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Comcast's strategic conquest
Comcast's $45.2 billion bid for Time Warner Cable is being hailed as a smart short-term strategic move by the media giant perched atop the rapidly changing marketplace of television and the Internet.
And thanks to the country's insatiable craving for faster and faster broadband services, the pending merger is also looking good for the company in the long term.
Story Continued Below
Capitol Hill hearings start this week, with regulatory filings on the proposed deal expected any day now. But even Comcast's critics and top lawmakers scrutinizing the merger give credit to the company for crafty brinkmanship in its continued conquest of competitors.
The combined company would of course face many challenges to stay No. 1. Comcast has long been plagued by complaints of poor customer service, and expanding its reach to 19 of the country's 20 largest TV markets is already generating an even louder chorus of critics.
Competitors like AT&T, Verizon and someday even Google — the Silicon Valley kingpin is promoting a new fiber Internet service with speeds up to 100 times faster than a typical broadband connection — could make it easier for consumers to cancel their cable subscription but still watch their favorite shows online via YouTube and Netflix. The battered economy also means many Americans are spending their paychecks on food, rather than the Food Network.
Still, industry insiders see Philadelphia-based Comcast as up to the task. While cable TV as it's known today may not be around in a decade, that's very different from saying consumer demand for video is dead, or that an acquisition like the one Comcast now has pending before federal regulators and Congress won't matter for many years to come.
"It's positioned itself to be even more of a dominant force, both as a programming distributor, content owner and broadband provider," said Jeffrey Silva, a media and technology analyst.. "I think 10 years from now it'll still be one of the largest, if not the most influential player, in the tech-media-telecom arena."
Comcast executives appear determined to avoid the fate of other big media players that didn't move fast enough adapting to consumer demands and new technological innovations. Think of the way iTunes and digital recordings crushed the music industry or what Craigslist's classifieds did to local newspapers.
By the end of this year, industry experts predict that cable companies will actually have more broadband customers than TV customers. In acquiring Time Warner Cable, Comcast fits that mold. While its traditional cable TV subscribers will number about 30 million, it will also be offering high-speed Internet access to about 40 percent of all U.S. households.
"No matter how you get access for entertainment or information, it's going to be coming across Comcast's infrastructure. So they win either way," said Susan Crawford, President Barack Obama's former special assistant for science, technology and innovation policy and a critic of the Comcast-TWC deal.
Brian Roberts, Comcast's CEO, has talked up the merger as a win for consumers while also playing down the deal's anticompetitive side by noting the two companies don't overlap in their service territories. "This transaction will create a world-class blue-chip company, committed to innovation," he said during a conference call in mid-February to announce the deal.
In homes, that means Comcast is trying to deliver faster high-speed Internet, tablet-like technologies to make television watching an easier experience and interactive home security and energy systems. On the go, it means it's aiming to create the largest Wi-Fi hot spot system in the country.
The merger also is about trying to stay ahead of an industry where content — and the ways to access it — changes almost daily. Just consider Netflix's entry into original programming with hit shows like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black," Disney making its films available online only for Apple products, or ESPN launching 15 college sports networks that are available only to AppleTV and Roku subscribers.
"The rationale for this transaction is all about scale. We're going to get bigger. I'm not walking away from that. But the critical benefits from this transaction will run from that scale," David Cohen, Comcast's executive vice president, said in an interview with C-SPAN's "The Communicators" that aired in late March.
Television industry leaders say they're ready for more change — even if they also struggle to say what the next big thing will be.
"I believe television will change more in the next five years than in the last 50," Roberts told Bloomberg Businessweek in 2012 when asked about the future of TV.
"My favorite example is someone in 1850 taking care of horses as a farrier," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings responded to a similar question in an interview with Maclean's published in December. "They would have said, 'Look, horses have been part of human existence for 5,000 years. We are horse people. It's permanent.'"
"But all of a sudden, the internal-combustion engine comes along and, with it, oil fields and automobiles, which basically replace the horse completely," Hastings said. "So we often have these long periods of stability and then a sudden inflection point. Maybe there will be some magic around something like Google Glass or a smart watch, but it won't happen for the next few years."
TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said in an interview that cable companies have so far largely missed out on providing the kind of consumer experience many people want — the way that digital music now allows someone to purchase pretty much any song ever recorded and carry it with them for on-the-go listening.
"They've gotten close," Rogers said. "But they never figured out that the broadband pipe should be a key to TV as well, and leverage their role as the leading video provider to be this player that was providing all things, whenever you want it, to any device wherever you want it, personalized in the most usable form possible."
"I think the challenge for the whole industry is are they going to be able to get there and get there fast enough before alternative means of providing that experience may develop," he added.


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Our Sanctuary Worship service meets in the sanctuary for worship! We have a blended worship style with an inviting atmosphere. You will see children and youth start in the sanctuary, as we worship as families. After songs, children and youth are released to their ministry areas.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: July 2Worship Cafe
Later Event: July 6Open Gym

subset: commoncrawl


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Almost four weeks in and there was still no sign today of Lancashire's drinking water being declared safe.
But as United Utilities continued to fend off criticism for its "lack of transparency" over the expected length of the boil water alert, frustrated householders were warned they could be in for a long wait.
A scientist has revealed that a similar case of cryptosporidium contamination a decade ago, which blighted the lives of 28,000 families in North Wales, lasted more than TWO MONTHS over the winter of 2005/6.
Homes were advised to boil their drinking water from November to January before the scare was officially at an end. And the source of the contamination, said Lancaster University microbiologist Dr Derek Gatherer, was never identified.
"It is possible we will be in the same situation," he said. "It could be they will declare an all-clear, but never find out the source. Unfortunately the story is still no further forward than what it was at the beginning."
In the North Wales incident, 231 cases of illness were confirmed. In Northampton in 2008 there were 22 people taken ill. But by last night Public Health England insisted it had still not had a single verified case in this latest episode.
South Ribble MP Seema Kennedy has expressed her dismay at the lack of information coming out of United Utilities with the alert now entering its fourth week.
"I have pushed United Utilities for a greater degree of transparency," she said. "I, and other residents, affecte deserve to be more informed on when this can be expected to come to an end.
"There is an understandable level of frustration with United Utilities for continued vague responses when questioned about when this may finish."
For all our previous coverage on the water contamination situation in Lancashire visit the links below:
Parasite found in water supply
WATER SCARE: What is Cryptosporidium?
Shelves cleared amid water scare
Map issued showing affected areas
Health warning continues after bug is found in water supply
BREAKING: Water warning to last into next week
WATER CHAOS: Compensation claims spark debate
WATER CHAOS: Compensation could be given to residents
Battle for safe water rages as investigations continue
WATER LATEST: Company pledges to pay compensation 'to all.'
WATER LATEST: Criminal investigation into contamination
UV ray equipment brought in to kill off water bug
WATER LATEST: Source of crypto contamination found
United Utilities faces £15m compensation bill over water scare


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Search for Parks - The top results (relevance sort) are listed below:
NCSU Data Collection[ Hide ] Possible Related Terms:
Administrative Boundaries, Airports, Amusement Parks, Annexation, Apartment Buildings, Apartment Complexes, Arboretums, Ballfields, Bays, Beach Access, Boating Access Areas, Botanical Gardens, Boundaries, Bridges, Buildings, Bus Terminals, Campgrounds, Capes, Cemeteries, Churches, City Halls, City Parks, Civil Features, Cliffs, Coastal Reserves, Coasts, Colleges, Conservation, Conservation Lands, Convents, Correctional Facilities, Council Of Governments (COG), Country Clubs, County Parks, County Seats, Custodial Facilities, Dams, Employment Centers, Environment, Estuarine Sanctuaries, Farmland Preservation, Federal Land, Fee Simple, Fire Hazards, Fire Stations, Forests, Game Lands, Gaps, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Geologic Formations, Golf Courses, Government Centers, Government Land, Greenways, Health And Medical Facilities, Historical Parks, Historical Sites, Historic Districts, Hospitals, Indian Lands, Lakes, Land, Land Easements, Landmarks, Land Parcels, Landsat Thematic Mapper, Land Trusts, Land Use And Land Cover (LULC), Military Bases, Million Acres Initiative, Monasteries, Mountains, Municipal Government, National Forests, National Guard Armory Facilities, National Park Reserves, National Parks, National Park Service (NPS), National Seashores, Natural Areas, Natural Heritage Areas, Natural Preserves, Nature Trails, Open Spaces, Place Names, Playgrounds, Police, Polygons, Populated Places, Post Offices, Preserved Areas, Primary And Secondary Schools, Prisons, Provincial Parks, Public Property, Quadrangle, Recreational Facilities, Recreation Areas, Religious Institutions, Reserve, Reservoirs, Retail Centers, Riparian Buffers, River Basins, River Sub-basins, Sand Bars, Scenic Rivers, Schools, Society, Sports Centers, State Complexes, State Forests, State Maintenance Yards, State Natural Areas, State Ownership, State Parks, State Property, State Research Facilities, Steward, Streams, Summits, Surface Hydrography, Swamps, Towers (Transmission), Trailer Parks, Trails, Urban Areas, Valleys, Vegetation, Watersheds, Wilderness Parks, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Refuges, Zoos
Legacy denotes outdated data. A more recent version likely exists. Consider an "External Data Source" option linked above, or click the Collection link for updated source options.
Contact a Data Services Librarian for help.


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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. – Nearly 500 Radio Shack stores around the country will be close in the next few months, according to a report Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal. The fate of Radio Shack stories in Westchester County is uncertain.
There are 15 stores in Westchester County. They are in Somers, Yorktown (2), Peekskill, Briarcliff Manor, Thornwood, Port Chester, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Yonkers (2), White Plains (2), Bedford and Hartsdale,
Radio Shack has approximately 4,500 stores nationwide. The news comes two days after a Radio Shack television advertisement during Sunday's Super Bowl was viewed as one of the big winners by people in the industry, according to the Journal.
See the complete Wall Street Journal story here .
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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Brookfield repeats as Class M swim champs, New Canaan holds on for second
MIDDLETOWN -- Luciano DeSouza's grin told the whole story.
A season's worth of tireless dedication and relentless training paid off on Wednesday night as the Brookfield High boys swimming and diving team won its second consecutive Class M state championship at Wesleyan University.
"All the work we've done, it's worth it when we look up and see that championship. It's just an amazing feeling," DeSouza said with a huge smile. "It means a lot to us. It really does."
Brookfield won with 707 points. Thye Bobcats took the lead early on and kept pulling away with every passing event. New Canaan held on to win a tight battle for second place with 572 points. East Lyme took third with 556 and Wethersfield came in fourth with 538. New Fairfield finished sixth with 357.
"It makes me so happy for them," said Brookfield coach Brian Reiff, still dripping wet from his celebratory dip in the pool. "I stand there screaming, but they put a lot of work into it. I'm really proud of them. They always come prepared and ready to battle, and it makes me proud."
Either Brookfield or New Canaan has won the Class M state title every year since 2004. Brookfield won in 2010 and 2012 and New Canaan won the other six years during that span. Brookfield had won three straight Class S titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004. New Canaan has been either first or second in Class M every year since 2004.
"Coming into the season, we didn't really know where we stood in a meet like this," New Canaan coach Dave Fine said. "Brookfield has the recipe. They have four guys scoring in every event and they have big guys on their relays. They kind of ran away with it and we were in a battle with East Lyme and Wethersfield. And where we needed to come up big, we came up big."
DeSouza and Matthew Moen each won two individual events for the Bobcats. DeSouza took the gold in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events and Moen won the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle. Brookfield's 200 medley relay team opened the meet with a victory, and the Bobcats' 400 freestyle relay closed the meet with a win.
Berlin's Dan Klotz was also a double-winner, taking first in the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly.
Brookfield opened the meet with a big victory in a close race in the medley relay. The team of DeSouza (backstroke), Moen (breaststroke), Seamus Deakin (butterfly) and Daniel Krentsa (freestyle) won in 1:36.75. DeSouza, Moen and Deakin handed Krentsa a one-second lead for the final leg, and Krentsa stretched it to nearly two seconds. The New Canaan team of Brian Bodick, Andrew Higgins, Stefan Pla and freshman Thomas Dunstan took second in 1:38.50.
Berlin's Klotz won the 200 freestyle with a Class M record time of 1:40.86. New Fairfield's Ryan Murphy shaved more than four seconds off his qualifying time and placed second in 1:42.67. Deakin took sixth for Brookfield (1:46.73) and Jeffrey Janofsky eighth (1:47.32). Stephen Skaperdas took seventh for New Canaan (1:46.90).
Brookfield then took three of the top five places in the individual medley, with Moen winning in 1:54.39, followed by Nick Miller in third (1:58.06) and Christopher Greenwood in fifth (1:58.73). Edward Thunem took sixth for New Canaan (1:59.43), followed by teammate Higgins in seventh (2:01.99).
Brookfield went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle, with DeSouza winning in 21.47 seconds and Krentsa following in 21.95. New Fairfield's Jeffrey Plate took third (21.99) and fellow Rebel David MacAskill finished eighth (22.97). New Canaan's Dunstan placed seventh (22.72).
New Canaan earned some important points in last Thursday's diving competition with a pair of freshmen, as Tom Kalinowski took second with 385.35 points and Griffin Edmonds placed eighth with 315.85. New Fairfield's Kristen Sheehan placed third (376.85) and Annie Morrow seventh (316.15), and Brookfield's Sam Baluzy finished sixth (323.05).
With the diving results factored in, Brookfield led the pack through five events with 316 points. New Canaan was second with 243.
East Lyme then took second, seventh and eighth in the 100 butterfly to climb into second place. Klotz won for Berlin in 50.84, followed by Adam Opsahl for East Lyme in second (52.48). Pla took sixth for New Canaan in 55.44. After the butterfly, Brookfield still led with 335 points, but East Lyme was closing fast with 290, followed by New Canaan with 277 and Wethersfield with 263.
Brookfield opened a bit of breathing room in the 100 freestyle with DeSouza winning in 46.96 and Krentsa finishing third in 47.85.
The Bobcats then pulled further away by taking four of the top eight spots in the 500 freestyle. Moen won in 4:37.80, followed by Deakin in fourth (4:41.33), Janofsky in sixth (4:49.45) and Rory Collins in eighth (4:54.07). New Fairfield's Murphy took second (4:39.30) and New Canaan's Skaperdas fifth (4:46.88).
With four events remaining, Brookfield led with 502 points, followed by East Lyme with 366, Wethersfield with 357 and New Canaan with 328.
But the Bobcats were not out of the woods yet.
East Lyme won the 200 freestyle relay (1:28.96) and Brookfield took fifth (1:32.29) with the team of Greenwood, Christian, Christian Ferrarie, Phillip Occhiboi and Collins. New Canaan took second (1:30.09) with Skaperdas, Jacob Geyfman, Thunem and Pla. New Fairfield placed fifth (1:31.32) with Plate, freshman William Kulp, MacAskill and Murphy.
Fitch's Christian Berg set the Class M state record in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 51.45. Brookfield's Miller took sixth (55.56) and New Canaan climbed back into third place by placing two in the top eight. Dunstan placed fourth in the backstroke for the Rams (54.14) and Bodick eighth (57.86).
The Rams climbed into second place with a dominating effort in the 100 breaststroke. Thunem won in 58.59, Higgings placed third (59.03) and Pla finished fourth (59.14). Brookfield's Greenwood finished fifth (1:00.94).
Heading into the final relay, Brookfield led with 647 points, followed by New Canaan with 524 and East Lyme with 504. New Canaan couldn't overtake Brookfield in the final event -- 60 points are awarded for a relay win -- but the Rams could certainly still drop in the standings.
Not to worry. New Canaan took fifth in the final relay and scored enough points to hold off East Lyme, which took third. Brookfield won with the team of Deakin, Moen, Krentsa and DeSouza in 3:11.61. East Lyme finished in 3:16.39. New Fairfield took fourth (3:18.19) with the team of Plate, Michael Van Akin, MacAskill and Murphy, and New Canaan foillowed, with the team of Skaperdas, Geyfman, Thunem and Dunstan finishing in 3:18.42.
at Wesleyan
Team scores
1. Brookfield 707, 2. New Canaan 572, 3. East Lyme 556, 4. Wethersfield 538, 5. Branford 380, 6. New Fairfield 357, 7. Torrington 239, 8. Fitch 233, 9. Lyman Hall 225, 10. Hand 194, 11. Berlin 187, 12. Avon 169, 13. ND-West Haven 150, 14. Windsor 106, 15. Barlow 105, 16. Bethel 96, 17. Watertown 82, 18. Bulkeley 78, 19. Foran 75, 20. North Haven 64, 21. Rockville 46, 22. Waterford 34, 23. Guilford 25.
Individual results
Winner in each event and regional swimmers in top six
200 medley relay: 1. Brookfield (Luciano De Souza, Matthew Moen, Seamus Deakin, Daniel Krentsa) 1;36.75; 2. New Canaan (Brian Bodick, Andrew Higgins, Stefan Pla, Thomas Dunstan) 1:38.50; 200 freestyle: 1. Dan Klotz (Berlin) 1:40.86 (Class M record); 2. Ryan Murphy (New Fairfield) 1:42.67; 6. Seamus Deakin (Brookfield) 1:46.73; 200 IM: 1. Matthew Moen (Brookfield) 1:54.39; 3. Nick Miller (Brookfield) 1:58.06; 5. Christopher Greenwood (Brookfield) 1:58.73; 6. Edward Thunem (New Canaan) 1:59.43; 50 freestyle: 1. Luciano De Souza (Brookfield) 21.47; 2. Daniel Krentsa (Brookfield) 21.95; 3. Jeffrey Plate (New Fairfield) 21.99; 100 butterfly: 1. Dan Klotz (Berlin) 50.84; 6. Stefan Pia (New Canaan) 55.44; 100 freestyle: 1. Luciano De Souza (Brookfield) 46.96; 3. Daniel Krentsa (Brookfield) 47.85; 500 freestyle: 1. Matthew Moen (Brookfield) 4:37.80; 2. Ryan Murphy (New Fairfield) 4:39.30; 4. Seamus Deakin (Brookfield) 4:41.33; 5. Stephen Skaperdas (New Canaan) 4:46.88; 6. Jeffrey Janofsky (Brookfield) 4:49.45; 200 freestyle relay: 1. East Lyme 1:28.96; 2. New Canaan (Stephen Skaperdas, Jacob Geyfman, Edward Thunem, Stefan Pla) 1:30.09; 4. New Fairfield (Jeffrey Plate, William Kulp, David McAskill, Ryan Murphy) 1:31.32; 5. Brookfield (Christopher Greenwood, Christian Ferrarie, Philip Occhiboi, Rory Collins) 1:32.29; 100 backstroke: 1. Christian Berg (Fitch) 51.45 (Class M record); 4. Thomas Dunstan (New Canaan) 54.14; 6. Nick Miller (Brookfield) 55.56; 100 breaststroke: 1. Edward Thunem (New Canaan) 58.59; 3. Andrew Higgins (New Canaan) 59.03; 4. Stefan Pla (New Canaan) 59.14; 5. Christopher Greenwood (Brookfield) 1:00.94; 400 freestyle relay: 1. Brookfield (Seamus Deakin, Matthew Moen, Daniel Krentsa, Luciano De Souza) 3:11.62; 4. New Fairfield (Jeffrey Plate, Michael VanAkin, David McAskill, Ryan Murphy) 3:18.19; 5. New Canaan (Stephen Skaperdas, Jacob Geyfman, Edward Thunem, Thomas Dunstan) 3:18.42.


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Egypt Islamist leader cautious on Gaza crisis
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president may hail from the fiercely anti-Israeli Muslim Brotherhood, an ally of Gaza's Hamas rulers. But in his first major crisis over Israel, he is adopting a stance not unlike that of his ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak, Israel's longtime friend.
After Israel launched its ferocious campaign of airstrikes and shelling against Gaza in retaliation for militant rocket attacks, Mohammed Morsi recalled Egypt's ambassador to Israel in protest and on Thursday ordered his prime minister to head to the tiny Palestinian territory in a symbolic show of solidarity.
Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, is facing calls at home to take stronger action. But he is just as wary as Mubarak about straining ties with the United States, Israel's top ally. Moreover, powerful parts of the Egyptian ruling establishment — particularly in the military and the security forces — deeply oppose Hamas, and Morsi could face a backlash if he appears to move too strongly in the militant group's direction.
In theory, the bloodshed in Gaza would be an ideal opportunity for Morsi to let loose against Israel. In past conflicts between Israel and Arab countries, his Muslim Brotherhood loudly denounced Mubarak for too timid a response, demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Cairo, for example. The group often accused Mubarak of toeing Washington's line on Israel.
But in his first public comments on the crisis, Morsi on Thursday was subdued and almost conciliatory. He called the bombardment an "unacceptable aggression" but avoided sharp condemnations of Israel. He expressed support for Palestinians in Gaza, but made no reference to Hamas.
"We don't accept the continuation of this (Israeli) threat and aggression against the people of Gaza," he said in comments at a Cabinet meeting aired on state TV. "The Israelis must realize that we don't accept this aggression and that it can only lead to instability in the region."
Morsi also said he spoke before dawn Thursday with President Barack Obama on stopping the assault and on how "peace and security could be achieved for everyone without aggression."
The tame response could be out of pragmatism. Egypt does not want to be seen as fueling the Gaza crisis and it has a strong interest in securing the goodwill of the international community — particularly the U.S. — as it seeks massive injection of foreign investments and aid to kick-start its ailing economy. The U.S. is Egypt's chief Western backer, giving it $1.3 billion a year in military aid and $250 million in economic assistance. Washington's goodwill is also needed to secure a key $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. An IMF team is currently in Cairo to negotiate the loan.
Morsi could come under greater pressure for a tougher response if the onslaught worsens. Over two days, Israel has blasted more than 200 targets in Gaza, killing 15 Palestinians, including the Hamas military chief. Palestinian militants barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday, killing three people. Three rockets struck the densely populated Tel Aviv area, raising the likelihood of an even tougher Israeli response.
But so far, his response has not gone beyond what Mubarak did in the past. Mubarak, who was overthrown in early 2011, twice ordered home his ambassador to Israel, once over the Jewish state's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and again in response to Israel's repression of the Palestinian uprising that began in 2000. In both cases, Mubarak used fiery rhetoric to denounce Israel's actions but remained firmly committed to his country's U.S.-sponsored 1979 peace treaty with the Jewish state.
On Thursday, Egypt's ambassador to Israel, Atef Sayid al-Ahl, arrived back in Cairo, saying he was back for consultations with Morsi and that the embassy in Tel Aviv was still operating.
The dispatch to Gaza of Prime Minister Hesham Kandil was a notable symbolic gesture, the highest level Egyptian official to visit Gaza since Hamas took over the territory in 2007. But it remained largely symbolic, given that the prime minister's authority is dwarfed by the president's overwhelming powers.
Kandil was ordered to head to Gaza on Friday, heading a delegation to meet the "urgent humanitarian needs" of Gaza residents, according to state TV. The move is likely to be criticized by his opponents contending the president is showing more concern for Palestinians living under the rule of his Hamas allies than toward the millions of Egyptians hit hard by the nation's worst economic crisis in years.
In effect, Hamas is the Palestinian chapter of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest political group. Since entering office in June, Morsi has received Hamas leaders in Cairo and has repeatedly vowed to stand by the Palestinians in the face of Israel. That is a significant break from the policy of Mubarak, who helped Israel in blockading Gaza after Hamas took over the territory in 2007. Morsi has largely opened Egypt's border crossing with Gaza for Palestinians to enter and exit.
Though the Brotherhood in the past called for the annulment of the 1979 peace deal with Israel, Morsi has promised to abide by the accord.
With Morsi taking a quieter tone, his Brotherhood has stepped in to trumpet the harsh rhetoric on Israel. At an Islamist conference in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, the Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie blasted Israel as the "project of the devil" and boasted that the first "martyr" in the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 came from the Brotherhood.
Hamas leaders on Thursday lavishly praised Morsi's response to the Israeli offensive.
"The popularly elected Egyptian leadership is giving everyone a lesson. The Egyptian leadership has shown that it is taking a new course and adopting a new vision. The era when Israel did what it pleased is over," the group's top leader Khaled Mashaal told delegates in an Islamist conference held in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
In a televised address, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said that as Gaza was being hit, "the Arab and Muslim cities were all in silence, but we found a quick response from the Egyptian leadership, a reflection of its new leadership. ... Leaders can no longer sit on their hands while seeing our people preyed on."
Egypt governed the Gaza Strip between 1948 and 1967, when Israel seized the territory along with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Israel returned the Sinai under the two countries' 1979 peace deal. In recent years, Egypt has negotiated a series of truces between Hamas and Israel, chiefly out of the contention that turmoil in Gaza could easily spill over into Sinai and maybe the nation's hinterland.
Distrust was deep between Hamas leaders and Mubarak's regime — and it remains strong among some in Egypt, particularly among the security forces. Morsi's critics claim that Hamas wants to hold sway over Sinai to give its fighters a much bigger stage from which to attack Israel. They also say Gaza militants are fueling the near lawlessness in northern Sinai, where Islamic militants have carried out attacks on Israel and on Egyptian security forces.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Come and join the entire congregation for our wonderful Sunday morning worship! Together, through song and prayer, dance and instruments, we uplift our praise to God and await the message He has for us through the preaching of our Pastor. With a service that includes an eclectic mix of gospel, contemporary Christian, hymns, spirituals, classical music, and powerful preaching from the Word of God, you will truly feel God's presence and taste and see that the Lord is good!
Kidz Lab is our Children's Church that happens during the worship service. Children in grades K - 5 begin in the service and then transition to Kidz Lab at the conclusion of the children's message.
Fellowship time immediately follows the service.


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WHITEWATER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – While the UW-Eau Claire softball team opened the day with a 4-0 victory over UW-Whitewater, the Blugolds ended the day with a 7-0 loss to Carthage College, ending their season on the third day of regional round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship.
With a loss on day one (Thursday) of the regional, the Blugolds couldn't lose again or they would be eliminated. They won Friday's game and then defeated the Warhawks on Saturday but couldn't maintain the momentum as they fell to Carthage. Last season, Eau Claire also fell to Carthage on the third day of Regionals to end the season.
In game one against Whitewater, the teams started off slow but in the top of the fourth with one on and two out, Sarah Fern (Sr.-Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center) hit a home run to left center, giving the Blugolds a 2-0 lead. The homer was Fern's third of the season.
Eau Claire added two more runs in the sixth with Abby Hansen (Fr.-Kaukauna, Wis.) and Taylor Pierce (So.-Ashwaubenon, Wis.) each scoring runs. Hansen led the Blugolds in hitting, going 3-for-4 while also scoring two runs. The Blugolds finished the game with seven hits.
Emma Wishau (Jr.-Burlington, Wis./Waterford Union) pitched her eighth complete game of the year, striking out two batters while giving up just five hits. She finished the season with five shutouts.
Against Carthage, the Blugolds had trouble getting any offense going. Deanna Gilane (So.-South Milwaukee, Wis.) was the only Blugold to record a hit, a double in the bottom of the third, but pinch runner Ashley Munroe (Fr.-Cadott, Wis.) only made it as far as third base before the end of the inning.
Carthage finished with 10 hits, two of which were home runs, while pitcher Krystina Leazer nearly pitched a perfect game, giving up just one hit while facing 23 batters, eight of which she struck out.
Despite the Blugolds' offensive struggles, they held Carthage to just two runs through the first five innings. But Carthage added two more runs in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Wishau again started the game pitching and stayed in for six innings. She gave up eight hits and six runs, only three of which were earned, while striking out one. Zana Lorbetske (Fr.-Rhinelander, Wis./Three Lakes) closed the game and struck out one batter while giving up two hits and an unearned run. Wishau took the loss, finishing the year with a 10-4 mark.
Following the regional on Sunday, Abby Hansen was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Blugolds close the season with a 28-9 record. They were unable to play nine games during the regular season due to the poor weather conditions throughout the spring. It was the fewest games played since the 2002 season when they played just 33.
Seniors Emily Haluska (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH), Jenny Hess (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.), Karen Hansen (Amery, Wis.) and Fern end their careers with the Blugolds. The group didn't play a game on Gelein Field, the Blugolds' home field, this season. The two days the team was able to play in Eau Claire, the Blugolds hosted games on their practice field.
While the team's season is over, UW-Eau Claire will serve as host of the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship, May 17-21 at Gelein Field. Winning teams from the eight Regionals being played around the country will play for the national title.


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Snyder Suede Slip On Shoes
- Men's UK 6 (Unavailable online - check in store)
- Men's UK 7
- Men's UK 8
- Men's UK 9
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The Snyder Suede Slip On Shoes from Pulp are perfect for casual style this season. With a comfortable footbed, easy slip on design, contrast outsole and a pull tab to the heel, these cow suede men's shoes are bound to impress.
Upper: Suede, Lining/Inner: Textile
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Delivery & Returns
Hannahs is pleased to be able to offer a delivery service nationwide in New Zealand.
On any orders over $70 delivery is free, otherwise delivery is for only $7.50* no matter the size of your order or where it is going.**
Once your order has been dispatched, you'll receive an email from us with the link to track your delivery.
When you order from our website before 2pm on any business day you can expect your delivery:
- - North Island and major city centres 1 - 3 business days.
- - South Island 2 - 4 business days.
If you place an order after 4pm on a business day or over a weekend / public holiday you can expect to receive your delivery:
- - All of NZ within 2-4 business days of placing your order.
Rural Delivery
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Delivery Terms
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text:
AMBER Alert
An AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency (SAME code: CAE) is a child abduction alert system. It originated in the United States in 1996.
AMBER is officially a backronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, but was named for Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, in 1996. Alternate regional alert names were once used; in Georgia, "Levi's Call"[1] (in memory of Levi Frady); in Hawaii, "Maile Amber Alert"[2] (in memory of Maile Gilbert); and Arkansas, "Morgan Nick Amber Alert"[3] (in memory of Morgan Chauntel Nick).
In the United States, AMBER Alerts are distributed via commercial radio stations, Internet radio, satellite radio, television stations, and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio[4][5] (where they are termed "Child Abduction Emergency" or "Amber Alerts"). The alerts are also issued via e-mail, electronic traffic-condition signs, commercial electronic billboards,[6][7] or through wireless device SMS text messages. AMBER Alert has also teamed up with Google,[8] Bing,[9] and Facebook[10] to relay information regarding an AMBER Alert to an ever-growing demographic: AMBER Alerts are automatically displayed if citizens search or use map features on Google or Bing. With the Google Child Alert (also called Google AMBER Alert in some countries), citizens see an AMBER Alert if they search for related information in a particular location where a child has recently been abducted and an alert was issued. This is a component of the AMBER Alert system that is already active in the US (there are also developments in Europe). Those interested in subscribing to receive AMBER Alerts in their area via SMS messages can visit Wireless Amber Alerts, which are offered by law as free messages.[11] In some states, the display scrollboards in front of lottery terminals are also used.
The decision to declare an AMBER Alert is made by each police organization (in many cases, the state police or highway patrol) that investigates each of the abductions. Public information in an AMBER Alert usually consists of the name and description of the abductee, a description of the suspected abductor, and a description and license plate number of the abductor's vehicle, if available. It is also some times used on stolen vehicles.
Activation criteria
The alerts are broadcast using the Emergency Alert System, which had previously been used primarily for weather bulletins, civil emergencies, or national emergencies.[12] Alerts usually contain a description of the child and of the likely abductor.[13] To avoid both false alarms and having alerts ignored as a "wolf cry", the criteria for issuing an alert are rather strict. Each state's or province's AMBER alert plan sets its own criteria for activation, meaning that there are differences between alerting agencies as to which incidents are considered to justify the use of the system. However, the U.S. Department of Justice issues the following "guidance", which most states are said to "adhere closely to" (in the U.S.):[14]
- Law enforcement must confirm that an abduction has taken place.
- The child must be at risk of serious injury or death.
- There must be sufficient descriptive information of child, captor, or captor's vehicle to issue an alert.
- The child must be under 18 years of age.[15]
Many law enforcement agencies have not used #2 as a criterion, resulting in many parental abductions triggering an Amber Alert, where the child is not known or assumed to be at risk of serious injury or death. In 2013, West Virginia passed Skylar's Law to eliminate #1 as a criterion for triggering an Amber Alert.
It is recommended that AMBER Alert data immediately be entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Crime Information Center. Text information describing the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the child should be entered, and the case flagged as child abduction.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) requirements in Canada are nearly identical to the above list, with the exception that the RCMP instead of the FBI is normally notified.[16] One organization might notify the other if there is reason to suspect that the border may be crossed.
When investigators believe that a child is in danger of being taken across the border to either Canada or Mexico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol and the Canada Border Services Agency are notified and are expected to search every car coming through a border checkpoint. If the child is suspected to be taken to Canada, a Canadian Amber Alert can also be issued, and a pursuit by Canadian authorities usually follows.
Incidents not meeting alert criteria
For incidents which do not meet AMBER Alert criteria, the United States Department of Justice developed the Child Abduction Response Teams (CART) program to assist local agencies. This program can be used in all missing children's cases and can be used as part of an AMBER alert or when an abduction or disappearance does not meet AMBER Alert criteria. CART can also be used to help recover runaway children under the age of 18 and who are in danger. As of 2010, 225 response teams have been trained in 43 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Canada.[17]
Amber Hagerman
|Amber Hagerman
Amber Hagerman in 1994
Amber Rene Hagerman
November 25, 1986
Arlington, Texas, US
Between January 15–17, 1996 (aged 9)
Arlington, Texas, US
|Cause of death
|Murder by stabbing
|Donna Norris, Richard Hagerman
On January 13, 1996, nine-year-old Amber Rene Hagerman (November 25, 1986 – January 17, 1996) was abducted while riding her bike in Arlington, Texas.[18] A neighbor who witnessed the abduction called the police, and Amber's brother Ricky went home to tell his mother and grandparents what happened. On hearing the news, Amber's father Richard called Marc Klaas, whose daughter Polly had been abducted and murdered in Petaluma, California, on October 1, 1993. It's often believed that Amber's murderer kept her alive for at least 2 days.
Richard Hagerman and Amber's mother, Donna Whitson (now Donna Norris), called the news media and the FBI. The Whitsons and their neighbors began searching for Amber. Four days after the abduction, a man walking his dog found her body in a storm drainage ditch. Her killer has not been found as of 2016, and the murder remains unsolved.
Program development
Within days of Amber's death, Donna Whitson was "calling for tougher laws governing sex offenders".[19] Amber's parents soon established People Against Sex Offenders (P.A.S.O.). They collected signatures hoping to force the Texas Legislature into passing more stringent laws to protect children.
God's Place International Church donated the first office space for the organization, and as the search for Amber's killer continued, P.A.S.O. received almost-daily coverage in local media. Companies donated various office supplies, including computer and Internet service. Congressman Martin Frost, with the help of Marc Klaas, drafted the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act. Both of Hagerman's parents were present when President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law, creating the national sex offender registry. Whitson and Richard Hagerman then began collecting signatures in Texas, which they planned to present to then-Governor George W. Bush as a sign that people wanted more stringent laws for sex offenders.[20]
In July 1996, Bruce Seybert and Richard Hagerman attended a media symposium in Arlington. Although Hagerman had remarks prepared, on the day of the event the organizers asked Seybert to speak instead. In his 20-minute speech, he spoke about efforts that local police could take quickly to help find missing children and how the media could facilitate those efforts. C.J. Wheeler, a reporter from radio station KRLD, approached the Dallas police chief shortly afterward with Seybert's ideas and launched the first ever Amber Alert.[21]
Whitson testified in front of the U.S. Congress in June 1996, asking legislators to create a nationwide registry of sex offenders. Representative Martin Frost, the Congressman who represents Whitson's district, proposed an "Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act." Among the sections of the bill was one that would create a national sex offender registry.[22]
For the next two years, alerts were made manually to participating radio stations. In 1998, the Child Alert Foundation created the first fully automated Alert Notification System (ANS) to notify surrounding communities when a child was reported missing or abducted. Alerts were sent to radio stations as originally requested but included television stations, surrounding law enforcement agencies, newspapers and local support organizations. These alerts were sent all at once via pagers, faxes, emails, and cell phones with the information immediately posted on the Internet for the general public to view.
Following the automation of the AMBER Alert with ANS technology created by the Child Alert Foundation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) expanded its role in 2002 to promote the AMBER Alert, although in 1996 now CEO of the NCMEC declined to come in and further assist the AMBER Alert when asked to by Bruce Seybert and Richard Hagerman and has since worked actively to see alerts distributed using the nation's existing emergency radio and TV response network.
United States
In October 2000, the United States House of Representatives adopted H.Res. 605 which encouraged communities nationwide to implement the AMBER Plan. In October 2001, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that had declined to be a part of the Amber Alert in February 1996, launched a campaign to have AMBER Alert systems established nationwide. In February 2002, the Federal Communications Commission officially endorsed the system. In 2002, several children were abducted in cases that drew national attention. One such case, the kidnapping and murder of Samantha Runnion, prompted California to establish an AMBER Alert system on July 24, 2002.[12] According to Senator Dianne Feinstein, in its first month California issued 13 AMBER alerts; 12 of the children were recovered safely and the remaining alert was found to be a misunderstanding.[23]
By September 2002, 26 states had established AMBER Alert systems that covered all or parts of the state. A bipartisan group of US Senators, led by Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dianne Feinstein, proposed legislation to name an AMBER Alert coordinator in the U.S. Justice Department who could help coordinate state efforts. The bill also provided $25 million in federal matching grants for states to establish AMBER Alert programs and necessary equipment purchases, such as electronic highway signs. A similar bill was sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jennifer Dunn and Martin Frost.[23] The bill passed the Senate unanimously within a week of its proposal.[13] At an October 2002 conference on missing, exploited, and runaway children, President George W. Bush announced changes to the AMBER Alert system, including the development of a national standard for issuing AMBER Alerts.[24] A similar bill passed the House several weeks later on a 390–24 vote.[25] A related bill finally became law in April 2003.[26]
The alerts were offered digitally beginning in November 2002, when America Online began a service allowing people sign up to receive notification via computer, pager, or cell phone. Users of the service enter their ZIP code, thus allowing the alerts to be targeted to specific geographic regions.[27]
By 2005, all fifty states had operational programs and today the program operates across state and jurisdictional boundaries.[28] As of January 1, 2013, AMBER Alerts are automatically sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) program.[29]
Canada's system began in December 2002, when Alberta launched the first province-wide system. At the time, Alberta Solicitor-General Heather Forsyth said "We anticipate an Amber Alert will only be issued once a year in Alberta. We hope we never have to use it, but if a child is abducted Amber Alert is another tool police can use to find them and help them bring the child home safely."[30] The Alberta government committed to spending more than CA$1 million to expanding the province's emergency warning system so that it could be used effectively for Amber Alerts.[30] Other Canadian provinces soon adopted the system, and by May 2004, Saskatchewan was the only province that had not established an Amber Alert system.[31] Within the next year, the program was in use throughout the country.
- British Columbia
Translink, the corporation responsible for the regional transportation network of Metro Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, displays Amber alerts on all their buses' digital signs reading "AMBER ALERT | Listen to radio | Bus #". Details of the Amber alert information are also available on screens at transit stations.
- Quebec
The program was introduced in Quebec on May 26, 2003. The name AMBER alert was then adapted in French to Alerte Médiatique But Enfant Recherché, which directly translates as "Media Alert for Child Recovery". In order to launch an AMBER alert, police authorities need to meet 4 criteria simultaneously and with no exceptions:
- The missing person is a child under the age of 18.
- The police have reason to believe that the missing child has been abducted.
- The police have reason to believe that the physical safety or the life of the child is in serious danger.
- The police have information that may help locate the child, the suspect and/or the suspect's vehicle.[32]
Once all 4 conditions are met, the police service may call an AMBER alert. Simultaneously, all of Quebec's Ministry of transport message boards will broadcast the police's messages. The Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) road traffic controllers also help with the search. Television and radio stations broadcast a description of the child, the abductor and/or the abductor's car. On the radio, the information is broadcast every 20 minutes for two hours or less if the child is found. On the television, the information is broadcast on a ticker tape at the bottom of the screen for two hours with no interruptions. After this, the ticker tape is withdrawn, but the police continue to inform the public through the usual means of communication.
Over the years, the program gathered more partners in order for the alert to be communicated on different media platforms. As in Ontario, lottery crown corporation Loto-Québec puts to the disposition of the police forces their 8500 terminals located throughout the province. Some of these terminals are equipped with a screen that faces the customer which makes it the largest network of its kind to operate in Canada. The technology employed enables them to broadcast the message on the entire network in under 10 minutes. In addition, The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) offers to most Canadians, upon free subscription, the possibility to receive, via text message, on their mobile devices AMBER alert notices.
Since its introduction in Quebec, every AMBER alert has had positive results.[33][34]
- Ontario
Ontario furthered its reach beyond media and highway signs by offering Amber Alerts on the province's 9,000 lottery terminal screens.[35]
After the abduction and murder of Victoria Stafford, an online petition was started by Suzie Pereira, a single mother of 2 children who gathered over 61,000 signatures, prompting a review of the Amber Alert. There was some concern regarding the strict criteria for issuing the alerts – criteria that was not met in the Stafford case – that resulted in an alert not being issued. Ontario Provincial Police have since changed their rules for issuing an alert from having to confirm an abduction and confirm threat of harm, to believe that a child has been abducted and believe is at risk of harm.[36][37]
Amber Alerts may also be distributed via Alert Ready, which disrupts programming on all radio, television stations, and television providers in the relevant region to display and play audio of Amber Alert information.[38][39]
Mexico joined international efforts to spread the use of the AMBER alert at an official launch ceremony on April 28, 2011.[40][41]
International expansion
The Australian state of Queensland implemented a version of the AMBER Alerts in May 2005.[42]
Currently, there are alert systems active in 17 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom.[43] AMBER Alert Europe offers an EU wide response to the EU objective (DG Justice) on Child Alerts, which states that an early warning system for child abductions, with cross-border interoperability, should be established in all 28 EU countries. AMBER Alert Europe uses the same technology as the Dutch AMBER Alert plan.[44]
AMBER Alert Europe
AMBER Alert Europe is an international non-profit organisation with 22 members (law enforcement, ministries & NGOs) in 16 countries. Its Police Network consists of over 35 experts representing law enforcement from 12 EU countries. The goals of AMBER Alert Europe are backed by 465 Members of the European Parliament.[45] The ultimate goal of AMBER Alert Europe is to save the lives of endangered missing children in Europe. Therefore, AMBER Alert Europe suggests the following 5 key points to the European Commission and the European Parliament:
- A bigger, stronger AMBER Alert network
- More flexibility in issuing child alerts
- Better cross-border information sharing
- Better cross-border police cooperation
- Improving the identification and protection of children at borders
For more information on the goals and key points of AMBER Alert Europe, see: AMBER Alert Europe's Memorandum to the European Commission and European Parliament.[46]
Police Network
In 2014, AMBER Alert Europe launched the Police Expert Network on Missing Children. Goal of the network is to allow missing children police experts to quickly and informally contact their colleagues in other European member states and exchange best practices.[47]
AMBER Alerts
An AMBER Alert reaches millions of people within minutes. When an AMBER Alert is issued by law enforcement, the picture of the AMBER Alert child is instantly visible everywhere via dozens of different media. The AMBER Alert system exists of the following components: TV and radio, highway signs, Google Child Alert (also called Google AMBER Alert in some countries – already active in the US; there are developments in Europe), missing children maps with active AMBER Alerts and endangered missing children, online banners and advertisements, large TV screens, text messages with photo, PC pop-ups, Facebook, Twitter, apps, website pop-ups and banners, PC screensaver, email, posters, RSS news feed, mobile websites, screens in public transport (buses and trains), screens in railway stations, airports, shopping malls, supermarkets and cinemas.[48]
The first cross-border AMBER Alert was issued in the early morning of the 8th of May 2013 for two Dutch brothers. The boys' photo was displayed on large screens in the Belgian province of Limbourg and in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) and has received extensive media attention in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The bodies of the children were found on the 19th of May 2013 near Cothen (the Netherlands).[49][50][51][52]
In February 2006, France's Justice ministry launched an apparatus based on the AMBER alerts named Alerte-Enlèvement (abduction alert) or Dispositif Alerte-Enlèvement (abduction alert apparatus) with the help of most media and railroad and motorway companies.
In April 2009, it was announced that an AMBER Alert system would be set up in Ireland, In May 2012, the Child Rescue Ireland (CRI) Alert was officially introduced.[53] Ireland's first AMBER alert was issued upon the disappearance of two boys,[54] Eoghan (10) and Ruari Chada (5).
The Dutch AMBER Alert was launched in 2008 by the Dutch National Police,[55] the Dutch minister of Justice at the time, Hirsch Ballin,[56][57] and social enterprise Netpresenter.[58] On February 14, 2009, the first Dutch AMBER Alert was issued when a 4-year-old boy went missing in Rotterdam. He was found safe and sound after being recognized by a person who saw his picture on an electronic billboard in a fast food restaurant. He was recovered so quickly, that the transmission of the AMBER Alert was halted before all recipients received it. Since 2008, the AMBER Alert system has been deployed for 22 AMBER Alerts and thousands of endangered missing children cases.[59]
Currently, AMBER Alert has more than 2.8 million participants including thousands of large organizations.[60] In addition, the last AMBER Alert that was issued, was seen by almost 12 million Dutch citizens (88 percent of the Dutch population).[61] With a success rate of 64 percent,[62] the Dutch AMBER Alert system is an example of effective citizen sourcing.[63]
An AMBER Alert is issued when a child is missing or abducted and the Dutch police fear that the life or health of the child is in imminent danger. The system enables the police to immediately alert press and public nationwide, by means of electronic highway signs, TV, radio, social media, PCs, large advertising screens (digital signage), email, text messages, apps, printable posters, RSS news feeds, website banners and pop-ups.[56] There are four key criteria in The Netherlands to be met before an AMBER Alert is issued:
- The child is (very likely) abducted by an unknown person or persons or the child is missing and its life is in imminent danger
- The victim is a minor (under 18 years of age);
- There is enough information about the victim to increase the chances of the child being found by means of an AMBER Alert, such as a photo, information about the abductor or the vehicle used during the abduction;
- The AMBER Alert is issued as soon as possible after the abduction or disappearance of the child.[55]
Parts of the Dutch AMBER Alert system are being used for endangered missing children. A missing child is considered endangered when there is an immediate and significant risk of harm but the case does not reach the criteria for an AMBER Alert. The Dutch police can decide to publicize information and ask the help of citizens to recover the child.[64]<http://amberalert.nl/Faq.aspx?lang=en> AMBER Alert Netherlands is a founding member of AMBER Alert Europe, the European Child Rescue Alert and Police Network on Missing Children.[65]
United Kingdom
On April 1, 2007, the AMBER Alert system became active in Northwest England.[66] An implementation across the rest of Britain was planned at that time. This was realized on May 25, 2010 with the nationwide launch of the Child Rescue Alert, based on the AMBER Alert system. The first system in the UK of this kind was created in Sussex on November 14, 2002. This was followed by versions in Surrey and Hampshire. By 2005, every local jurisdiction in England and Wales had its own form of alert system.[67] The system was first used in the UK on October 3, 2012, with regard to missing 5 year-old April Jones in Wales.
In September 2007, Malaysia implemented the Nurin Alert. Based on the AMBER alert, it is named for a missing eight-year-old girl, Nurin Jazlin.
Retrieval rate
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, of the children abducted and murdered by strangers, 75% are killed within the first three hours in the USA.[12] Amber Alerts are designed to inform the general public quickly when a child has been kidnapped and is in danger so "the public [would be] additional eyes and ears of law enforcement".[12] As of August 2013, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that 657 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the existence of the AMBER Alert program.[68]
A Scripps Howard study of the 233 AMBER Alerts issued in the United States in 2004 found that most issued alerts did not meet the Department of Justice's criteria. Fully 50% (117 alerts) were categorized by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as being "family abductions", very often a parent involved in a custody dispute. There were 48 alerts for children who had not been abducted at all, but were lost, ran away, involved in family misunderstandings (for example, two instances where the child was with grandparents), or as the result of hoaxes. Another 23 alerts were issued in cases where police did not know the name of the allegedly abducted child, often as the result of misunderstandings by witnesses who reported an abduction.
Seventy of the 233 AMBER Alerts issued in 2004 (30%) were actually children taken by strangers or who were unlawfully travelling with adults other than their legal guardians.[69]
According to the 2014 Amber Alert Report, 186 Amber Alerts were issued in the US, involving 239 children. 60 (25%) were taken by strangers or people other than their legal guardians.
Some outside scholars examining the system in depth disagree with the "official" results.[70][71][72] A research team led by criminologist Timothy Griffin reviewed hundreds of abduction cases that occurred between 2003 and 2006 and found that AMBER Alerts actually had little apparent role in the eventual return of abducted children. The AMBER Alerts tended to be "successful" in relatively mundane abductions, such as when the child was taken by a noncustodial parent or other family member. There was little evidence that AMBER Alerts routinely "saved lives", although a crucial research constraint was the impossibility of knowing with certainty what would have happened if no alert had been issued in a particular case.[73]
Griffin and coauthor Monica Miller articulated the limits to AMBER Alert in a subsequent research article. They stated that alerts are inherently constrained, because to be successful in the most menacing cases there needs to be a rapid synchronization of several events (rapid discovery that the child is missing and subsequent alert, the fortuitous discovery of the child or abductor by a citizen, and so forth). Furthermore, there is a contradiction between the need for rapid recovery and the prerogative to maintain the strict issuance criteria to reduce the number of frivolous alerts, creating a dilemma for law enforcement officials and public backlash when alerts are not issued in cases ending as tragedies. Finally, the implied causal model of alert (rapid recovery can save lives) is in a sense the opposite of reality: In the worst abduction scenarios, the intentions of the perpetrator usually guarantee that anything public officials do will be "too slow".
Because the system is publicly praised for saving lives despite these limitations, Griffin and Miller argue that AMBER Alert acts as "crime control theater" in that it "creates the appearance but not the fact of crime control".[74] AMBER Alert is thus a socially constructed "solution" to the rare but intractable crime of child-abduction murder. Griffin and Miller have subsequently applied the concept to other emotional but ineffective legislation such as safe-haven laws and polygamy raids, and continue their work in developing the concept of "crime control theater" and on the AMBER Alert system.
Griffin considers his findings preliminary, reporting his team examined only a portion of the Amber Alerts issued over the three-year period they focused on, so he recommends taking a closer look at the evaluation of the program and its intended purpose, instead of simply promoting the program.
The 4 a.m. timing of a July 2013 New York child abduction alert sent through the Wireless Emergency Alerts system raised concerns that many cellphone users will now disable WEA alerts.[75]
False alarms
Advocates for missing children are concerned that the public is becoming desensitized to AMBER Alerts because of a large number of false alarms, where police issue an AMBER Alert without strictly adhering to the U.S. Department of Justice's activation guidelines.[76]
Effects on traffic
AMBER alerts are often displayed on electronic message signs. The Federal Highway Administration has instructed states to display AMBER alerts on highway signs sparingly, citing safety concerns from distracted drivers and the negative impacts of traffic congestion.[77]
Many states have policies in place that limit the use of AMBER alerts on freeway signs. In Los Angeles, an AMBER alert issued in October 2002 that was displayed on area freeway signs caused significant traffic congestion. As a result, the California Highway Patrol elected not to display the alerts during rush hour, citing safety concerns.[78] The state of Wisconsin only displays AMBER alerts on freeway signs if it is deemed appropriate by the transportation department and a public safety agency. AMBER alerts do not preempt messages related to traffic safety.[79]
The United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp commemorating AMBER Alerts in May 2006. The 39-cent stamp features a chalk pastel drawing by artist Vivienne Flesher of a reunited mother and child, with the text "AMBER ALERT saves missing children" across the pane. The stamp was released as part of the observance of National Missing Children's Day.[80][81]
In 2006, a TV movie, Amber's Story, was broadcast on Lifetime. It stars Elisabeth Röhm and Sophie Hough.
A comic book entitled Amber Hagerman Deserves Justice: A Night Owl Story was published by Wham Bang Comics in 2009. Geared toward a young audience by teen author Jake Tinsley and Manga artist Jason Dube, it tells Amber's story, recounts the investigation into her murder, and touches on the effect her death has had on young children and parents everywhere. The comic book was created to promote what was then a reopened investigation into the Arlington murder.[82]
See also
- ↑ Story by Aaliyah Jenkinsss "georgia.gov – Levi's Call" Check
|url=value (help). Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ↑ "MAILE AMBER Alert". Hawaii Department of Attorney General.
- ↑ "Morgan Nick Amber Alert". Arkansas State Police. 2006.
- ↑ Magazine.noaa.gov
- ↑ "NOAA Weather Radio Leads to Kentucky Amber Alert Success". noaa.gov.
- ↑ "Newsroom - Walgreens Newsroom". walgreens.com.
- ↑ Lamaroutdoor.com
- ↑ "Google Brings AMBER Alerts for Missing Children to Search and Maps". socialtimes.com.
- ↑ "NCMEC on Twitter". Twitter.
- ↑ "OJJDP News @ a Glance - January/February 2011". ncjrs.gov.
- ↑ "Wireless AMBER Alerts".
- 1 2 3 4 Irsay, Steve (August 5, 2002), Cold War technology helped save lives of abducted teens, CNN.com, retrieved 2014-03-07
- 1 2 "Senate approves national child abduction alert legislation", USA Today, September 10, 2002, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ↑ "Guidance on Criteria for Issuing AMBER Alerts" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice. April 2004.
- ↑ , HowStuffWorks "Getting the Word Out"
- ↑ "AMBER Alert". Government of Canada Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Archived from the original on 2013-02-11.
- ↑ "Frequently asked questions OJP" (PDF). 2010.
- ↑ "The Abductions That Changed America". Newsweek. 29 January 2007. pp. 54–55.
- ↑ "Mom says tougher laws needed", Houston Chronicle, January 20, 1996, retrieved August 8, 2008
- ↑ Kopenec, Stefani G. (January 12, 1997), "Young girl's kidnapper elusive: A year has passed without leads on 'low-life killer'", Houston Chronicle, retrieved August 8, 2008
- ↑ Wheeler, C.J. (January 12, 1997), "Launched the first ever Amber Alert in Dallas Texas. Worked closely with the parents of Amber Hagerman and other Texas Radio and TV stations to create a public alert when a child has been abducted. The idea spread nationwide.", Mandy, retrieved October 8, 2013
- ↑ "Parents push for sex offender registry: Family of slain girl fights for new bill", Houston Chronicle, June 20, 1996, retrieved August 8, 2008
- 1 2 Lawmakers push national Amber alert system, CNN.com, September 4, 2002, archived from the original on 2008-12-11, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ↑ Bumiller, Elizabeth (October 3, 2002), "Bush Unveils Upgrade of Amber Alert System", The New York Times, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ↑ House Passes Amber Alert Measure, FoxNews.com, October 8, 2002, retrieved 2002-08-08
- ↑ "Public Law 108 - 21 - Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 or ``PROTECT Act". gpo.gov.
- ↑ Mainelli, Tom (November 21, 2002), "AOL Puts AMBER Alert Service Online", PC World, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ↑ "Frequently asked questions" (pdf). Retrieved 2013-05-21.
- ↑ "Amber Alert – WEI Information". Retrieved 2013-05-21.
- 1 2 "Alberta launches 'Amber Alert' kidnap system". CTV.ca. December 3, 2002. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
- ↑ B.C., N.S. to begin using 'Amber Alert' system, CTV.ca, May 25, 2004, archived from the original on 2008-12-21, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ↑ "Amber Alert Police Montreal". SVPM.
- ↑ "La police des". spvm.qc.ca.
- ↑ http://www.loto-quebec.com/corporatif/nav/en/social-responsibility/amber-alert
- ↑ Ontario extends Amber Alert to lottery terminals, CTV.com, April 4, 2005, archived from the original on 2008-12-21, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ↑ CityTV.com Archived October 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ CBC.ca
- ↑ "Matt Gurney: We need a better robot voice for Amber Alerts". National Post. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ "Ontario viewers peeved after Amber Alert interrupts Sunday night TV-watching". CBC News. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ "El Universal - - México, en red de alerta para extraviados". eluniversal.com.mx. 18 June 2013.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ↑ Waters, Jeff (2005-05-13), Amber Alert, Stateline Queensland, retrieved 2008-09-06
- ↑ http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/rights-child/alert-mechanism/index_en.htm
- ↑ AMBER Alert Europe (21 March 2013). "AMBER Alert Europe Launches EU Wide Child Rescue Alert Platform". prnewswire.com.
- ↑ http://www.amberalert.eu/who-we-are/
- ↑ http://ftp.amberalert.eu/memorandum/2015_10_Memorandum.pdf
- ↑ http://www.amberalert.eu/projects/police-expert-network/
- ↑ "AMBER Alert Europe - Components AMBER Alert system: Google Child Alert, email, apps, PC screensaver, …". amberalert.eu.
- ↑ "EU Amber Alert vanwege vermissing". nos.nl.
- ↑ "Belgische experts en FBI helpen Nederlandse politie bij zoektocht naar broertjes". vandaag.be.
- ↑ "Vater tot, Kinder vermisst - Zeitgeschichtliches Archiv - WDR.de". wdr.de.
- ↑ "Cookiewall: Cookies op de Volkskrant - de Volkskrant". volkskrant.nl.
- ↑ – Abducted Child Alert System Begins (25 May 2012)
- ↑ - Irelands First Amber Alert
- 1 2 "Amber Alert". politie.nl.
- 1 2 "Netherlands - AMBER Alert". missingkids.com.
- ↑ Ernst Hirsch Ballin
- ↑ "Netpresenter – The Attention Management Experts -". Netpresenter - The Attention Management Experts.
- ↑ http://amberalert.nl/Stats.aspx?lang=en
- ↑ "ANP Pers Support - #1op10 actie groot succes: 1.926.572 aanmeldingen voor AMBER Alert!". perssupport.nl. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14.
- ↑ http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/22568837/__Amber_Alert_bereikte_12_mln__.html
- ↑ "Toeristen opgelet: opsporing sekstoerisme". RTL Nieuws.
- ↑ Crowdsourcing
- ↑ http://www.amberalert.eu/criteria-definitions
- ↑ http://www.amberalert.eu
- ↑ "Child kidnap alerts on TV as UK adopts the 'Amber Alert' system". London: MailOnline. April 2, 2007. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- ↑ "Child Rescue Alert". National Policing Improvement Agency. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- ↑ Knickerbocker, Brad (11 August 2013). "Amber Alerts: How successful have they been in saving abducted kids?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ Hargrove, Thomas (July 17, 2005). "False alarms endangering future of Amber Alert system". Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
- ↑ "The Amber Alert system is more effective as theater than as a way to protect children - The Boston Globe". boston.com.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
- ↑ "A Preliminary Examination of AMBER Alert's Effects". sagepub.com.
- ↑ Griffin, T.; Miller, M. K.; Hoppe, J.; Rebideaux, A.; Hammack, R. (1 December 2007). "A Preliminary Examination of AMBER Alert's Effects". Criminal Justice Policy Review. 18 (4): 378–394. doi:10.1177/0887403407302332.
- ↑ Griffin, T.; Miller, M. K. (1 June 2008). "Child Abduction, AMBER Alert, and Crime Control Theater". Criminal Justice Review. 33 (2): 159–176. doi:10.1177/0734016808316778.
- ↑ "Wake-Up Call for New Yorkers as Police Seek Abducted Boy", NY Times
- ↑ Quintana, Chris (1 December 2013). "Overuse, false alarms threaten impact of Amber Alert". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "Do Amber Alerts Put Drivers in Jeopardy?". latimes.
- ↑ "Traffic Jams Prompt Amber Alert Shut-Off in L.A.". latimes.
- ↑ Amberalertwisconsin.org
- ↑ "U.S. Postal Service issues new stamp promoting social awareness". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08.
- ↑ Amber Alert Stamp
- ↑ Lita Beck (April 21, 2009). "Comic Book Hero Takes on Real Life Murder Case". NBCWashington.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
External links
- U.S. government AMBER alert site
- Our Missing Children (Government of Canada)
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on Amber Alert program technology
- Child Rescue Alert – UK equivalent of Amber Alert
- AMBER Alert Nederland site, the Dutch Amber alert
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Rilya alert
- AMBER Alert at Find a Grave
- Crime Library on Amber Hagerman
- Houston's Amber Plan


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Subscribe To Oscar Producers Say You Just Didn't Get Seth MacFarlane Updates
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Now that time has passed and the dust has settled from the Academy Awards telecast earlier this year, co-producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are able to look back on the telecast they put together and judge whether the show, and its polarizing host Seth MacFarlane, were successful. Needless to say, they think everything went well, and those who didn't like MacFarlane and his degrading humor were wrong and just didn't get it.
In other words, it's your fault MacFarlane wasn't funny.
Opening up to The Hollywood Reporter in Manhattan over the weekend, Meron and Zadan told the trade that they believed MacFarlane "did the job that we wanted him to do," and that one criticism they heard after the show is that he didn't push the envelope far enough.
People have complained for years and years that the Oscars were becoming irrelevant," Meron said. "And I think what we did this year is to really make them part of the cultural conversation, and I think that's the important part that people will take away."
Oh, there was plenty of conversation about MacFarlane's performance, particularly his opening-show musical number about topless scenes from famous actresses. You don't remember it? Well, watch it one more time:
On that now infamous number, Meron points the finger back at us, saying:
It was not about the women that were mentioned, the song was about him being a bad host and him being a juvenile, which was why he was a bad host. … Everyone who complained missed the joke. It was satire."
Of course they have to say that, but do you agree? Was it satire? Share your thoughts on the Oscar co-producers' comments below.


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The Electrolux Design Lab is at it again. Understanding that the kitchen is a place for inspiration, the Electrolux "Heart of the Home" Kitchen Concept integrates recipe creation into an all-in-one appliance. By combining a cooking surface with a countertop and throwing in a recipe reader for good measure, Electrolux paints a future where kitchen appliances can inspire everything from dinner to the conversation that goes with it.
Meal planning with the "Heart of the Home" starts with, what else, ingredients. The design concept is an imagining of a future where the cookware has a say in what's cooking. When individual ingredients are placed on the surface, the appliance would recognize the foods, and then suggest meals based on the ingredients. It's nothing new to imagine a searchable recipe database, but what happens next is where the magic would be.
Once a recipe is chosen, the next step is to actually cook those ingredients. Imagined to be constructed of a malleable material, users trace out a cooking area anywhere on the surface, and then create a depression by actually pressing down into the surface. Time and temperature could then be selected via a similar interface to that of the recipe/ingredient selector.
Like all concept designs, the "Heart of the Home" is a mash-up of the familiar and the far-reaching. Conceived as a space-saving appliance that fosters social behavior, the concept recognizes not only what we are, but also where we are going. As it's a good bet the question of "what's for dinner" will be relevant in any era, the design of future appliances that address this question will always be welcome.


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Seemingly effortless, Moxon's glass and steel viaduct around Taunton Castle belies the complexity of its construction, writes Felix Mara
Photography by Simon Kennedy
You could apply that quintessentially Victorian adage 'horses sweat, men perspire and ladies glow' to structural engineering – and to bridges in particular. Rogers, Stirk Harbour + Partners' 8 Chifley Square in Sydney (AJ 15.11.12), designed with the Lippmann Partnership, sweats mega-buckets, but the majestic horizontal suspension structure of Foster + Partners' Millennium Bridge perspires as it stretches across the Thames, whereas Moxon Architects' Castle Green Bridge in Taunton's Goodland Gardens, which opened in September, declines to unfurl its fan.
Truth be told, Moxon's bridge carries a lighter burden and is essentially a 37m ramp rising 1.8m from the sylvan Goodland Gardens to Castle Green, the town's historic core. It should however be seen as part of a sequence which will include the Mill Stream Bridge and Tone Bridge to the north when completed. Like the Moat Bridge, these will replace non-DDA-compliant structures and the sequence will provide a coherent and memorable route across the site, both passing and acting as a contemporary foil to Taunton's medieval castle.
Moxon conceived the bridges as a typology of spans, each with very different structural principles: a viaduct in the case of the Castle Green Bridge, a simply supported beam in for the Mill Stream Bridge and a tied arch to the River Tone Bridge. Their contexts are also very different: a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the case of the Castle Green Bridge, landscaped parkland for the Mill Stream Bridge and a river in the case of the Tone Bridge. The essential point is that they have a shared language of detailed design.
The architecture was unusually centre-stage for an infrastructure project. Nevertheless the bridge was subject to engineering scrutiny, which emphasised logistics, efficiency and rational construction. Its concrete deck spans between four irregularly spaced circular piers located according to ground bearing capacity and archaeological constraints. The alignment of engineering concerns with the pursuit of a consistent architectural language can be seen in the repetition of elements such as the stainless steel plates used to clamp the low-iron toughened glass balustrades and laminated glass deck planks.
Both are fixed with countersunk snake eye-headed bolts, also used to connect the lighting bollards' components, which replicate the forms of the parapet end guards.
Moxon, also the designer of Taunton's Third Way Bridge that completed last year, is one of several architectural practices with a convincing portfolio of bridge projects, including Wilkinson Eyre and Clash Architects. These firms bring unique architectural skills to this work, seen, for example, in the use of false perspective in the Castle Green Bridge, which tapers from 5 to 2.6m in width to increase or diminish expected travel distances. A meticulous note on Moxon's drawings states that no horizontal paving grout lines should be in the same line within five rows of each other. This refinement extends to practical features, such as drainage gaps between glass decking planks and the strips of grey slip-resistant fritting on them.
Each balustrade panel – and this is super-clever, though also complicated – is clamped by two stainless steel strips, 90mm apart, exposing the glass panels and the frosted strips at their base. The edge of the deck thus reads as a lightweight translucent volume and, with LED strip lighting in the cavity between the tapered concrete slab and the glass deck, this structure glows, literally as well as metaphorically.
Project data
Start on site January 2012
Completion September 2012
Bridge deck area 123m2
Form of contract NEC
Total cost £350,000
Cost per square metre £2,845
Architect Moxon
Client Project Taunton
Structural engineer Flint & Neill
Lighting design Moxon
Landscape architect LDA Design
Bridge deck area project manager Peter Brett Associates
Main contractor Britannia Construction
CAD software used Autocad, 3DSMax, Nodle, bespoke FE analysis software
Glass deck supplier Romag
LED lighting units supplier Surelight
Glass parapet Taunton Fabrications
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