Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch dies at 88

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski reports that Ed Koch, the former three-term mayor of New York City, died of congestive heart failure, at the age of 88.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch died early Friday at age 88, his spokesman said.

The larger-than-life Democrat served three terms in the post until January 1990.

He had struggled with heart disease and other health problems in recent years.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement that the city had lost ?an irrepressible icon, our most charismatic cheerleader and champion.?

?He was a great mayor, a great man, and a great friend. In elected office and as a private citizen, he was our most tireless, fearless, and guileless civic crusader,? he said.

?Through his tough, determined leadership and responsible fiscal stewardship, Ed helped lift the city out of its darkest days and set it on course for an incredible comeback,? he said.

?We will miss him dearly, but his good works - and his wit and wisdom - will forever be a part of the city he loved so much. His spirit will live on not only here at City Hall, and not only on the bridge the bears his name, but all across the five boroughs,? he added.

Bloomberg said flags would fly at half-staff at all city government buildings in his memory.?

The Associated Press noted that the "combative, acid-tongued" politician became a symbol of New York:

Bald and bombastic, paunchy and pretentious, the city's 105th mayor was quick with a friendly quip and equally fast with a cutting remark for his political enemies.

"You punch me, I punch back," Koch once memorably observed. "I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag."

The mayor dismissed his critics as "wackos," waged verbal war with developer Donald Trump ("piggy") and mayoral successor Rudolph Giuliani ("nasty man"), lambasted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and once reduced the head of the City Council to tears.

"I'm not the type to get ulcers," he wrote in "Mayor," his autobiography. "I give them."

Reverend Al Sharpton, president of National Action Network and a host on MSNBC, said in a statement that he had been one of Koch?s ?most vociferous critics."

?We later united and worked together around the country in a national campaign for non-violent drug offenders to give them a second chance in life and we ended up getting to know and understand each other,? he said.

?Although we argued about everything from my marching in Bensonhurst, to Florida and Trayvon Martin, and although we disagreed on politics from his views on President Obama to other matters, I have found that he was never a phony or a hypocrite,? he said.

?He would not patronize or deceive you. He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed. May he rest in peace,? he added.

Koch was hospitalized in September with anemia and in December with a respiratory infection, NBCNewYork.com reported.

He was admitted to hospital on Jan. 19, but was released Saturday after being treated for water in his lungs and legs.

He was then readmitted to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital on Monday.

Koch's spokesman George Arzt said the former mayor died around 2 a.m. ET Friday of congestive heart failure.

A funeral service will be held on Monday.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/01/16804705-irrepressible-icon-former-new-york-city-mayor-ed-koch-dies-at-88?lite

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NFL expects to have neurologists at games in 2013

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? NFL general counsel Jeff Pash says he expects independent neurological consultants to be on sidelines during games next season to help diagnose and treat concussions.

Speaking at a pre-Super Bowl news conference Thursday, Pash explained that the doctors would not be paid by the clubs or hired as team physicians. There could be more than one neurologist assigned to each team to divide home and road games.

Pash said "details need to be worked through" with the NFL Players Association.

The NFL is facing concussion-related lawsuits from thousands of former players.

In a series of interviews about head injuries with The Associated Press in December 2011, 31 of 44 players said they wanted the league to have independent neurologists at games.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nfl-expects-neurologists-games-2013-210421246--nfl.html

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Egypt opposition to protest after deadly week

CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi have called mass demonstrations on Friday, raising the prospect of more bloodshed despite a pledge by politicians to back off after the deadliest week of his seven months in office.

Protests marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak have killed nearly 60 people since January 25. It prompted the head of the army - the institution that effectively ran Egypt for six decades until Mursi's election - to warn that the state was on the verge of collapse.

The country's most influential Islamic scholar hauled in rival political leaders for crisis talks on Thursday and persuaded them to sign up to a charter disavowing violence and committing to dialogue as a way to end the crisis.

But barely had those talks ended at a mediaeval university, when Mursi's foes called for new nationwide protests, including a march on the presidential palace in Cairo, which his followers see as a provocative assault on a symbol of his legitimacy.

"We are going out tomorrow, to Tahrir, and there is a group going to the palace," said Ahmed Maher, a founder of the April 6 youth protest movement which helped bring down Mubarak in 2011.

"We also confirm our peacefulness and that weapons must not be used, because we see that violence, weapons and molotovs have cost us a lot," he added after attending the talks.

The protesters accuse Mursi of betraying the spirit of the revolution by concentrating too much power in his own hands and those of the Muslim Brotherhood, a decades-old Islamist movement banned under Mubarak.

The Brotherhood accuses Mursi's opponents of trying to bring down Egypt's first democratically elected leader and use street unrest to seize power they could not win through the ballot box.

The rise of Mursi, an elected Islamist, after generations of rule by authoritarian, secularist military men in the most populous Arab state, is probably the single most important change of the past two years of Arab popular revolts.

But seven months since taking power in a narrow election victory over another former general, Mursi has failed to unite Egyptians and protests have made the country seem all but ungovernable. The instability has worsened an economic crisis, forcing Cairo to drain currency reserves to prop up its pound.

SHEIKH INTERVENES

Thursday's meeting of political leaders was convened by Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, head of the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar university and mosque, one of the few institutions still seen as neutral in a society that is increasingly polarised.

He persuaded participants to sign a document pledging to renounce violence and agree to set up a committee to plan more talks. That marked a partial retreat by Mursi's foes; they had previously rebuffed invitations to negotiate, demanding that Mursi first promise to include them in a unity government.

But protest organisers insisted that the deal did not require them to call their followers off the streets.

"The marches of tomorrow are still on, as the Azhar document is on condemnation of violence and we are not doing anything violent," said Heba Yassin, a spokeswoman for Popular Current, one of the main parties behind Friday marches.

Marching on the presidential palace is especially provocative, and past demonstrations there have frequently turned violent in the past.

Protests were also planned in cities along the Suez Canal, where the worst bloodshed of the past eight days took place.

Mursi responded to last week's violence by declaring curfews and imposing emergency rule in the Suez cities, moves which seemed only to further anger his opponents.

"We will take part in the protests to demand the cancellation of the emergency law which President Mursi announced on Sunday night," said Ali Fathi, an activist in Ismailia, at the mid-point of the canal.

"The level of the demands could increase."

A diplomat predicted unrest on Friday, with a lower turnout at the marches increasing the chance of bloodshed as a harder core of demonstrators comes to play a bigger role.

"Unfortunately some of the large numbers of people who might wish to protest peacefully will be put off doing so if they are fairly certain protests will turn violent," the diplomat said.

"That might limit the numbers and increase the chances of unrest - if the concentration of protesters who are prepared to be violent is increased.

"You have groups who clearly just want a confrontation with the state - straightforward anarchy; you've got people who supported the original ideals of the revolution and feel those ideals have been betrayed; ... and then you have elements of the old regime who have it in their interests to foster insecurity and instability. It is an unhealthy alliance."

(Additional reporting by Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-opposition-protest-deadly-week-221236570.html

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Forum Jump

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19 Ways To Make Money Online | Work Online Home Jobs & More

The New Gold Rush

Every generation or so, certain factors come together so that new opportunities to create wealth are created in new markets. Whether it is gold, land, plastics or computers, a door will open. Those who make it through the door will often be carried to success on a wave of innovation or new market demand.

The Internet is the Gold Rush of the 21st century. It has already created new wealth for thousands, with thousands more to come. What is intriguing about the Internet is that the opportunities are so broad and diversified. In fact, one of the driving philosophies is to find narrow niches within which to become dominant.

The incredible range of opportunities continues to grow. Some see the Internet as a way to make a few dollar a month in spending money. Others want to replace a full time job. Still others seek to become independently wealthy.

Here are just some thumbnail blurbs about 19 business models you can pursue to make money online:

1) Writing articles and blog posts. The demand for content has created income opportunities for writers of every level of skill.

2) Writing and selling eBooks. Numerous individuals are selling tens of thousands of dollars of eBooks a month. This market will be huge.

3) Affiliate marketing. This is one of the largest opportunities on the Web. You don?t have to have your own product. You can make a fortune selling a digital product created by someone else. No inventory and no shipping hassles with this niche.

4) Blogging. Build a following by providing timely information to a group of followers.

5) Membership websites. Provide a product or service that people will pay a subscription fee to use.

6) Software and apps. This is an unlimited field as more people are online and using smart phones.

7) Podcasts. Creating a virtual radio program with your own material targeting a niche market

8) Coaching. Once you start making money, teaching others how to do the same.

9) Consulting. Work with small companies to get them online and successful with websites and social media.

10) Freelance work of every kind. Hire yourself out to a worldwide market. Or you can wholesale the skill of others.

11) Videos. It started with YouTube and now has incredible growth potential.

12) Adsense and Adwords. Use yourself to monetize websites and teach others how to do it themselves.

13) Website creation and support. Millions of new sites are needed each year. Tens of millions require upgrades and maintenance.

14) Content creation and sales. Every website needs quality content. Many of them are outsourcing the creation of the content.

15) Niche sites. An area poised for explosive growth

16) Crowd source funding. A revolutionary way to have a network of individuals fund any conceivable idea, business or creative project.

17) Auction sites. eBay paved the way and hundreds are following with their own strategies.

18) Classified Ads. The yellow pages are dead. Segmented online classifieds site are booming.

19) Local niche marketing. Pick a category that you like or have a special interest in. It can be a hobby or something new like reputation protection.

The basic strategy in each business model is to create a following, achieve visitors or traffic, and convert a reasonable number of visitors to customers. These are the three C?s ? Content, Community, and Commerce.

The explosion of social media makes the process of building large networks of prospects and customer achievable by anyone.

A major attraction of online business is the ability to create multiple streams of income. Many of these streams can provide recurrent, passive income. Your creativity and willingness to work hard are the critical factors.

Although the Internet should not be seen as a ?get rich quick? opportunity, that result is truly possible. Invest a little time and decide how you want to make money online.

About the author: The author is helping various businesses and companies with their online reputation management for over 5 years. Through coaching, they have learned which techniques are most important and how to deploy their own plans.

Source: http://www.funbiznow.com/19-ways-to-make-money-online/

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Republican Hagel faces GOP critics at hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary, is facing GOP critics who have challenged his past comments on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons.

The former two-term senator from Nebraska is the lone witness at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday that could be crucial in determining whether he will win Senate confirmation to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Obama's second-term national security team. Two former committee chairmen ? Democrat Sam Nunn and Republican John Warner ? will introduce the nominee.

If confirmed, Hagel, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, would be the first enlisted man and first Vietnam veteran to serve as defense secretary.

Hagel has the announced backing of about a dozen Democrats and the tacit support of dozens more who are unlikely to embarrass the president by defeating his Cabinet pick. One Republican ? Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi ? has said he will vote for his former colleague.

Six Republicans, including four members of the Armed Services panel, have said they will oppose Hagel's nomination. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top GOP lawmaker on the committee, has said he and Hagel are "too philosophically opposed" on issues such as defense spending, nuclear weapons and the Middle East.

Crucial for Hagel will be the questioning by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Hagel and McCain are fellow Vietnam veterans who once had a close relationship during their years in the Senate, but politics and Hagel's opposition to increased troop numbers in Iraq divided the two men.

McCain has praised Hagel's military service but said he had serious concerns about positions the nominee has taken on various issues. He said he is reserving judgment until after the hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., earlier this month described Obama's selection as an "in-your-face" pick but was a bit less critical this week.

"Who are we getting ? the guy today or the guy who said things before?" Graham said Tuesday after a 20-minute meeting with Hagel. Graham said he doesn't doubt Hagel's "personal integrity, but I do have real concerns about his policy positions."

The hearing will be the first time Hagel publicly addresses the barrage of criticism that he is not sufficiently pro-Israel or tough enough on Iran. In the past, Hagel has questioned the efficacy of unilateral sanctions on Iran, arguing that penalties in conjunction with international partners made more sense. He has also been criticized for his comments about the influence of a "Jewish lobby" and his view of gay rights.

He addressed several of the issues in a 112-page questionnaire to the committee in which he said his wartime experience would shape his decisions about using military force.

"I understand what it is like to be a soldier in war," wrote Hagel. "I also understand what happens when there is poor morale and discipline among the troops and a lack of clear objectives, intelligence and command and control from Washington. I believe that experience will help me as secretary of defense to ensure we maintain the best fighting force in the world, protect our men and women in uniform and ensure that we are cautious and certain when contemplating the use of force."

In his responses, Hagel adopted a hard line on Iran and its possible pursuit of a nuclear weapon. He echoed Obama's view that all options are feasible to stop Tehran, praised the rounds of penalties and warned of "severe and growing consequences" if Iran balks at international demands.

Questioned about all options, Hagel said, "If confirmed, I will focus intently on ensuring that the U.S. military is in fact prepared for any contingency."

He said that he would continue to put in place the "smart, unprecedented and effective sanctions against the Iranian regime" that Congress and the Obama administration have adopted in recent years.

The criticism of Hagel has surprised some of Hagel's strongest backers.

"This idea that's being propagated that he might be soft on adversaries. Chuck Hagel's not soft on anybody, particularly himself," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a member of the Armed Services Committee, in a conference call with Hagel allies. "He drives hard. He's someone who searches for the right approach and the right policy."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republican-hagel-faces-gop-critics-hearing-081554333--politics.html

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Twitter rolls out new options for viewing photos and videos

It looks like you can soon expect some changes to the way photos and videos are handled on Twitter. The company announced today that it's begun rolling out a new feature that will let you view a larger version of a photo without going to a separate page (as pictured above), as well as another addition that will see videos from Vine, YouTube, Vimeo and others added to media galleries. It's also slightly tweaked the conversation view to display more replies.

Comments

Source: Twitter

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/y2MnXOPcjWc/

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