Wednesday, November 30, 2011

PROMISES, PROMISES: Candidates shield records (AP)

WASHINGTON ? In the final weeks of Mitt Romney's term as Massachusetts governor, a small team of aides combed through statehouse filing cabinets. They filled more than 630 cartons with papers destined for the state archives as the primary documentary legacy of his administration. One floor, though, was almost completely off limits to them: Romney's inner sanctum, his third-floor office.

The former legislative affairs director who headed the archiving effort, John O'Keefe, recalls that his team was given a stack of Romney's public schedules over four years and a limited variety of other documents from the governor's executive office, but not much else. "We were told we were not in charge of archiving the third floor," he says.

The mystery deepened recently when the chief legal counsel for Romney's Democratic successor, Gov. Deval Patrick, said that just before Patrick took office, material on a state government web server that housed Romney's emails was erased. Top Romney aides also bought and removed their state-issued computer hard drives, and remaining leased computers were replaced. Romney said he followed the law in authorizing the purge, and his campaign aides said their actions were based on a 1997 Massachusetts court ruling that all governors' records are private.

Romney's selective policy toward public access and preservation of his executive records raises stark questions about how transparent his administration would be if he were to become president. He's not alone. Other leading candidates for the presidency ? incumbent Barack Obama and Texas Gov. Rick Perry ? have touted their commitment to transparency, but their administrations also have been selective at times in the records they disclose. They have limited, stalled or denied access when it suited their purposes.

"What I wish Americans could expect is a politician who talked a good game and walked a good game, too," said Ken Bunting, executive director of the nonpartisan National Freedom of Information Coalition. "The reality is everybody gives lip service to transparency and accountability."

Romney's submission of paper documents to the Massachusetts archives was made "in the interest of transparency and to help provide a record of his time in office," said Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior campaign adviser. But the holdings in the archives are far from comprehensive. An Associated Press reporter sent from Washington earlier this fall spent a week examining the Romney archives, but did not find paper copies of any emails to or from Romney or any internal calendars or in-house memos ? all commonly used by governors. There are no state archives records accounting for what happened to those materials.

The growing use by government agencies and political campaigns of new channels of electronic communication, including text messages, online videos and social media services, has opened new dimensions in the availability of public records. But presidential candidates haven't been especially transparent.

"There's the potential for a lot more raw information than in the past as emails and other electronic communications replace phone and face-to-face conversations," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit public interest group. "The problem is we're seeing officials and governments moving more and more to shield those materials from public access."

Only about one-quarter of the 630 cartons of Romney paper records are available for inspection at the Massachusetts archives. State legal officials have yet to say whether the 1997 court ruling allows access to the other material. Even if they do, Assistant State Archivist Michael Comeau said, staff shortages and time-consuming redaction checks could extend delays close to the 2012 election. More than 75 cartons examined by the AP revealed staff and legislative documents but no internal materials written to or from Romney himself ? except for ceremonial bill-signing and official letters.

As governor, Romney's careful line on providing records was based on a 1997 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that "the governor is not explicitly included" among other state officials and agencies covered by the state's Public Records Law, which generally requires agencies to submit to records requests. Other governors since 1997 have interpreted the ruling similarly.

The AP submitted detailed questions to Romney about how his administration handled public records when he was governor, but the campaign responded with only a brief statement: "The governor's office in Massachusetts is not subject to the state's public records law. As a legal matter, it is not required to disclose any documents." Fehrnstrom, who was Romney's chief spokesman during that era, said the Romney campaign does not possess any remaining gubernatorial records outside of the Massachusetts archives.

After The Boston Globe first reported that his aides had purged electronic files, Romney said the deleted materials might have contained confidential medical, judicial or personnel records. Still, when Romney's archive team found confidential files at the end of his administration, they separated those materials from thousands of other documents that were turned over to the archives. O'Keefe, now city manager in Manchester, Vt., recalled that anything that appeared "confidential in nature" was turned over to a private vendor for shredding.

Suggesting that Romney's Massachusetts administration "deliberately sought to delete public records" in advance of his 2007 presidential run, the Democratic National Committee has pressed three separate Massachusetts public records requests for more background on the purge. Romney's campaign has responded with its own request to Patrick's office asking for any evidence of collaboration between his staff and Obama re-election officials.

Gavi Wolfe, a legal counsel for the Boston office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Romney's authorization of the purging of third-floor electronic files set an "alarming" precedent: "I would be concerned about the chief executive wanting to shield the actions of his administration from public scrutiny." Romney said during a New Hampshire campaign stop that if elected, his presidential administration "would do what's required by the law and then some."

In three years in the White House, Obama set an even more ambitious standard, committing publicly to improving transparency and setting clear goals for federal agencies to respond more quickly and expansively to public records requests.

Obama signed an executive order on his first day in office in 2009, directing federal officials to make good on his detailed commitment to broaden accountability. His directive led to the opening of White House visitor logs and plans to improve responses to records requests, whistleblower protections and declassification of outdated secret documents.

But many of Obama's broad commitments have not been met. In the face of criticism, the Justice Department abandoned a proposal that would have allowed officials to pretend that some government files didn't exist when people asked to see them. And the government completely turned down records in one-third of all requests in 2010 ? even censoring 194 pages of internal emails about Obama's Open Government directive.

The White House and Energy Department have been hesitant and selective turning over records related to the GOP-led congressional investigation of Solyndra, the failed California solar panel company. The AP pressed three separate appeals for records in September, but Energy Department officials said they would take months because of the number of documents and requests to read them. In early October, as Congress threatened to issue subpoenas, White House officials quickly provided reporters with thousands of pages and DVDs filled with hundreds of emails.

White House officials would not comment on the sudden shift, but campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said, "The president and this administration are changing the ways Washington works in terms of transparency."

In Texas, Perry has made similar claims, pointing to broad swaths of electronic data that his administration has made available online ? from state agency expenditures to death certificates. But Perry's administration has also blocked viewing of expenditures for his security guards when he travels, even though much of that travel has been subsidized by campaign funds or by private business executives. He also barred access to his reviews of death penalty cases and to his private calendars, even though his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, had made both available when he was governor.

"The people of America aren't seeing the real Rick Perry," said Keith Elkins, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. "They may get a glimpse of him on the campaign trail, but the real record has been hidden and carefully parceled out."

___

Associated Press writers Brett J. Blackledge, Matthew Daly and Jack Gillum contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaigns_transparency

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Toyota taking orders in Japan for Prius Plug-in (AP)

TOKYO ? Toyota began taking orders Tuesday for the plug-in version of its hit Prius hybrid, announcing efficient mileage and a relatively affordable starting price of 3.2 million yen ($41,000), which comes down with green vehicle subsidies.

Toyota is targeting Prius Plug-in sales of 35,000 to 40,000 a year in Japan, and 60,000 globally. The car is set for delivery in Japan in January. With subsidies the cost comes down to 2.75 million yen ($35,200). It starts at $32,000 in the U.S. and 37,000 euros in Europe, according to Toyota.

Japan's top automaker says the plug-in, which it calls the Prius PHV, is for those who want something more innovative than a regular gasoline-electric hybrid, but are worried about running out of power on the road, as can happen with pure electric vehicles.

When a plug-in runs out of power to keep the electric vehicle going, it becomes a hybrid.

"The plug-in is the premier next-generation ecological car that will follow the hybrid," said Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada, the Toyota Motor Corp. engineer known as the "father of the Prius."

The Prius Plug-in has an estimated electric vehicle cruise range per charge of 26.4 kilometers (16 miles), according to Toyota.

Its mileage is estimated at 61 kilometers per liter for Japanese test conditions, which converts to a whopping 143 miles per gallon. Such numbers vary depending on road conditions. Toyota is promising 87 mpg for the U.S. Prius Plug-in, which will be delivered starting in March. Orders are already being taken online in the U.S.

Green cars such as the Prius Plug-in are expected to take centerstage at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public this weekend.

Japanese consumers have taken to the Prius, despite a languishing auto market overall, thanks to government-backed subsidies. Nations around the world are offering similar perks, boosting its chance for success.

The Prius Plug-in, which seats five people, comes with a new lithium-ion battery that can be charged from a household outlet, much like an electric car. It also recharges itself while driving like a gasoline-electric hybrid. The battery is more powerful and compact so the back trunk fits three golf bags.

Uchiyamada told reporters that the plug-in was the best solution for green cars as most Japanese don't drive more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) a day and Toyota studies showed that most people don't want to use EVs for drives longer than 100 kilometers (60 miles).

How the plug-in fares in coming months will help show whether Toyota can keep riding on its success of the Prius as a global leader in green technology. Toyota said it had collected data from 600 people around the world who had leased the plug-in on a trial basis.

Toyota has sold more than 3.4 million hybrids worldwide so far, including models other than the Prius.

Selling in big numbers is important because it helps cut costs and allows the automaker to offer products at affordable prices.

Honda Motor Co., which has also been aggressive with hybrid technology, has sold 770,000 hybrids worldwide.

Nissan Motor Co., which hasn't released a global hybrid sales number, is banking more on pure electric, selling 17,500 Leaf cars around the world so far.

In Japan, Toyota will work on services with its housing unit to support plug-in owners' charging stations, it said.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_toyota

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

This Week Panel: Newt Gingrich On Immigration Is The Latest GOP ?Scandal Of Sanity?

video

With Newt Gingrich nabbing a major endorsement in New Hampshire this morning, the panel on This Week assessed his strengths and chances of making it through to the nomination with a record like his. While agreeing that he was, among other things, ?undisciplined,? they noted his comments on immigration could be a positive in the general, with Michael Gerson labeling yet another ?scandal of sanity? in the GOP.

RELATED: Newt Gingrich Secures Key New Hampshire Union Leader Newspaper Endorsement

Panelist Jon Karl noted that the paper endorsing Gingrich, the Union Leader, was very strong support, as it goes out of its way to campaign regularly over the election season. With that in mind, host Christiane Amanpour wondered whether Gingrich was the ?last non-Romney candidate.? That, added Cokie Roberts, depended on whether Gingrich would master his natural lack of discipline. ?He?s one of the greatest strategists? so interesting, but he?s undisciplined!? Sam Donaldson agreed, adding that ?he has five ideas a day: one or two of them are brilliant, one or two of them are okay, and one of them is terrible and he doesn?t know the difference.?

Gerson noted something strange about the fact that the answer on ?immigration indicates Gingrich?s lack of discipline,? forming yet another ?scandal of sanity, in which a Republican says something obviously true and they have to retract because of the conservative base.? The ?gaffe,? he argued, proved ?Gingrich unplugged can actually be quite admirable as well as undisciplined.?

The panel ended with a round of guesses as to who would win the Iowa caucus, with a surprising half of the panel suggesting Rick Santorum has a chance there. The segment via ABC below:

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2012 elections, abc, Christiane Amanpour, Cokie Roberts, Iowa, Jon Karl, Michael Gerson, Mitt Romney, newt gingrich, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Sam Donaldson, This Week

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Source: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/this-week-panel-newt-gingrich-on-immigration-is-the-latest-gop-scandal-of-sanity/

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Teen tweeter won't apologize to Kan. governor (Providence Journal)

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Communications Signals Modulation of Computer Simulations ...

Abstract

The Automatic Modulation Recognition (AMR) of communication signals is very important for both civil and military communication, especially in the situation of non-cooperative communication or communication confrontation, such as signals identification, electronic confrontation, software radio, military threat analysis, etc. Additionally, the parameter estimation of signals will be a great help in interference suppression, developing improved condition for successful recognition and demodulation.Some of the existing traffic signal modulation recognitionprocessing algorithms each have their own advantages are better atsome signal processing algorithms for the other few studies and Some algorithms is still in the theoretical stage and under the existing communication channels through some special signal processing of less. This review focuses on these issues for some useful especially to try and improve the various algorithms and implementations withcomputer and other hardware to do some research.This paper is focused on the application of pattern recognition in AMR. Several AMR algorithms are discussed which are based on the analysis of statistical characteristics of the modulation parameters, or cluster algorithm, or high order cumulant, or time_frequency domain analysis, such as Wigner_ville Distribution, Wavelet Transform, or character abstraction from spectral correlation of communication signals. Some improved solutions to the above algorithms are proposed. Performance comparisons are provided by simulations which prove the feasibility of the proposed algorithm and point out the corresponding application prerequisites.

Source: http://www.it-paper.com/communications-signals-modulation-of-computer-simulations.html

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Weeki Wachee Springs founder inducted into Florida Tourism Hall of Fame

Brooksville, FL -- Newton Perry, founder of the world-renowned Weeki Wachee Springs Park and famed Mermaids, was recently inducted into the Florida Tourism Hall of Fame as a Tourism Honor Roll recipient.

The award was presented as part of the opening ceremonies at the 44th?Annual Florida Governor's Conference on Tourism. On hand to receive the award was Delee Perry, one of Newton's daughters who currently resides in Ocala.

Along with his tourism accomplishments, Newt Perry experimented with underwater breathing hoses and invented the method of breathing with free flowing air hoses supplying oxygen from a compressor, rather than swimming with a tank strapped to the back. The air hose gave the appearance that humans could breathe twenty feet underwater on their own.

Created in 2007, the Florida Tourism Honor Roll serves to acknowledge those historical visionaries whose achievements and extraordinary careers significantly impacted the growth of Florida tourism.?

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Source: http://springhill.wtsp.com/news/news/92949-weeki-wachee-springs-founder-inducted-florida-tourism-hall-fame

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