard.com/politics/300809-social-sec-will-stay-solvent-for-20-years-if-we-pay-off-1-3-of-the-national-debt.html

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Mesoraco homer in 11th gives Reds 6-4 win at Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning and the Cincinnati Reds snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the AL West-leading Texas Rangers on Saturday night.

Mesoraco was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts before his 380-foot homer into the left-field seats off Kyle McClellan (0-1), which came right after Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch to start the 11th.

Cincinnati had lost six of seven and was coming off consecutive shutout losses before Shin-Soo Choo homered on the first pitch of the game.

J.J. Hoover (1-5) got the last two outs in the 10th, even after a walk and a hit. Aroldis Chapman worked the 11th for his 20th save in 23 chances.

The Reds had also lost five straight interleague games.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/29/3477852/mesoraco-homer-in-11th-gives-reds.html

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What's new in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean?

Liliputing writes, Google has yet to officially launch Android 4.3 Jelly Bean yet, but leaked Android 4.3 firmware for the Samsung Galaxy S4 started making the rounds this week. At first glance, there?s not much new in the next version of Android ? Google has started making many of its updates available through individual app updates (Gmail, Calendar, Keyboard, Play Services and so on). But when you start digging beneath the surface, Android 4.3 has more than a new version number and a slightly tweaked camera. Here are some of the things that are new in Android 4.3 so far: Even when you turn off WiFi,?

Continue reading What?s new in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean? at Liliputing

Source: http://mobilitybeat.com/liliputing/118578/whats-new-in-android-43-jelly-bean/

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Why don't spiral galaxies run out of gas? Look to the (extended) halo.

New research suggests that galaxies hold more 'normal matter' than scientists could image. This matter in the form of gas resides in halos that turn out to be about twice as vast as previously estimated.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / June 28, 2013

This undated image, made by the Hubble Space Telescope and provided by the University of Utah, shows the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest neighbor to the Milky Way. New research signals that such spiral galaxies include much more 'ordinary matter' than previously estimated, which may help explain star formation.

University of Utah/AP

Enlarge

Spiral galaxies like the Milky Way appear to host far more ordinary matter than previously estimated, according to a recent study. That may help explain why spiral galaxies in the nearby universe are still producing stars at respectable rates when, by all rights, star formation in these galaxies should have run out of gas billions of years ago.

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This matter resides as gas in an extended halo nearly 1 million light-years across. For a galaxy such as the Milky Way, whose disk is roughly 100,000 light-years wide, the halo holds as much ordinary, or baryonic matter as the Milky Way's disk, with all of its stars, gas, and dust.

Moreover, this gas, much of which is expelled from the galaxy itself, appears to get recycled ? returning to the galaxy to serve as the raw material for new stars and planets.

The evidence for this baryonic bonanza was gathered by an international team of astrophysicists and astronomers initially interested in some basic accounting, as well as in galaxy evolution.

Over the past decade, researchers have uncovered the recipe for the universe: 70 percent dark energy, a kind of anti-gravity that is accelerating the expansion of the universe; 25 percent dark matter, which astronomers can't see but infer because of its gravitational influence on matter astronomers can see; and ordinary, or baryonic, matter, which astronomers can see directly and exerts gravitational influence as well.

Theory suggests that the proportions of dark and baryonic matter in the universe should hold for galaxies as well. But the amount of baryonic matter astronomers detect in large spirals is only about 20 percent of what theory says should be there.

"Most of the matter is still out between the galaxies," either in a region around a galaxy where its gravity still holds sway, or beyond that in deep intergalactic space, says Michael Shull, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a member of the team, which was led by colleague John Stocke, also at the University of Colorado.

The gas is so tenuous, however,. that astronomers haven't been able to capture images of it. Instead, the team used the Hubble Space Telescope's exquisitely sensitive Cosmic Origins Spectrometer to detect the gas, using bright objects called quasars as backlights.

The quasars' light passes through the gas, producing spectra that reveal the gas's abundance, composition, and its motion and velocity.

Two years ago, another research team applied this backlighting technique to galaxies known to have quasars behind them and found evidence for the halos around 42 spiral galaxies. The team estimated that the halos held substantially more gas than the galaxies themselves did.

Dr. Stocke and?colleagues took another approach. In addition to using data from 11 targeted galaxies, the team, in effect,?randomly picked quasars first, then measured the halo of any galaxy that fell in between. That gave then roughly 60 more galaxies for their sample.

The earlier team, in effect, was looking for the lost car keys at night under the streetlight, Dr. Shull quips, while "we went and looked anywhere in the parking lot."

Both groups came up with similar results, he says.

Applied to the Milky Way, the results imply that the extent of the galaxy plus its halo is about twice as large as previously estimated, Shull says.

Temperatures in the halos were on the order of 1 million degrees Celsius, or 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit. But the halo also held so-called warm clouds, which tended to populate the inner half of the halo and consisted of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The team estimates that the warm clouds lacked the mass to account for more than about 10 to 15 percent of the total baryonic matter spiral galaxies should have. But when the hotter halo gas was included, the books could be brought into balance.

The circumgalactic medium also is thought to play a key role in replenishing a spiral galaxy's reserves of gas for star formation, Shull explains.

The warm clouds, relatively rich in heavier elements, likely represents gas expelled from the galaxy, where stars form the heavier elements and enormous stellar explosions called supernovae eject the enriched gas into the circumgalactic medium. Some of that expelled gas doesn't move fast enough to escape the galaxy's gravitational tug and so rains back onto the galactic disk where it can help form new stars, he says.

The warm clouds that remain, however, may provide a vital service to the galaxy ? cooling some of the hotter gas that surrounds it, Shull suggests. This cooled, denser gas has lost energy and so stands a better change of getting drawn in to the galactic disk to serve as additional star fodder.

The team's results appeared recently in the Astrophysical Journal.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/SUBopsgZ4nE/Why-don-t-spiral-galaxies-run-out-of-gas-Look-to-the-extended-halo

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China state media warnings on South China Sea "irresponsible", says Philippine minister

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Wing walker, pilot die in crash at Ohio air show

CINCINNATI (AP) ? A plane carrying a wing walker crashed at an air show and exploded into flames Saturday, killing the pilot and stunt walker, authorities said.

The crash of the 450 HP Stearman happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton in front of thousands of horrified spectators. No one else was hurt.

A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.

Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the show with his girlfriend. He told The Associated Press he was taking photos as the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to take another shot.

"Then I realized they were too low and too slow. And before I knew it, they hit the ground," he said.

He couldn't tell exactly what happened, but it appeared that the plane stalled and didn't have enough air speed, he said. He credited the pilot for steering clear of spectators and potentially saving lives.

"Had he drifted more, I don't know what would have happened," Hoyt said. He said he had been excited to see the show because he'd never seen the scheduled performer ? wing walker Jane Wicker ? in action.

On the video, the announcer narrates as the plane glides through the sky and rolls over while the stuntwoman perches on a wing.

"Now she's still on that far side. Keep an eye on Jane. Keep an eye on Charlie. Watch this! Jane Wicker, sitting on top of the world," the announcer said, right before the plane makes a quick turn and nosedive.

Federal records show that biplane was registered to Wicker, who lived in Loudon, Va. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Wicker on her website said he had no comment and hung up.

One of the pilots listed on Wicker's website was named Charlie Schwenker. A post on Jane Wicker Airshows' Facebook page announced the deaths of Wicker and Schwenker and asked for prayers for their families.

A message left at a phone listing for Charles Schwenker in Oakton, Va., wasn't immediately returned.

Dayton International Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston confirmed that a pilot and stunt walker had died but declined to give their names. The air show also declined to release their identities.

The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday and follow the previous schedule and normal operations. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.

Another spectator, Shawn Warwick of New Knoxville, told the Dayton Daily News that he was watching the flight through binoculars.

"I noticed it was upside-down really close to the ground. She was sitting on the bottom of the plane," he said. "I saw it just go right into the ground and explode."

Thanh Tran, of Fairfield, said he could see a look of concern on the wing walker's face just before the plane went down.

"She looked very scared," he said. "Then the airplane crashed on the ground. After that, it was terrible, man ... very terrible."

Wicker's website says she responded to a classified ad from the Flying Circus Airshow in Bealeton, Va., in 1990, for a wing-walking position, thinking it would be fun. She was a contract employee who worked as a Federal Aviation Administration budget analyst, the FAA said.

She told WDTN-TV in an interview this week that her signature move was hanging underneath the plane's wing by her feet and sitting on the bottom of the airplane while it's upside-down.

"I'm never nervous or scared because I know if I do everything as I usually do, everything's going to be just fine," she told the station.

Wicker wrote on her website that she had never had any close calls.

"What you see us do out there is after an enormous amount of practice and fine tuning, not to mention the airplane goes through microscopic care. It is a managed risk and that is what keeps us alive," she wrote.

In 2011, wing walker Todd Green fell 200 feet to his death at an air show in Michigan while performing a stunt in which he grabbed the skid of a helicopter.

In 2007, veteran stunt pilot Jim LeRoy was killed at the Dayton show when his biplane slammed into the runway while performing loop-to-loops and caught fire.

Organizers were presenting a trimmed-down show and expected smaller crowds at Dayton after the Air Force Thunderbirds and other military participants pulled out this year because of federal budget cuts.

The air show, one of the country's oldest, usually draws around 70,000 people and has a $3.2 million impact on the local economy. Without military aircraft and support, the show expected attendance to be off 30 percent or more.

___

Thomas reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Kerry Lester in Chicago and Randy Pennell in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Raw video of crash: http://bit.ly/11Vf7JA

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wing-walker-pilot-die-crash-ohio-air-show-191655523.html

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