Perry endorses work visas for illegal immigrants

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a town hall meeting with employees at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Johnston, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a town hall meeting with employees at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Johnston, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a town hall meeting with employees at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011, in Johnston, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

(AP) ? Texas Gov. Rick Perry proposed the federal government should extend work visas allowing illegal immigrants to move freely between the U.S. and their home countries ? but stressed that he opposes amnesty or a path to citizenship.

Perry said in an interview with CNN's John King on Thursday that expectations that U.S. authorities are going to arrest and deport up to 15 million illegal immigrants isn't realistic. He added, however, that other Republicans, including fellow Texan George W. Bush, went too far when they previously proposed an immigration overhaul that included a path to citizenship.

The Texas governor also claimed his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, had once supported amnesty. Romney has drawn criticism for hiring a lawn care company that employed illegal immigrants at his family's property in a Boston suburb for a decade ? but has also said amnesty is not appropriate for illegal immigrants.

"You can put a program into place in which these individuals can be identified, and work visas in which they can move back and forth between their countries but not to become United States citizens," Perry said. "And I think that's where McCain, that's where Romney, that's where even Bush went wrong when they talked about the issue that, 'we're going to give amnesty to these individuals,' and people just said, 'no, we're not.'"

Perry didn't elaborate on what such a visa plan would look like, saying only that authorities need to determine a better way to identify illegal immigrants and make them part of mainstream society. He also said the program would only work if the federal government first does a better job securing America's borders.

"I disagree with the concept that somehow or another we're going to pack up 10, to 12, to 15 million people and ship them back to the country of origin. That's not going to happen," Perry said. "So realty has to be part of our conversation. And then you need to have a strategy to deal with it. That is what I think we will have, but first you have to secure that border."

Perry called Washington's efforts to stop the flow of illegal immigrants "an abject failure" but said that, as president, he could accomplish the task in just a year using the existing fence, more border patrol agents and air surveillance. Perry also repeated his opposition to a fence running the length of the border, saying it would take 10 to 15 years to build.

"There's places where a secure fence will work, and that strategic type fencing will work," he said. "But the idea that people can easily just stand up and say 'let's just build a fence' and be done with it and wipe our hands, and its going to secure the border, that's not reality."

Perry has seen his polling numbers plummet after a string of lackluster debate performances ? and angered some conservatives by defending a Texas plan that extends in-state university tuition to illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children and attend high school in Texas.

The governor again defended the initiative on Thursday, saying better education helps ensure those participating in the program contribute to society: "We want taxpayers, not tax wasters."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-03-US-Perry-Immigration/id-41d18dc68f6341838371f2966b373856

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Stuxnet Raises 'Blowback' Risk In Cyberwar

Instructor Mark Fabro leads an exercise at the Department of Homeland Security's cyberdefense facility at the Idaho National Laboratory in September. Training at the lab is intended to help protect the nation's power, water and chemical plants, electrical grid and other facilities from computer viruses such as Stuxnet. Mark J. Terrill/AP

Instructor Mark Fabro leads an exercise at the Department of Homeland Security's cyberdefense facility at the Idaho National Laboratory in September. Training at the lab is intended to help protect the nation's power, water and chemical plants, electrical grid and other facilities from computer viruses such as Stuxnet.

The Stuxnet computer worm, arguably the first and only cybersuperweapon ever deployed, continues to rattle security experts around the world, one year after its existence was made public.

Apparently meant to damage centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility in Iran, Stuxnet now illustrates the potential complexities and dangers of cyberwar.

Secretly launched in 2009 and uncovered in 2010, it was designed to destroy its target much as a bomb would. Based on the cyberworm's sophistication, the expert consensus is that some government created it.

"Nothing like this had occurred before," says Joseph Weiss, an expert on the industrial control systems widely used in power plants, refineries and nuclear facilities like the one in Iran. "Stuxnet was the first case where there was a nation-state activity to physically destroy infrastructure [via a cyberattack]."

Reactions to the use of Stuxnet in Iran generally fall into two categories. For those focused on the danger of Iran developing a nuclear weapon, Stuxnet was something to celebrate, because it set back Iran's nuclear program, perhaps by years.

But for people who worry about the security of critical U.S. facilities, Stuxnet represented a nightmare: a dangerous computer worm that in some modified form could be used to attack an electric or telecommunications grid, an oil refinery or a water treatment facility in the United States.

"It's just a matter of time," says Michael Assante, formerly the chief security officer for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. "Stuxnet taught the world what's possible, and honestly it's a blueprint."

Further complicating the Stuxnet story is the widely held suspicion that the U.S. government, possibly in partnership with Israel, had a hand in the creation of this lethal cyberweapon, notwithstanding the likelihood that in some form it could now pose a threat to the U.S. homeland.

Cybersecurity analysts look at a diagram that shows their computer network, which is coming under attack, during a mock exercise at the Idaho National Laboratory in September. Enlarge Mark J. Terrill/AP

Cybersecurity analysts look at a diagram that shows their computer network, which is coming under attack, during a mock exercise at the Idaho National Laboratory in September.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Cybersecurity analysts look at a diagram that shows their computer network, which is coming under attack, during a mock exercise at the Idaho National Laboratory in September.

Training To Face A Catastrophe

The prospect of a cyberattack on U.S. infrastructure assets has prompted the Department of Homeland Security to arrange a new training program for the people who are supposed to protect the electric grid, manufacturing plants, refineries, water treatment centers and other critical facilities.

The top concern is the industrial control systems (ICS) that oversee the operation of key equipment at those facilities, from the valves to the breaker switches.

By hacking into the computer networks behind the industrial control systems, an adversary could reprogram an ICS so that it commands the equipment to operate at unsafe speeds or the valves to open when they should remain closed. This is roughly the way Stuxnet was able to damage the centrifuges in Iran.

Participants in the training program, based at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, are taken step by step through a simulated cyber-intrusion, so they can experience firsthand how a Stuxnet-like attack on their facilities might unfold.

It's just a matter of time. Stuxnet taught the world what's possible, and honestly it's a blueprint.

During an Idaho National Laboratory exercise that was staged for visiting reporters in late September, instructor Mark Fabro installs his "red" team on the second floor of the training center, with the mission of penetrating the computer network of an unsuspecting industrial company, set up on the floor below.

The trainees on the "blue" team downstairs sit in a mock control room, monitoring their computer screens for any sign of trouble.

At first, everything appears normal. The attackers have managed to take control of the computer network without the defenders even realizing it. But gradually, problems develop in the control room.

"It's running really slow," says one operator. "My network is down."

Sitting at their monitors upstairs, the attacking team is preparing to direct the computer system to issue commands to the industrial equipment.

"Take this one out," says Fabro, pointing to a configuration that identifies the power supply to the control room. "Trip it. It should be dark very soon."

"Stuxnet" is a computer worm designed to attack large-scale industrial facilities like power plants, dams, refineries or water treatment centers. It targets the computer systems used to monitor and control specific operations in those facilities, and most famously was used to destroy centrifuges in a uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran.

In that case, the Stuxnet worm rewrote the code in a component that controlled the rotor speeds of the centrifuges. The code alteration resulted in slight variations in the rotor speeds, subtle enough not to cause attention but significant enough to cause physical damage to the centrifuges. The name "Stuxnet" comes from a combination of key file names hidden in the code.

Several features of the Stuxnet worm distinguished it as highly advanced. No previous computer virus had been used to physically sabotage industrial machinery. It is also unique in its ability to remain undetected for a long period of time, largely by sending fake messages that suggest processes are running normally. It has the ability to search for particular components, leaving others undisturbed. At least two U.S. computer systems in the United States were found to be "infected" by Stuxnet, but they were not "affected," according to Department of Homeland Security officials, because they did not match the Stuxnet requirements.

The sophistication and complexity of the Stuxnet worm has led researchers to believe that only a well-resourced nation-state could have developed it.

Within 30 seconds, the mock control room downstairs is dark.

"This is not good," says Jeff Hahn, a cybersecurity trainer who this day is playing the role of the CEO of the industrial company under attack. The blue team is under his direction.

"Our screens are black and the lights are out. We're flying blind," Hahn says.

During the exercise, the critical industrial facility under attack is a pumping station, such as might be found in a chemical plant or water treatment center. As the operators sit helpless at their terminals, the pumps suddenly start running, commanded by some unseen hand. Before long, water is gushing into a catch basin.

"There's nothing we can do," one of the operators tells the CEO. "We can only sit here and watch it happen."

If this mock facility were an actual chemical plant, hazardous liquids could be spilling. If it were an electric utility, the turbines could be spinning out of control.

If it were a refinery, the tanks could be bursting or pipelines could be blowing up, all because the cyberattackers have been able to take over the computer network that controls the key operations.

The cyberattack scenario is all the more worrisome, because it is not clear that such attacks can be effectively stopped.

"Some of these [systems] can't be protected," says Weiss, the industrial control systems security expert. "We're going to have to figure out how to recover from events that we simply can't protect these systems from."

A U.S. Role In Stuxnet?

The challenge of managing a Stuxnet-like attack is compounded by the possibility that the U.S. government itself had a role in creating the cyberweapon.

U.S. officials were certainly aware of the ICS vulnerabilities that the Stuxnet worm ultimately exploited. An Idaho National Laboratory experiment in 2007, dubbed "Project Aurora," first demonstrated how cybercommands alone could destroy industrial equipment. Idaho lab researchers, who at the time included Michael Assante, rewrote the ICS computer code for the generator, directing the generator to destroy itself.

Marty Edwards, director of the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (shown here at the Idaho National Laboratory in September) says the U.S. government's cybersecurity lab had no role in the development of Stuxnet. Enlarge Mark J. Terrill/AP

Marty Edwards, director of the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (shown here at the Idaho National Laboratory in September) says the U.S. government's cybersecurity lab had no role in the development of Stuxnet.

Mark J. Terrill/AP

Marty Edwards, director of the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (shown here at the Idaho National Laboratory in September) says the U.S. government's cybersecurity lab had no role in the development of Stuxnet.

"When we started to conduct the test, that really robust machine couldn't take it," Assante recalls. "The coupling broke ... and you saw black smoke belching out of it."

In 2008, Idaho National Laboratory researchers performed a demonstration expanding on the Aurora experiment and their further analysis of ICS vulnerabilities. The PowerPoint briefing was prepared specifically for Siemens, the company whose equipment the Stuxnet attack targeted. One year later, the worm was introduced into Siemens ICS equipment used at a uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran.

Ralph Langner, a German cybersecurity researcher who was among the first to analyze the Stuxnet code, came away convinced that it was a U.S. creation.

"To us, it was pretty clear that the development of this particular malware required resources that we only see in the United States," Langner says.

Marty Edwards, director of the Department of Homeland Security Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, based at the Idaho lab, denies any Idaho National Laboratory role in the creation of Stuxnet, and says the ICS traits the worm exploited were relatively well-known by the time it was created.

"I think it was only a matter of time before those common weaknesses or vulnerabilities were leveraged in an event such as Stuxnet," Edwards says. He would not comment on any role that other U.S. government agencies might have played in the development of the Stuxnet weapon.

That the United States has an offensive capability in the cyberwar domain is a matter of official record. Activities in that area are highly classified, but officials privately acknowledge that U.S. agencies have developed cyberweapons for offensive use.

[Iran developing a nuclear weapon] is probably one of the largest national security challenges I can envision. In that context, you can make a pretty strong argument that the benefit of using a cyberweapon to slow down or delay or to achieve a specific objective might absolutely outweigh the risk.

It has also been reported that the United States has engaged previously in the sabotage of Iranian nuclear facilities. The use of Stuxnet would fit squarely within such a category.

Joel Brenner, the former inspector general at the National Security Agency, writes in his new book, America the Vulnerable, that the use of Stuxnet "would ... have been consistent with U.S. policy but not with previous U.S. methods, which avoided computer operations likely to damage others besides its intended targets."

Some observers have argued that the risk of a weapon like Stuxnet being turned against U.S. assets was so great that no U.S. government agency could logically have supported its development. But others aren't so sure.

Among them is Assante, who was among the first cybersecurity experts to warn that Stuxnet could provide a blueprint for attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

Now the president of the National Board of Information Security Examiners, Assante argues that concerns about Iran developing a nuclear weapon could have justified Stuxnet's creation.

"That is probably one of the largest national security challenges I can envision," Assante said in a recent meeting with reporters at the Idaho lab. "In that context, you can make a pretty strong argument that the benefit of using a cyberweapon to slow down or delay [a nuclear weapon program] or to achieve a specific objective might absolutely outweigh the risk."

The Stuxnet computer worm reportedly affected several laptops belonging to employees of the Bushehr nuclear power plant (shown here in a photo from August 2010 and released by the International Iran Photo Agency) in Iran, as well as centrifuges at Natanz, the country's most important uranium enrichment facility. Enlarge Ebrahim Norouzi/AP

The Stuxnet computer worm reportedly affected several laptops belonging to employees of the Bushehr nuclear power plant (shown here in a photo from August 2010 and released by the International Iran Photo Agency) in Iran, as well as centrifuges at Natanz, the country's most important uranium enrichment facility.

Ebrahim Norouzi/AP

The Stuxnet computer worm reportedly affected several laptops belonging to employees of the Bushehr nuclear power plant (shown here in a photo from August 2010 and released by the International Iran Photo Agency) in Iran, as well as centrifuges at Natanz, the country's most important uranium enrichment facility.

Questions Of Information-Sharing

Given the secrecy around the U.S. offensive cyberwar capability, however, that cost-benefit analysis could only be carried out at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Moreover, it is unclear whether agencies responsible for defending the U.S. infrastructure would even be part of the deliberation.

"[The development of a cyberweapon] would probably be so highly classified that the people at DHS wouldn't even know about it," says one former intelligence official.

Such a strict compartmentalization of policymaking would raise the question of whether there is sufficient communication between the offensive and defensive teams in the cyberwar domain.

If Stuxnet was developed by U.S. cyberweapon specialists, the DHS personnel who spent a year analyzing the computer code were presumably engaged in a major duplication of effort.

But Greg Schaffer, assistant secretary of homeland security for cybersecurity and communications, says DHS officials have no complaint over coordination with U.S. agencies responsible for offensive cyber-activities.

"DHS is focused on network defense," Schaffer says. "We do get assistance from the organizations that work on the offensive mission. Whether they bring their work [to us] is something they have to decide. That is not something that we worry about."

A growing awareness of the cyberthreat to critical U.S. infrastructure assets, however, may well deepen concerns about the "blowback" risk to the U.S. homeland from the development of a potent cyberweapon designed to be used elsewhere.

The appropriate level of information-sharing between the offensive and defensive teams within the U.S. cybercommunity is likely to be the focus of intense interagency discussion.

"My sense is that there are lots of people talking about it," says Herbert Lin, chief scientist at the National Academy of Sciences and a co-editor of a book on policy, law and ethics in cyberwar. "But almost all of the discussion is going on behind closed doors."

Eventually, this could change. Whether and when the United States should use nuclear weapons or chemical weapons or land mines has been vigorously debated in public for years, and it may be only a matter of time until the use of cyberweapons gets similar attention.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/11/02/141908180/stuxnet-raises-blowback-risk-in-cyberwar?ft=1&f=1007

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Surgeons separate California conjoined twins

--> AAA??Nov. 1, 2011?9:19 PM ET
Surgeons separate California conjoined twins
BROOKE DONALDBROOKE DONALD, Associated Press?THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES?

Angelica Sabuco, 2, right, and her twin sister Angelina play together at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the two-year old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Angelica Sabuco, 2, right, and her twin sister Angelina play together at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the two-year old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Angelica Sabuco, 2, at left, and her twin sister Angelina, at right, are brought in for a meeting with the press along with their mother Ginady Sabuco, center, at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the two-year old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Angelica Sabuco, 2, center right, and her twin sister Angelina, center left, are helped to their feet by their mother Ginady Sabuco, at left, and therapist Allison Brooks at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the two-year old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Angelica Sabuco, 2, at right, and her twin sister Angelina, left, draw on paper with the help of their mother Ginady Sabuco, center, at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the two-year old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Angelica Sabuco, 2, at right, and her twin sister Angelina, left, are helped to their feet by their mother Ginady Sabuco, center, at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 in Stanford, Calif. The Stanford hospital is preparing for surgical procedure to separate the two-year old girls, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

(AP) ? Twin 2-year-old girls who were joined at the chest and abdomen were separated Tuesday during a lengthy, complex procedure at a U.S. children's hospital.

The operation that gave Philippines-born sisters Angelina and Angelica Sabuco their independence took more than nine hours and a team of more than 40 people.

By mid-afternoon, the girls had moved to their own operating rooms for the second phase of surgery ? reconstructing the area where they were connected. Two hours later, they were moved to the intensive care unit, each with a scar stretching from her chest to her belly.

"This is a dream come true," their mother, Ginady Sabuco, said through tears to reporters after the surgery was complete. "Words cannot express how the family feels."

Dr. Gary Hartman, the lead surgeon, said the procedure went smoothly.

"The long-term prognosis is that we should have a happy, healthy set of girls. We don't see any barrier to a full recovery," Hartman said.

The girls moved to the United States with their mother last year. They had been doing well, considering the obstacles. They learned to walk despite their face-to-face orientation.

But Hartman said staying connected would have posed long-term health risks, including increased damage to their skeletal and muscular structure.

The surgery required separating livers, diaphragms, breastbones and chest and abdominal wall muscles.

The reconstruction included covering what plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Lorenz described as a "window" left in their chests after separation.

The girls were being kept sedated, and doctors said they could be awakened as early as Wednesday. They were expected to be in the hospital for at least two weeks.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-01-Conjoined%20Twins-Separation/id-83463ed7eb5945859c335ff02524225a

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GREE plans new international mobile social gaming platform for 2012

Japanese social gaming firm GREE has announced that it will introduce an international mobile gaming platform by mid-2012, according to a company statement.

The as yet unnamed platform will be developed in line with GREE?s??free-to-play? strategy but, that aside, the announcement does not contain a great many details with GREE promising to reveal all in December.

The development is entirely logical given its?acquisition of US-based Openfeint earlier this year, and the new platform will build on both services, according to?Naoki Aoyagi, CEO of GREE International who also revealed the company bold user number target.

The new platform will leverage OpenFeint and GREE assets and will bring together Western and Asian mobile social markets with a goal of reaching over one billion users.

GREE is growing quickly with new users joining at a rate of 3.8 per second, according to the statement, while ? optimistic?of increased growth ? it has also increased its forecasted earnings (for year ending June) by more than 40 percent.

The Japanese firm has never been shy to voice its goal of hitting one billion users as earlier this year it went public with its desire to challenge Facebook, where social gaming is a major part of the experience for the social network?s 800 million plus users.

The mobile social gaming industry is massive in Japan which has led GREE and rival DeNA, which also operates in the US, to plot plans to replicate the success in other regions. DeNA has already made a move into international markets and, following behind, this new GREE platform will be another test of global interest in mobile social gaming.

Source: http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/11/02/japans-gree-to-launch-international-mobile-social-gaming-platform-in-2012/

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The nations weather (AP)

Weather Underground Forecast for Wednesday, November 02, 2011.

The cold front that brought a snow storm event to the Rockies Tuesday will continue to surge southeast and merge with another front over the Central U.S. Wednesday morning. As this occurs, expect an expansive area of rain with isolated thunderstorms from the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes southwestward through the Mississippi Valley and Central Plains. In addition, moderate to heavy snow will continue over the Central and Southern Rockies, moving onto the High Plains Wednesday morning. Snow accumulations will range from 1 to 3 inches with locally higher amounts. Winds are expected 25 to 40 mph range, with gusts to 50 mph, which are likely to cause areas of blowing snow, reduce visibility and create hazardous driving conditions. Temperatures will be turning much colder with windchill readings possible dropping to 20s and teens. This snow storm should end by mid-afternoon as the front pushes into the Southern Plains.

In the East, a strong ridge of high pressure will hold in place, providing fair weather conditions.

Out West, a cold front will approach the coast Wednesday evening, bringing coastal rain and high elevation snow across the Pacific Northwest Wednesday night. This system is expected to push into Northern California and northern Intermountain West by Thursday morning. Apart from the precipitation, this front will bring the first cold surge of the season across the West Coast from Thursday to Saturday. Temperatures are expected to run 10 to 15 degrees below normal. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday have ranged from a morning low of 15 degrees at Rome, Ore. to a high of 89 degrees at Fort Stockton, Texas

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_re_us/us_weatherpage_weather

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Bareheaded women in ads targeted in Muslim Chechnya (Reuters)

GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) ? Several businesses in Russia's Chechnya region were ordered this week to cover up the bare heads of women in their advertisements, in what a local government source said was the latest assertion of Muslim customs by the authorities.

A decade after Moscow drove separatists out of power in the second of two wars since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin relies heavily on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to keep insurgents in check and maintain a shaky peace.

But analysts and rights groups say that in return, the devout Sufi Muslim is allowed to enforce his vision of Islam, at times curbing women's rights and other civil freedoms guaranteed by Russia's constitution.

A band of men whom hairdressers described as being dressed in the uniform of local security forces stormed the "Edem" salon in the center of the regional capital Grozny, demanding they cover up the hair of two women in their advertisement.

"Authorities walked around the area, ripping off ads with women pictured in them. They told us that ads displaying women without headscarves are banned," said a 28-year-old hairdresser, who declined to give her name.

"We got scared so we covered them up," she said pointing to a large crimson ad outside where the black and blonde locks of two women in photographs had been plastered over with red tape.

The orders come on top of a spate of paintball attacks last year on women for not wearing headscarves on city streets in Chechnya, igniting ire from women who said being forced to dress a certain way violated their rights.

Kadyrov later said he was grateful to the attackers.

Four years ago he issued an edict that said women must don headscarves to enter state buildings. Rights groups say it is a violation of Russian law, but the edict is strictly followed.

Rights workers and some locals fear that Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency will strengthen Kadyrov's grip over Chechnya.

"There had never been this sort of treatment toward women on the government level before. This all started when Kadyrov came to power (in 2007)," said Raisa Borshchigova, 31, who was compelled to become an independent rights activist after she was shot at with paintball pellets.

A source in the regional government, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the attacks on advertisements had been ordered by local authorities.

But a spokesman denied Kadyrov had issued such an order.

"All advertisements in Grozny are in place. We didn't take a single one down, or order anyone to do so. Cowards are spreading lies about us," said the spokesman.

The state-funded Islamic Cultural Center, which is linked to Kadyrov and has openly spoken of its contempt for bareheaded women, denied involvement.

"It was terrible. About seven of them came in and said we needed to change our ad or we couldn't operate anymore," said Italian clothing store owner Mariana, adding she had also taped over the womens' hair.

But not everyone received warnings.

When a dentist at a central clinic returned one afternoon this week, he saw that his poster advertising a tooth whitening service had been destroyed, leaving a ring of blonde hair encircling a gaping hole that had once been a woman's face.

(Writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman in Moscow)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111102/lf_nm_life/us_russia_chechnya_headscarves

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Why Microsoft Chose Windows 8 Over Courier [Microsoft]

Cnet is delving further into the death of the Microsoft Courier, looking at the differences between Steven Sinoksky and J Allard, who ran the Windows 8 and Courier projects respectively. They say that Sinofsky's business-minded pragmatism and Windows 7 salvage job ultimately swayed Ballmer to follow his vision. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vd2zXirW4_o/why-microsoft-chose-windows-8-over-courier

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Kim Kardashian Files For Divorce

Reality star married Kris Humphries in a televised E! special 72 days ago.
By Jocelyn Vena


Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian
Photo: Jerritt Clark/WireImage

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries said "I do" in an elaborate, very public ceremony over the summer, and now comes word that the reality starlet and her basketball player hubby are calling it quits just 72 days after tying the knot.

TMZ reported that Kim filed for divorce from Humphries on Monday (October 31), coincidentally the scariest day of the year. Sources told the site that Kim is not seeking an annulment and cites "irreconcilable differences" as the cause for the split.

The couple reportedly have a prenuptial agreement and celebrity lawyer Laura Wasser has been tapped to represent Kardashian. According to TMZ, the pair's $10 million wedding cost approximately $138,888 a day as of October 31. A rep for Kim had not responded to MTV News' request for comment as of press time.

Click here to view photos of Kim and Kris' whirlwind romance.

However, Ryan Secreast, who produces the reality star's E! shows, confirmed the news on Twitter, writing, "Yes @kimkardashian is filing for divorce this morning. I touched base with her, getting a statement in just a few mins."

The news comes as several tabloids have been reporting on Kim and Kris' marital woes. Kardashian and NBA player Humphries married on August 20 in California in a lavish ceremony in front of friends, family and E! cameras. "The dresses were so gorgeous, and watching those beautiful girls walk down the aisle ... they are absolutely stunning," guest Julianne Hough gushed to MTV News after the ceremony. "To just see them walking down the aisle was just beautiful. And then little Mason, Kourtney's little boy, he kind of stole the show."

The beginning of Kris and Kim's marriage will be documented on the second season of "Kourtney & Kim Take New York," which kicks off on November 27. In previews for the show, fans have gotten a peek at the short-lived marriage. "How am I going to have my career and live in Minnesota?" Kim asks Kris when he suggests they move to his hometown. His response? "Baby, by the time you have kids and they're in school, nobody will probably care about you."

Are you surprised by Kim's decision to file for divorce? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1673430/kim-kardashian-kris-humphries-divorce.jhtml

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